Well I have finally crossed the line fellas I am officially a 1996 ProCraft 185 owner. Picked up my new boat yesterday and had it on the water today. Like a dream come true. Anyway enough gloating. I was wondering what everyones first official bass boat was? Thought it would be kind of neat to know.
Congrats on the new ride!
Congratulations.
I still have my first bass boat though I bought it a long time ago. It's a 1993 Ranger Boats 492VS.
2000 Javelin Renegade 20, Johnson 200. Motor is almost done being rebuilt, can't wait!!
1jav
Mine was a 1988 Tracker Magna 17 with a 60 hp Mariner.
Congrats
1984 Fisher Marsh Hawk Aluminum with a 60 hp Rude. Then I upgraded to a 1984 Bass Tracker fiberglass with a 150 Mariner.
1985 hydra sport vl475 a 17 1/2 footer w/gt150
07' triton TR-196 with a 200 opti.
99' Ranger R71
Only had it on the water once. Its in the garage with the seats out of it. I just installed a new fish finder and making sure all the wiring is done before installing the new seats. I have a long list to complete before the first tourney of the year. Super happy about having a bass boat. ;D
Seeing as how this is going to be my first full year with a bass boat, I still have my first one too. 87 Nitro 1710 w/150 Merc. I love having a Bass boat, but I'm learning several things. #1, you will always want a bigger, better, newer, faster boat. #2 you will never have enough money. #3 you will always want more "stuff" for it. Going out this morning. I have a new H-Bird to add, a new troll motor, and a new charger. There is always work to do on it. At least on mine there is. Plan to keep it this year and next, then a newer, bigger, better, faster one LOL.
My first bass boat was a 79 Hydroglass with a 79 Evinrude 135. The gel coat was gone and the engine never ran right but still have some good memories with that boat. I also have some bad memories with it! Now that was a old tri hull type boat so I now have a 89 Hydrasports VS150T with a Evinrude 150 and it's like night and day compared to the old boat! Can't wait till my next one but that is going to take sometime!
97 Fisher Pro Avenger 16
Mine was a 1992 Sylvan with a 40 Johnson. It was pretty much a flat bottom and not much wider than a canoe but it worked on the inland lakes.
jacksonmj and bob o, I bet those Hydra Sports boats are fast with 150s! It looks like they weigh about 850#.
I guess my first "official" bass boat, meaning it was manufactured as a bass boat, was a 95' 20' Astro w/200 EFI Merc.
However, I would count my first bass boat as a 74' Lund 14' aluminum that I put a front deck, tm, livewell and graph on. It had a 25 hp Mariner for power. I guess that was around 1982. I used it until I bought the Astro. What a sweet ride!
Willie
my first bas boat was a 1974 16' Bassmaster with a Merc 50. I've had 8 more since that one and had that one from 1977 to 1986
one thig about old jigger he isnt brand loyal...he has owned about every boat on the market....my first boat was a 1983 skeeter SS1 fisherman with a 75 hp evinrude tri hull..then 9 years later i bought a 1987 basscat caracal with a 150 gt johnson and then i bought a 2001 basscat cougar with 225 yamaha....
Sounds like a lot of good (and possibly not so good) memories guys. According to hooksetter I had my first bass boat a long time ago. I know one thing, so far that old boat has caught a lot more fish than this one. But hopefully that changes soon!!!
don't recall year, but was a 16' alumacraft w/a 30hp evinrude on it.
had a front deck, single console and i installed a rear deck w/livewells and storage.
'86 Bayliner (16ft) w/ 85hp Force Motor. Kept it for 9 years and finally traded it in for exactly what I paid for it. Suprisingly enough even with the Force motor, it ran great until the last few months.
Got you all beat----a 1973 Ranger which I still use on the smaller lakes I sometimes fish
First glass boat was a 1986 Bass Cat Pantera Classic with a 150 XR2. Ran it for 2 years, and sold it for $400 less than I paid for it. Not bad...
Quote from: Bender on May 04, 2010, 03:51:21 PM
Mine was a 1992 Sylvan with a 40 Johnson. It was pretty much a flat bottom and not much wider than a canoe but it worked on the inland lakes.
jacksonmj and bob o, I bet those Hydra Sports boats are fast with 150s! It looks like they weigh about 850#.
mine was laid up with some kevlar too. i don't know how much kevlar but yea i was very fast out of the hole and up to 55-60 top end. but now the basscat i have now rides like a caddy it goes thru the waves not bouncing from one to the other like in the HS. i caught alot of fish out of that boat from florida to canada north of the sault i towed that boat everywhere with a 1990 jeep cherokee no less.
