12 ft pelican gator

[jeffreyphaught]

hey guys and gals a quick question for ya.  I'm thinking of buying my first small boat.  I was looking into the 12 ft pelican gator boat.  I think it is made of some sort of hard plastic material, and only weights 118 lbs.  I'm a small water pond fisherman.  Is this a good first boat,? have any of you used one? and I don't have a truck so could I strap the thing to my car?  again it only weights 118 lbs.  Any info on this boat would be great.  It cost about 750.00 bucks and is the only thing i think I might be able to strap onto my car.  Thanks for any and all info.            Jeff

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

[move]DON'T DO IT!![/move]

For relatively a bit more money, you can have 10 times the boat that will last longer than you.

Buy a 12 ft jon boat. In time, you can customize it if you wish but many can be found used for $2-400 dollars.

So many points here, I'mm going to need some old posts.

Plastic is cheezy, aluminum will last forever.

Aluminum is easily repairable

Aluminum has much more torsional rigidity.

The pelican plastic is flimsy, it warps and the seams seperate within a few years from the ones I've seen. If you really want to go plastic, at least look at the coleman stuff

Read some of this thread, good info on how/where to find,etc.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1119359773

Also check this, the last part about jons:

http://bassresource.com/fishing/getting_afloat.html

Feel free to PM me

[Rattlinrogue]

Like LBH,I think you should go with a jon boat.You can fix it up as fancy as you want or just keep it basic.You can find an old jon from $100-$300.It'll last forever.Buy you a used trailer for cheap,and you can pull it with your car.I think most of us started with jon boats and converted them into something very special.I know I miss mine(sold it and got an older fix it up glass boat).I think you'd be quite pleased with a jon boat that you can customize.

[jeffreyphaught]

Thanks for all the info guys, and I tend to agree with both of you.  I think I might go with a al. jon boat this spring.  I might just have to buy an old pick up for like 750 buck to tow it around.  I really don't want to put a tow package on my 2005 maxima.  If you know of anyone looking to sell a boat or truck, or a package of them both together this spring give me a holler.  btw low budget I've seen your boat on here many times and it is awesome.  you should publish a book on how you did that.  I would buy it.  If you have any more advice on cheap ways to make a basic jon boat a great fishing boat let me know.  thanks again.

                 Jeff

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

just a thought, when I had my old corolla wagon years ago, my 12 ft jon fit on the roof rack, I just took the attachment for skis off and used just the straight bar.  Thule makes one for the '05 maxima.  You would look for just the straight bar(diff lengths, get the longest) and not any of the attachments i.e. ski rack, kayak rack, bike holder, they all attach to the straight bar.  I had a light duty 12 then, and I could do it alone with ease.