Small bass boat? 2024
Taylor Haberle reply :
Hi all,
Quick question on something I've been researching for months. I'm a collegiate angler who needs something between a mini plastic bass boat and a full blown glass boat for practicing/prefishing and club/local tournauments. It seems like there's a big hole in the market between eight footers and your entry 16 footers. I'd like/need features like a small outboard, some electronics, and definitely a live well, but I'd like a small enough boat to keep trips easy and fuel efficent. Is there any mystery bullet I'm missing? I saw some fantastic 12-14 footers out of Japan but unfortunately America won't make compact bass boats. My plan currently is buying a 12 or 14 foot Jon Boat or Skiff, decking it, wiriing it, adding pumps and electronics, an outboard, etc. Not ideal so I wanted to see if any community members had an alternative idea.
Catt reply :
If ya aint fishing tournaments out of it why ya need livewells?
Master Bait'r reply :
Build a 12 or 14'er. It's fun!
A-Jay reply :
Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~
There are quite a few members here who have built & fish out of, a platform similar to what you've described.
Here's a recent thread with pics:
Good Luck
A-Jay
WIGuide reply :
They make a 12 foot 2 man boat that already has a deck and a small livewell. You could also deck out a jon boat. Your other option would also be to buy a small 14 v hull. Brands like Sylvan, Alumacraft, Fisher, Northwoods, and Lowe all had boats like that. They're small but for 1 person they can get the job done.
gimruis reply :
Lund's Rebel line is a pretty good starter boat too. Its not technically a bass boat but it will do and has lots of space inside.
Taylor Haberle reply :
On 3/4/2016 at 5:32 PM, Catt said:If ya aint fishing tournaments out of it why ya need livewells?
I know my original post was a little confusing, my apologies, but I said it's purpose would be practicing/prefishing for larger sanctioned tournaments (as you need 16+ ft, 40+ HP, console, etc) and also allow me to compete in small club tournaments as a boater.
I think my plan will be to build a mini bass rig out of a 12-14 footer.. I'm a little worried about weight though with a 9.9, TM + batteries, livewell, and electronics. Someone mentioned the plastic 12 footer, I think they mean the Sundolphin Pro 120. That seems like a good option, $2000 + outboard and electronics isn't a great value compared to building one out of a Jon Boat but it would be easier.
Cmiller reply :
I fished out of a tracker 1542 Jon boat last year, it worked okay at best, the flat bottom really limits you to calm days. I sold it at the end of the season and upgraded to an older 17' ranger for not much more money. If you shop around you can find a lightly used older bass boat for the price of a Jon boat
Chris186 reply :
On 3/8/2016 at 4:32 AM, Cmiller said:I fished out of a tracker 1542 Jon boat last year, it worked okay at best, the flat bottom really limits you to calm days. I sold it at the end of the season and upgraded to an older 17' ranger for not much more money. If you shop around you can find a lightly used older bass boat for the price of a Jon boat
How does the flat bottom limit you to calm days?
bass crazy reply :
If you are thinking about modifying a jon boat you should check out the TIn Boats forums and website.
Allen Der reply :
How about a Tuffy Esox? might be hard to find outside the midwest though.
fishnkamp reply :
There are plenty of used Trackers, Lowe, Alumacraft etc around. Most any time I look on craigslist I see 14 to 17 footers going from $1000 to 3000. Most have livewells, trolling motors, outboards etc. I ran a 15 foot stick steer PolarKraft with a 25 on it. That thing ran maybe 5 gallons of fuel each day while fishing. I only paid $2000 for it used from a dealer. Tell us a little more, what can you pull with and what state you are in maybe someone on here knows of a deal.
Catt reply :
On 3/8/2016 at 4:09 AM, Taylor Haberle said:I know my original post was a little confusing, my apologies, but I said it's purpose would be practicing/prefishing for larger sanctioned tournaments (as you need 16+ ft, 40+ HP, console, etc) and also allow me to compete in small club tournaments as a boater.
I think my plan will be to build a mini bass rig out of a 12-14 footer.. I'm a little worried about weight though with a 9.9, TM + batteries, livewell, and electronics. Someone mentioned the plastic 12 footer, I think they mean the Sundolphin Pro 120. That seems like a good option, $2000 + outboard and electronics isn't a great value compared to building one out of a Jon Boat but it would be easier.
That is a 16' 52" bottom mod-vee tunnel hull, 40 hp, with casting decks front & rear.
I no problems fishing Toledo Bend !
Taylor Haberle reply :
On 3/8/2016 at 11:18 AM, fishnkamp said:There are plenty of used Trackers, Lowe, Alumacraft etc around. Most any time I look on craigslist I see 14 to 17 footers going from $1000 to 3000. Most have livewells, trolling motors, outboards etc. I ran a 15 foot stick steer PolarKraft with a 25 on it. That thing ran maybe 5 gallons of fuel each day while fishing. I only paid $2000 for it used from a dealer. Tell us a little more, what can you pull with and what state you are in maybe someone on here knows of a deal.
Yeah I'm seeing tons of Nitros and Rangers popping up here in western NC, but not much in my price range really. If I was doing a small jon boat build, I think I'd like to stay under 3k but I could go up to 5 on a true bass boat. I'll keep looking, thanks. I would be ecstatic if I could get something operable for that price, but it needs to be small-ish because it needs to be stored at the university in tight quarters. I've got a half ton that would be fine, especially for aluminum.
By the way- I looked at the Tuffy Esox and they seem really nice but couldn't find one relatively nearby (500 miles).. Also seem to really hold their resale value so there weren't a lot of used ones in my range. Thanks though
SmokeRise1 reply :
I fish out of a Basstender 11.3 and I think it would meet your needs.
