My wife was going through some old photos the other day and pulled this one out. This was me and my buddy Ken in my first bass boat, a 1972 Terry Basser.  It now sits in a field covered in black berry vines rotting away.  The memories I and several other guys made in this boat is countless.  My Mann's hover hat is a give away to the period. Simpler times.  I almost wish I still had it to fish out of.  Almost. 

I had one of those a few yrs ago. It was my Grandfather's. After he passed, the Terry boat sat in my Grandmother's driveway for a few yrs & eventually a big tree branch fell on it, cracking the hull. 

 

I have an uncle (actually my Grandad's son in law) who loves to fix things. He decided to take it & restore it, even tho most everybody told him it wasn't worth it. Got no idea how much time & money he put in it, but he restored it very nicely. Put an on board charger on it, fixed the stick steering & put a 25 hp Yamaha 4 stroke on it. It was a sweet lil' boat. He sold it to me for $2500. Said he mostly restored it so we could have it in the family. 

 

After about 4 yrs, I sold it back to my uncle. I needed a little cash. He eventually sold it to a 16 yr old kid & his Dad that were looking for the teenager's 1st boat. Kinda wish I still had that ole thing. ? I can remember fishing with my Grandad outta that boat in Herb Parsons lake when I was a kid. 

my first boat was a 16ft 1966 Polar kraft Jon boat with a 1967 10 hp evinrude. 

this was in 1989. Just got married and had very little money.

added a hand control Minn Kota to the bow. and a cheap hummingbird to the stern.

Used a recirculating pump in a cooler for the Livewell.

Total investment in the boat was under $1000.00.

 

My brother in law and I fished  Local Iowa Tournaments for 10 years in this boat.

this Boat paid for itself several times, in tournament winnings.

we had a lot of fun in this boat.