Hey everyone, heres the deal and i would appreciate any help. Me and my buddy do a lot of fishing with our one friend who owns a boat but the problem is he is always down at school and unable to come fishing with us most of the time. We live in in northern NJ where lakes are a dime a dozen, but many are backwoods with no permament boat launch so getting a hard hulled boat back there would be impossible anyway. So my buddy and I are looking to invest in an inflatable boat, for budgetary reasons 1)we both have small passenger cars (a corolla and a nissan altima) and we dont have the money to invest in a truck with a hitch, plus trailer, plus jon boat.

I've narrowed it down to two choices, and wonder if you guys have any input or experience with either of them. (We will be doing rowing most of the the time anyway, so motor mounts and power, battery life etc. is not really an issue)

1) Intext Sea Hawk 2 $169 plus shipping http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0030645018266a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=inflatable+boat&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=inflatable+boat&noImage=0&_requestid=24825

Pro's at least that i see, its a bit lighter and easier to lug, comes with oars and a hand pump, i like the idea of the fabric covering to resist punctures at least somewhat

2)Sevylor Fish Hunter 360 $175 free shipping http://www.amazon.com/Sevylor-Fish-Hunter-Inflatable-Boat/dp/B000K8PKJ8/ref=pd_sbs_sg_5/102-5498525-7650559

This one is only $5 more with free shipping, is 2 feet longer, a bit heavier, but does not come with a pump or oars. Also the name is much cooler ;D, and most likely with this one, we would purchase a small electric pump due to a combination deal making it a few dollars over 200$ with the pump.

So with that in mind, and anything else that you guys could possibly think of, I would love to hear your opinions and if anyone has used either of these boats, their experiences with them would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks for your help guys, we hope to buy one of the 2 within the next few days so we can get out on the water and start pulling out those 4-5 lbers we know these north nj lakes contain!

Just so you know, you can pull pretty much any size jon boat with a car.  Don't need a truck.

Have you guys considered kayaks?  You can put them on your head and walk in.

I've fished out of those type boats before and they're generally not much fun to fish out of.  I agree with LBH, if you can find a jon boat and trailer, you can tow it with either car.  Just get a smaller one the two of you can carry and you'll be fine.  

Remember, craigslist.com is your friend when it comes to finding cheap jon boats.  You may have to do some painting and fixing up, but you can find a boat cheap on there that'll do what you're looking to do.  Buddy of mine and his grandfather used to haul two jon boats from the side of the road down to the river with no problems.  At the time, we were both 16-17 years old.

Regards,

Dave

$200 is a tight budget to get on the water.  While the two boats you link to are within your budget I can't see either one lasting 5 years under perfect conditions (big uneducated guess.  My actual thought is 2 years under normal use).  There are canoes in your area for $450 on craigslist.com that will last 20years under normal conditions and could be resold when you no longer need it.  A john boat will be a little more by the time you get a trailer and mount a hitch to your car, but the aluminum hull will not loose value and can be resold.

Save your money and get a canoe.  Safer, more comfortable, easier to row, can go on top of car with rope, can be resold, can mount pole holders to it, you don't have to inflate it, etc.

Don't forget to beat them up on price.  They are probably expecting $400 and might be talked down to $380 if you ask real nice.

That is a tough.  I have fished out of rafts like that once.  I don't think you will be too happy in either of those personally.  

Your budget is pretty tight but if you are planning to haul those babies anywhere I would look into 2 belly boats or pontoons.  The pontoon being the best IMO but a belly boat is good too.  

Remember, this is just my opinion.

I have a Sea Eagle SE-9 with the fishermans dream package and it works great unless there is a lot of wind.  The Sea Eagle is about tripple the cost though....  I would look into a jon if I were you guys.