Cmiller reply :
On 3/8/2016 at 8:08 AM, CD1542 said:How does the flat bottom limit you to calm days?
anything over small chop would make the boat pound really bad, and you would get soaked. A modified v or v hull works better if you fish on bigger lakes often.
Bluebasser86 reply :
If I had the extra money to blow, I'd get one of these.
http://www.bassbanditboats.com/Models.html
Chris186 reply :
On 3/10/2016 at 1:21 PM, Cmiller said:anything over small chop would make the boat pound really bad, and you would get soaked. A modified v or v hull works better if you fish on bigger lakes often.
I would agree with a mod v or v hull for bigger lakes, say over 2000 acres, but I have been fishing out of a 1542 for 5 years now and while it is a little rougher running in the wind, it doesn't pound that bad and I have no stability issues with it on windy or calm days.
Catt reply :
On 3/12/2016 at 1:43 AM, CD1542 said:I would agree with a mod v or v hull for bigger lakes, say over 2000 acres, but I have been fishing out of a 1542 for 5 years now and while it is a little rougher running in the wind, it doesn't pound that bad and I have no stability issues with it on windy or calm days.
I'm running Smart Tabs, smooths it right out!
Taylor Haberle reply :
On 3/10/2016 at 2:28 PM, Bluebasser86 said:If I had the extra money to blow, I'd get one of these.
http://www.bassbanditboats.com/Models.html
Out of curiosity, how much do those go for? Pretty neat
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 3/12/2016 at 11:12 AM, Taylor Haberle said:Out of curiosity, how much do those go for? Pretty neat
8-10k it seems like if I remember correctly.
fishnkamp reply :
Go to http://greensboro.craigslist.org/boa/5487181648.html. Now there is a ready to fish 16 foot Tracker with a perfectly running 50 HP outboard. Includes a good trolling motor and electronics. It looks clean and as it is a 16 footer with a console you should be able to enter some larger tournaments. It will not be a 60,000 dollar glitter sled but as a first rig should be fine. Take a look at it. I also saw a lower cost option here http://greensboro.craigslist.org/boa/5468972175.html. These type of boats are out there. You just need to spend some time and look.. If you contact them ask to look at them, ride them, and then before purchasing it have the outboard checked out by a marine mechanic. I always offer to fill their fuel tank and I always pay to have the outboard checked out (but only on a boat I am sure I want to buy). Good Luck.
cgolf reply :
Here is a video of how I setup my 16ft alumacraft lunker. I really like it, and have fished in heavy closely spaced waves, but would not take it out on say Lake Superior. The biggest need was the 80 lb trolling motor, and the only downside is the back end blows all over the place when trying to position fish around reed beds in heavy wind. I made some drift buckets this year and hope they will keep the back end from kicking out. All in all though a great little rig.
Have done a few more things since, hopefully posting the video is cool with the mods.
On 3/10/2016 at 2:28 PM, Bluebasser86 said:If I had the extra money to blow, I'd get one of these.
http://www.bassbanditboats.com/Models.html
That is really cool looking, but where do you store your gear and extra sticks? Would love to try fishing out of one sometime, but with the boating traffic that even our smaller lakes get I would worry about being seen in one.
BCB reply :
Japan doesn't have level flotation requirements regulated by the USCG in the United States. Those small boats would not pass the requirements in the USA which is why they are not produced here.
We were targeting a small boat with a 40 HP limit and the project for eliminate because of aluminum boat competition and pricing.
BCB
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 3/14/2016 at 9:29 AM, cgolf said:
That is really cool looking, but where do you store your gear and extra sticks? Would love to try fishing out of one sometime, but with the boating traffic that even our smaller lakes get I would worry about being seen in one.
If I was fishing in one, I'd just lay them along the side. I never had a rod locker or much of a front deck until the boat I have now. I always just laid them along the side in the bottom of the boat and grabbed them as I needed them. We have a lot of state lakes that are under 200 acres that would be perfect for something like that.
tbone1993 reply :
On 3/13/2016 at 10:19 AM, fishnkamp said:Go to http://greensboro.craigslist.org/boa/5487181648.html. Now there is a ready to fish 16 foot Tracker with a perfectly running 50 HP outboard. Includes a good trolling motor and electronics. It looks clean and as it is a 16 footer with a console you should be able to enter some larger tournaments. It will not be a 60,000 dollar glitter sled but as a first rig should be fine. Take a look at it. I also saw a lower cost option here http://greensboro.craigslist.org/boa/5468972175.html. These type of boats are out there. You just need to spend some time and look.. If you contact them ask to look at them, ride them, and then before purchasing it have the outboard checked out by a marine mechanic. I always offer to fill their fuel tank and I always pay to have the outboard checked out (but only on a boat I am sure I want to buy). Good Luck.
Did alright out of a tracker this past year. Perfect rig to get out and go fish. 90% of the time I pre-fished in college I was fishing out of the boat I was going to fish the tournament in. The console steering is a plus because then you can enter pretty much any tournament.
fishonfire reply :
I would also look at a 1448 or 1648 jon boat. The folks over at tinboats.net can help you to build it into a nice little bass rig that is light weight and set up to your specific needs. Personally for me i use a 1648 all welded boat. I keep mine very simple as far as layout and prefer having the motor set up for tiller but I use my boat for fishing and hunting. Just make sure you get a boat big enough and wide enough to have a decent size front deck to stand on which is important for bass fishing.
Team9nine reply :
Sounds like a customized jon boat or V-bottom is what you need. Here's the 1648 Lowe I customized with decks, storage, livewells, electronics, onboard charger, troll motor, etc. Ran it for 8 years.
-T9
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