(http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h16/bko3/100_0037.jpg)
Like Kimmel, I own a '93 Ranger 492VS (great minds think alike, huh Dan?!) with a Merc 150 EFI. Has a good hole shot but top end is only a modest 55mph - sufficient for most of the smaller lakes we fish here on the west side. This first REAL bass boat of mine was just aquired last year. It was maintained extremely well which is why I didn't mind getting something older (and saving a lot of dough vs. new). I've added a HB 997cSI and next year plan to upgrade the trolling motor. Before that I shared boats with my dad - a 17' Crestliner single console and before that a 15' flat bottom with homemade deck/pedestals/etc. (great for small lakes and doubled for duck hunting).
My 1st is a 94 Bass Tracker Tournament TX 17 with a 40 horse Mariner. I was so happy when I got her 3 summers ago. Now I can't wait until somebody else gets to feel that way. That means I will have a new toy to play with! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
First real bass boat is a 06 Ranger z-19 w 225 ho rude. Before that was a 14' tracker w trolling motor livewell and a 9.9 suzuki. Fished with that for 15 years. First boat I ever bought. I think I was 12..........
Almost the same - first bass boat 05 Ranger z20 225 Merc, 1st boat 16ft Tracker Proguide with 40 Merc and 9hp kicker.
Quote from: bassfan586 on May 06, 2010, 08:31:36 PM
First real bass boat is a 06 Ranger z-19 w 225 ho rude. Before that was a 14' tracker w trolling motor livewell and a 9.9 suzuki. Fished with that for 15 years. First boat I ever bought. I think I was 12..........
First boat I used for Bass Fishing was a 1997 Sea-Doo Challenger that I put a casting deck in the bow and mounted a MK edge foot control on. Me and my brother fished for 8 yrs out of that boat. Now my first real bass boat is a 1990 Ranger 362v w/ 150 merc XR4. Picked it up 4/15/10 and haven't been on it yet, but it looks real pretty sitting in my garage!
A friend picked up an 84 Champion that rode like a dream on Lake St. Clair and I asked him to check with me first before selling it. He did and this is the boat I'm running today. The 175 hp Merc moves it along at 65 mph and the hull can handle all but the worst days out on the big lake. I've since removed the bow rider seats and installed a deck all the way across which gives me two more badly needed storage compartments.
The photo here is from the first trip out for a test run. We took it out to Lake Orion and the first misstep happened when we saw the spare trailer tire floating away at the launch. OK I got this; now a bike chain and bungee cords hold that down. The second misstep was completely unknown to me at the time but without a doubt someone upstairs was looking out for me...
Before I bought the boat had it had actually sunk and was refurbished. One item that wasn't looked at was the oil. The alarm wasn't hooked up so I ended up running it WOT out there without knowing that the bottom 1/3 of the motor reservoir and the bottom 1/3 of the external oil reservoir where the oil is drawn from was pure water. As it turns out the oil pump wasn't working at all. On the next trip I ran a gas/oil mix until it could be fixed. When fishing an NBAA tournament my partner Scott and I shot up the river as far as the Middle Grounds and on the way back the oil pump started working.
A compression test showed everything was perfect with the cylinders and it's been running great ever since.
First and current bass boat is a blue 1994 Ranger 354V. 17'10" with a Merc 150 EFI Black Max, High 5 Prop. Thanks Tom Valead for selling me such a treasure! Nearly Mint condition. Well cared for...literally the deal of the century.
Wow, Wayne. That's a cool looking boat! I really dig the oldschool look. That thing looks brand new. I really want to get an early to mid 90's Bullet, with a "built" engine. I seen an 87', with a Johnson 200, that was pushing 90mph in Bass and Walleye boat's magazine. I would'nt mind an older model Gambler either.
I was looking for the spare tire in that photo... must have been just out of the shot?!? ;D
;D 1996 Nitro 186 FS BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!
1984 Procraft 1650 with a 115hp Mariner. That little boat took a beating on St. Clair. Of course that was when 18-1/2' was a big boat.