1st Bass boat

[SethV]

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...

[bob o]

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.

[fasttrack]

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).

[Mike S.]

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!

[bassfan586]

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..........

[t-bone]

Almost the same - first bass boat 05 Ranger z20 225 Merc, 1st boat 16ft Tracker Proguide with 40 Merc and 9hp kicker.

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..........

[zrt594]

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!

[WayneC]

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.

[EKennedy]

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. 

[bassassasin88]

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.

[djkimmel]

I was looking for the spare tire in that photo... must have been just out of the shot?!?

[Lip_Ripper]

  1996 Nitro 186 FS BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

[independentMike]

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.