Hi everyone,

 

I live in South Florida and want to take advantage of all the fishing opportunities down here.  I'm mainly aiming for bass but yet there are lot's of other good fishing.  I've never owned a boat and I want to start off with something.  Any recommendations on what to look for and where to begin?

 

Happy Friday-Todd

What is your budget?  How large of water will you be fishing?

I would rather spend less than five thousand dollars.  I imagine the largest body of water I'd feel comfortable fishing would be lake okeechobee

Save some coin and get a Hobie PA 14 with a trailer 

Where in south Florida? Your budget will determine what you should get. I'm also in south florida, and fish just about every body of freshwater in my Tracker 1542 jon boat. Yes, I even take it to Okeechobee without an issue. Believe it or not the roughest water I go on is Lake Clarke. Its 99% surrounded by sea walls and the wakes from pleasure boaters just bounce back amd forth from side to side. They hardly ever dissipate on a busy day. Sure a bigger boat is nice but in South Florida we lack most of the big water they have up north. Its nice to get into some of the shallow water so my first piece of advice would say get an aluminum especially on a first boat. If your budget allows, and you want to do some inshore fishing as well try and find a nice flats boat. They work great for bass and will handle the intracoastal salt, okeechobee, canals, and smaller lakes perfectly.

I just saw you said $5,000 is the budget so I'd take out a full size glass boat or flats boat. Some mid 2000's tracker bass boats can be had for that. I bought my 1542 with a 15 HP mercury fourstroke for less than that price brand new. Go on Craigslist and wait for a nice Tracker Grizzly or similar modified V jon boats. They're pretty versatile and affordable. Not sure what your tow vehicle will be but, take that into consideration as well when buying.