I'm finally looking to buy my first boat for fishing. I'm a lifelong angler and I've been on boats since I was a babe, but I've never owned a powerboat myself.
I normally fish the Columbia river and it's tributaries; the last few years I've been pedaling the Columbia in a Hobie Outback kayak and trolling for salmon and steelhead. It's fun, I can launch from anywhere, and the kayak can handle pretty much anything the Columbia throws at me, although it gets hairy when the wind starts raging and I'm contending with 3 foot swells.
Despite the fun, it's not the most social form of angling, and I like taking my friends and family out on those occasions when they have time. Which doesn't really work on a 1 seat kayak! Trying to find other kayaks to borrow is bothersome, and I've been slowly but surely feeling the need to get a powerboat.
Thus began my descent into the madness of choosing a boat. For reference, when I was a kid I used to go out to Buoy 10 and into the ocean in a fiberglass boat my grandfather built by hand. I'm OK with getting my hands dirty and doing a restoration, and I'd actually prefer it given my current budget and the need to make the boat feel like my own. Where do I go from there, however?
I've kind of settled on an old used Starcraft for a few reasons. The hull design seems like it can handle the Columbia's quirkiness--glass calm one minute, raging wind and swells the next. I regularly see people out in 15' Smokercrafts, although the bulk of what you see in the river nowadays are 30k-100k alumawelds with semi-v designs, open floor plans, and between 19 and 21 feet in length. I'm not taking out a second mortgage to buy a boat however. I don't mind sinking money into a reno over time, but I'm not going to drop money on a boat that costs as much as a house!
I also like the Starcrafts partly because of this forum. There's a ton of information floating around here, lots of pictorials on other renovations. It's unfortunate that half the pictures don't show up at this point because of photobucket's policies, but it's enough to know that there a lot of knowledgeable people who've done exactly what I'm looking to do.
I suck at brevity so I'll try to get to the point. Am I wrong thinking a Starcraft would be a good fishing machine for the Columbia? I've been looking at 16' to 19' options. I need an open bow, but don't entirely mind converting an older closed bow. Obviously I'd prefer to get an open bow out of the gate, but there are a lot more closed bow Starcrafts in the Portland, OR area. My budget is maxed out at around $2500 currently; it was higher initially but I have a full deck rebuild I have to get done at the moment, as my wife reminded me when I told her I wanted to get a boat
I'd also prefer outboard motors, although I'm open to feedback there. There are a few longer Starcrafts with good working inboards on the market. I could always wait and save for a few months, but I'd prefer to get going on the project now so I have something to do through the dreary winter months. I've looked at hundreds of boats the last few weeks. I've been scouring online marketplaces...my minds starting to get numb. I'm starting to second guess my decisions. But then I look at the beautiful boats in this forum and think...I've got to be on the right track.
Thanks for any feedback.
I normally fish the Columbia river and it's tributaries; the last few years I've been pedaling the Columbia in a Hobie Outback kayak and trolling for salmon and steelhead. It's fun, I can launch from anywhere, and the kayak can handle pretty much anything the Columbia throws at me, although it gets hairy when the wind starts raging and I'm contending with 3 foot swells.
Despite the fun, it's not the most social form of angling, and I like taking my friends and family out on those occasions when they have time. Which doesn't really work on a 1 seat kayak! Trying to find other kayaks to borrow is bothersome, and I've been slowly but surely feeling the need to get a powerboat.
Thus began my descent into the madness of choosing a boat. For reference, when I was a kid I used to go out to Buoy 10 and into the ocean in a fiberglass boat my grandfather built by hand. I'm OK with getting my hands dirty and doing a restoration, and I'd actually prefer it given my current budget and the need to make the boat feel like my own. Where do I go from there, however?
I've kind of settled on an old used Starcraft for a few reasons. The hull design seems like it can handle the Columbia's quirkiness--glass calm one minute, raging wind and swells the next. I regularly see people out in 15' Smokercrafts, although the bulk of what you see in the river nowadays are 30k-100k alumawelds with semi-v designs, open floor plans, and between 19 and 21 feet in length. I'm not taking out a second mortgage to buy a boat however. I don't mind sinking money into a reno over time, but I'm not going to drop money on a boat that costs as much as a house!
I also like the Starcrafts partly because of this forum. There's a ton of information floating around here, lots of pictorials on other renovations. It's unfortunate that half the pictures don't show up at this point because of photobucket's policies, but it's enough to know that there a lot of knowledgeable people who've done exactly what I'm looking to do.
I suck at brevity so I'll try to get to the point. Am I wrong thinking a Starcraft would be a good fishing machine for the Columbia? I've been looking at 16' to 19' options. I need an open bow, but don't entirely mind converting an older closed bow. Obviously I'd prefer to get an open bow out of the gate, but there are a lot more closed bow Starcrafts in the Portland, OR area. My budget is maxed out at around $2500 currently; it was higher initially but I have a full deck rebuild I have to get done at the moment, as my wife reminded me when I told her I wanted to get a boat
I'd also prefer outboard motors, although I'm open to feedback there. There are a few longer Starcrafts with good working inboards on the market. I could always wait and save for a few months, but I'd prefer to get going on the project now so I have something to do through the dreary winter months. I've looked at hundreds of boats the last few weeks. I've been scouring online marketplaces...my minds starting to get numb. I'm starting to second guess my decisions. But then I look at the beautiful boats in this forum and think...I've got to be on the right track.Thanks for any feedback.
