Having looked at boats, you want a SeaArk Easy 200 or Big Easy if you want to go big. Great aluminum boat for fishing but many of the amenities of a pontoon boat. It can be heavily kitted for fishing and/or have sweet couches for lounging reading whatever. The SeaArks are built heavy so if you like to back and swim or camp you won’t have a problem with gel coat or fiberglass. If you have it for a few years and want to sell it just give me a call.😀

1 hour ago, VolFan said:

Having looked at boats, you want a SeaArk Easy 200 or Big Easy if you want to go big. Great aluminum boat for fishing but many of the amenities of a pontoon boat. It can be heavily kitted for fishing and/or have sweet couches for lounging reading whatever. The SeaArks are built heavy so if you like to back and swim or camp you won’t have a problem with gel coat or fiberglass. If you have it for a few years and want to sell it just give me a call.😀

I know you’re joking but that Easy 200 looks extremely tempting.

Oh I’m not kidding! I’ve climbed around on them! It’s a perfect big TN lake boat!

5 hours ago, VolFan said:

Oh I’m not kidding! I’ve climbed around on them! It’s a perfect big TN lake boat!

They look amazing but there are almost none for sale used. This one seems built for a very specific sort of person and they don’t move many models. There is a dealer in east Knoxville who could probably order one new but that’s quite a bit more expensive than I had hoped for.

After googling around I don’t see any other brands offering something similar. Are you aware of any @VolFan ?

Princecraft offers deckboats that are similar.

Hey I am not aware of anything similar - that’s why the advice is so easy. Right now is definitely a bad time to buy. You may want to keep your ear to the internet, contact a few dealers and see if you can get someone’s trade-in on a bigger boat. There’s a place here in south Charlotte that is a SeaArk dealer and they always have a few discounted at end of season each year.

Considering your criteria for this boat, I'd recommend an 17-18' aluminum vee hull, multi species boat. They're versatile and have an open layout, suitable for comfortable cruising and family activities like camping and swimming, as well as fishing. They would comfortably seat 4 or more people for cruising and picnic outings and have enough deck space for camping equipment.

Lund, Crestliner, Ranger, and many other brands offer this style boat.

Here's one I found on Boat Trader that is an example of the class. https://www.boattrader.com/boat/2022-lund-1775-adventure-sport-10048604/

As a used boat, this one stands out because of low hours, the 115hp Mercury is at the boat's maximum hp rating helping performance and re-sell value, it's well equipped with high end trolling motor and electronics, and a shallow water anchor.

Again, this is not a recommendation to buy, it's just an example.