J._Bricker

sodaksker- saw the flick of your ProCraft- good looking boat, I know how that smile feels. Anyway, my family discussion center around how much the whole family would be using the boat (maybe 3-4 times a summer), as opposed to how much I would use the boat bass fishing (1-3 times a week). The bass boat won, with a ski pole and boarding ladder as added accessories. I gotta' take my kids tubin' some time. But the bottom line, you have a beautiful boat in that ProCraft! ;D The big windshield issue, maybe ProCraft has lower profile bass boat-type which may further clean up the boat lines. Just my .02 on that. JB

CBedo the home equity loan would be the way to go, let your money work for you plus the benefit of a tax deduction. Just my .02

Bowjunkie35- Had a similar situation with a carborated '86 Yamaha 150- It may be a powerpack issue you're describing. However, gasoline added cleaner and fresh plugs will only help the preformance of your motor. My .02

Hopefully, Delta Bait, er, Fishermans Warehouse won't be put out of business with the arrival of Bass Pro Shops. And now we (Californians) will have to pay sales tax when we order from the Bass Pro Catalog. Oh well

Happy B-Day LBH- FYI, the view's pretty d**n good on my side of the hill, however, you've got a couple of years yet. Enjoy

Neither- Better river for a Classic? Sacramento/ San Jacquin or Potomac

1st boat- 1986 Ranger 373 w/ 150 Yamaha 2nd boat- 2004 Ranger 520VX w/ 225 Mercury Optimax

rattle micro brew (ale) or macro brew (Bud)?

Shimano. Bigger largemouth bass- East or West of the Mississippi?

Salmon!!!!! PAC-10 or ACC football?

My answer to this question- 1) the How- take care of your family responsiblities, work overtime when it's there, and start small (in my case a float tube). Also, I quit smoking. At $5 a pack, one pack a day, that's half a monthly boat payment. Guess which was more important to me. 2) the Why- because I can, I've earned it. ;D

drr, I'd think kirk is on the money. I had an '86 carborated 150 Yamaha on an 18ft Ranger. The motor ran like a champ, no complaints about how it ran. Just drank gas, and didn't like changes in elevation so much (2500+ feet). New 225 Optimax on 20ft Ranger, better performance and much better on gas. I'm sure the same could be said for the four strokes, but I understand the Verado's gas consumption is the same as an Optimax.

1) Peacock bass fishing in the Amazon, 2) Bass fishing in Mexico, 3) Marlin/ tuna fishing in Cabo San Lucas. For those of you who want to fish the Kenai, check out info@westcoastfishin.ca, it's fishing the Skeena River in norther British Columbia, all five species of salmon and huge steelhead. Great fishing, weather, and hosts. Funny though, we all are pretty much in agreement about the peacock bass fishing ;D, now that's serious top water.

A few guys mentioned "common sense" and "common courtesy". If it was common, everyone would have it. Anymore, I feel it just isn't worth gettin' steamed over, because some folks just don't know any better. Besides, with some of the stuff you see happen at the ramp, I'm glad I get to see it for free when other people spend good money to see the same thing ;D

Dfisherman, you're right, those 6lb smallies are hard to come by here in Cali, but its a good thing Rangers aren't. Congrads on your new boat, have heard nothing but good about the Z series. JB

From the Tri-Valley, 20 minutes east of Oakland in Northern California. I primarily bass fish the San Joaquin side of the Delta. A1dennis,Thewayweball02, and Abelfisher good to have you Northern Californians on board, and to the guys in So. Cal, it's getting harder to keep how good we got it a secret. LOL Glenn, I enjoy the site and everyone's tips and ideas. It makes us all better. Tight lines to all. JB

Chris, check what I posted for mking7 regarding his Ranger 185 questions

MKing, Boo- Two places to check out for the certificates that I found before I bought my boat were The Bass Fishing Home Page and Western Bass, the classified and boats for sale section. FYI, I know the Western Bass Classified section has a Ranger (posted 5/29), a Basscat (posted 6/3), and a Triton (posted 6/7) certificates for sale. The Bass Fishing Home Page had a Triton certificate as well. The other is search I conducted was for boats or bass boats for sale. The websites are there, I hope this helps-JB

Hey MKing7- Any luck? Just curious

Chris, I'll try to give your question an answer. But the question leaves alot of others be to asked. Most importantly, how much are you willing to spend? New or newer doesn't require as much cash to fix up. The older the boat, the potential for things needing to be replaced becomes greater. After all, you don't want to inherit someone else's problems, right? Of course, you can tell if someone has taken care of his boat, because pride of ownership shows and he'll probably have all his receipts for work preformed. A good used boat will allow you to learn about it and save you some cash, which you will need for tackle and other stuff. Some other questions. How big a boat (length) do you want? Aluminum or fiberglass? How big a motor? Inboard, outboard, or jet (don't know where you live ;D) 2 or 4 stroke? Check the internet sites, tacke shop postings, newspaper and boat trader magazines to give you a good idea of what is out there and at what cost. Once you find a boat you like, take the boat to a reputable shop. Pay the nominal fee to have the motor compresion tested and gone over to find any potential problems. As for the salt water issue, there are boats made by Ranger, Triton, Skeeter that allow for both types of fishing, ie; freshwater and flats. Anyway, I hope this helps, and good luck- JB

I don't fish tournaments either, I pretty much started out like you. I just typed in bass boats for sale, Ebay, bass fishing, pages like this one that list boats for sale. Came up with about 20 sites I'd check regularly, not just for the certificate, but boats in general. Figured I should know what else was out there, and at what cost. Took me about 5 months of research, but I figured getting the boat you want and spending that kind of cash, I shouldn't be in a rush. The longest wait was the 5 months for the boat to be made by Ranger and delivered out west. Anyway, good luck and happy huntin'

mking- check the post for boat price quote for mac7373, I pretty much said the same kind of stuff- Just FYI

mking, to answer your question, at a tournament where a boat is the prize, a certificate is sometimes given instead of the boat itself. It's a more practical way of giving away the boat, easier to park at the house, easier to sell for the person who won it. The certificate would be redeemable at the dealership of the boat that was offered as the prize. Most of the time, the boat can be upgraded, the cost negotiated between you and the dealer. I hope this answers your question and gives you another option for getting your boat.

Hey Mac, couldn't resist adding to the string. 51K is too much for any bass boat. I'll continue to say this, check out a tournament certificate boat. It's what they give the winner instead of the boat. Paid under 30K for my certificate. The certificate was for an '04 519VX with a 175hp Optimax, trailer and all the bells and whistles. Upgraded the boat to a 520 and the Optimax to a 225, and I picked the colors I wanted. Saved a pile of cash (the upgrades were not as much as you might think) and still happy with my 1 year old boat. Saw certificates for Skeeters, Tritons, and Basscats when I was looking for my Ranger. Just some thing else to consider. ;D

If you have 25K you're not that far away from buying someone's tournament boat certificate. Something to think about- new boat in the colors you chose=good deal. That's how I got my '04 and this is just my .02. ;D