Is my boat good enought for bass tournaments?

bigbass87 · Jul 20, 2011

I have a 1995 Ranger R70 Sport with a 115hp Evinrude Intruder. My top speed is about 49-50 mph. So is my boat good enough and quick enough?

H20Rat · Jul 20, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

??? isn't that a fishing tournament?

jigngrub · Jul 20, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

How tall of a roostertail does it shoot out of the back?... if it can't spew out at least a 10' tall roostertail it'll never make it!

Of course your boat is good enough. If you really know how to catch fish, you don't have to travel that far or fast to catch a good stringer.

jvigier · Jul 20, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

I second that. Unless you enter high end or pro tournaments, speed will have little to do with success. Your fishing skills will carry you (or not in my case).

ac0j · Jul 20, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

If you plan to troll that fast, you may need to aquire some really big weights!
It is possible to win a fishing tourney out of a canoe. GO FOR IT!

sublauxation · Jul 20, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Sounds fast enough to me, but then I like to judge the worthiness of boats by the number of built in can holders. You can wave to others who are racing to the other side of the lake where the fishing is always better.

1980Galaxy · Jul 20, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

as long as you have a license and a aerated livewell you can fish in tournaments.... the smaller and slower the boat, the worse you make the guys feel that have the $40,000 boats.

southkogs · Jul 20, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

I used to laugh when the bass boats first started becoming popular on our lake. Guys would show up with $30K (now more like $50) worth of boat, $1,500 in gear and $150 in sunglasses only to be outfished by some 80 year old man with a cane pole and a rowboat.

The boat doesn't catch the fish.

I understand your concern, though. Around 20 minutes before weigh in on a lake here in TN the water looks a lot like pole position at Daytona. Those guys can really be screamin' trying to get back in. If you're fishing for fun and competing for fun, i see plenty of guys in rigs much smaller and slower than yours. Hope ya' win a few!

5150abf · Jul 21, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

I have never really understood the 300 horse outboard on a fishing boat, seems kinda silly to me.

As others have said you don't need a big engine to catch fish, if you can catch em they really don't care what you are in.

LiFeStArTs@FoRtY · Jul 21, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Reminds me of the animated movie, Up. The dog would talking and in mid sentence he would SQUIREL!!! Thats what the guys on the hi powered bass boat remind me of when they go screamin' by... FISH!!!

lncoop · Jul 21, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Mike Iaconelli won his first tournament in a Coleman Crawdad, so I'll tell you what I'll do for ya bigbass. I'll trade you a Coleman Crawdad (provided I can find one) for that worn out pathetic shell of a boat. I mean Ranger? Come on! What a heap!

Silvertip · Jul 21, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

I fish a big resevoir and I've yet to see anyone in a bass boat actually fishing. They are too intent on running wide open from one end of the pond to the other (wide open of course). When they are stopped it is at the dock at a resort.

Maclin · Jul 21, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Just show up late at the one cove the others were all racing to and mention that the fish are biting back where you came from, then hang on until their hole-shot wakes subside.

JB · Jul 21, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Not good enough, bigbass. The best fish are caught at 65-80mph.

Limited-Time · Jul 21, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

For those that don't get it. Less travel time means more casting time. And when your fishing for a living its about casting time not about the boat ride there or back.

roscoe · Jul 21, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Seriously, research the requirements of the tournaments you plan to attend.

Many of them will have very specific equipment requirements, along with lures used, partnering rules, cell phone use, etc.

Some Muskie tournaments around here, don't require a livewell, because you are not even allowed to put the fish in the boat. But they require cradle nets, a 2-way radio, and a cell phone.

fishrdan · Jul 21, 2011

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

Re: Is my boat good enought for bas tournaments?

That thing isn't going to cut it if you are serious about bass tournament fishing, you need something like this fishing rig.......

Personally, I think those high dollar rigs are more about catching fishermen, than catching fish.

Is my boat good enought for bass tournaments?

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