Looking for recommendations

allaroundhunter

allaroundhunter

Member
Just would like to say hello to everyone out there. New to the forum. A good community here. A little bit about me; been living on the lake my whole life, a shore fisherman, and a fishing nut.

I've now seem to have run into a good problem. I'm looking at expanding my fishing opportunities. I was hoping I could get some recommendations from people with more boating experience on Erie. What type and length of boat should I be looking at for fishing Erie??
I would love to be able to go out deep trolling for the walleyes and rainbows, as well as fishing for some perch and bass. Would likely have 2-4 people onboard max for my outings. This would be strictly a fishing boat. No real hard budget cap, but I'm open to all suggestions.

Thanks,

D*MAC
 
I would imagine you will have many answers for this but ultimately you will have to determine what suits your needs. Long hauls to deeper waters? Closer to shore? Will you go out in rougher waters? Portability of the boat if you like to go to other lakes and areas to fish? I have a Princecraft Xpedition 170 (17 footer) and it suits me fine for fishing with a friend; however, I also know it has its limits and I never push past my comfort level keeping safety in mind at all times.

I am sure you will get some good advice here. From charter boat captains to your weekend warriors can be found and most seem quite pleasant. Good luck and welcome aboard!!

If I fished lake Erie only, I would have picked up a nice Trophy boat :D
 
I had 23 ft Key West that could handle any rough water in Erie. Handled really well and as such was easy for bass and perch as well.
It did not come with a lot of accessories though-eg drink holders and such.
Had to switch for boat suited for family members who were not fisherman( although maybe I should have just left them at home)!
Now run performance three- pontoon pontoon boat. Better for all but I don't know where to put downriggers yet. Boat does run like a charm but you can't have driver seat too far forward as line runs back under boat when trolling.
 
Allaroundhunter, if you are looking for a fishing boat then have a good look at my boat. You would spend well over $70,000 to buy and outfit a boat like this. Because of a pending move to Alberta I am selling the boat for less than half of what I have invested. The boat is $35,000 and has every conceivable thing you need to chase Walleye and Steel from snap swivels, rods, lures, tackle boxes full of tackle, electronics, planer boards, radios etc,etc. The boat alone without equipment or trailer was appraised at $29,500 3 months ago
 
Thanks guys for the replies. Have look at the trophy and key west boats before. They look pretty sharp for fishing. And scrimmy I looked at your boat in the classifieds...not sure exactly how soon I'll be looking to purchase though
 
allaroundhunter, I shopped for a boat recently and replaced my ride 12 months ago. If you're interested in a new boat the best bang for the buck in boats big enough to handle Lake Erie on fair weather days is 18'. Most manufacturers make a decent all purpose fishing/family boat in that size at a competitive price. Bigger is probably better but the prices jump considerably beyond 18'. Before shopping you should make up your mind what you really want out of a boat. If you're fishing off shore a kicker engine is pretty important. A decent live well allows you to release fish you don't want. If it is also a family boat, adequate seating and people capacity is important as is an engine strong enough to handle the load. Make a list of the accessories you want and need. Items like boat covers, kickers, fish finders, GPS's, down riggers, planer boards, HD rod holders, etc. can add thousands of dollars. As "tyee one on" said, a head may also be an important consideration. That immediately takes you into a different type of fishing boat. Typically you are looking at Salt Water craft over 20 feet. There are a few older fresh water fishing boats around with heads but I don't think many manufacturers are still making them.
 
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allaroundhunter, Trophy makes an excellent boat and that is what I had before I bought the Sylvan. The only problem with the trophy was you needed shares in Petro Canada to operate it. That is why I went to a 23' aluminum hull. The trophy would cost me $200.00 a day to operate while the Sylvan would run all day long for under $50.00. My Trophy was very well equipped and I sold it for $30,000 a little over a year ago and it was a 1999 23' walkaround, whereas my Sylvan is a very little used 2003 with better and more equipment than the trophy had. The Sylvan will be going into storage next week as I am making the move to Edmonton.
 
I agree with Duck soup , 18ft at least
I upgraded to a 20 3/4 lund pro V for the same reason , I wanted to fish Erie more (safely)
take your time deciding
 
Thanks again guys...safety is a big point for me. Like I said i'm new to boating sooo feeling "safe" really means something to me. Although I do know you are never really truly "safe" until you are off the water.

Is that like a general rule scrimmy that aluminums will be better on fuel economy than fiberglass?? I mean it does depend on a lot of variables too, but in similar comparison is that true? Because knowing myself it would be easy for me to go out fishing almost everyday through out the summer(weather permitting of course) and $200+ bucks a trip would add up really quick.

I pretty much gathered from doing some research that an 18 footer was the minimum for running out to do some deep sea fishing. I know that this boat would be strictly for Erie/maybe Ontario.

Like I said before I'm completely new to this and open to all opinions. I like to learn from others past experience/mistakes so I don't make mistakes myself!!

D*MAC
 
When I ran walleye I would run up to 20 miles one way in a 23' fiberglass with a 200hp and never did I burn more than 80 liters of gas. @1.30 a liter was right around $100 Most runs aren't near that far.

Go as big as you can afford and put as much power on it as you can, you can always slow down but if you need power and don't have it......:oops:

Aluminum vs glass? Aluminum lighter and easier to tow, glass is a much better rough riding boat...

Good Luck

BD
 
I started fishing both lakes a little over 3 yrs. ago . I purchased a new Lund 1750,not quit 18' but it is a Tyee which comes with a deeper hull then some of the other aluminums this size. It works great with 2-4 people but is best with 3. I have it outfitted with riggers, mast,rod holders etc. and it is very easy to move around in . Would I go bigger? Yes if I was only going to fish the Great Lakes, but I take it into smaller lakes as well. The only thing I wish it had was a head (toilet). If you plan on taking anyone other then your buddies out this is almost a must . I'm not sure how far out Scrimmy goes to fish but I can run all day long on about $20 worth . I guess you need to weigh convenience over practicality . This is a perfect weekend warrior boat but if I was going to be on the water more then that I would be looking at something 23 foot or bigger. Oh ya, mine is for sale too!Cheers
Kijiji Ontario > Brantford > cars & vehicles > boats, watercraft > powerboats, motorboats > Ad ID 523556308
 
Running an all day charter or 2 half day charters with the trophy would burn $200.00 in fuel without thought to my pocketbook. A big v8 sucks gas no matter what. My Sylvan with a v6 4.3 liter burns about 30 percent or less than the Trophy. And since I just put on a 9.9 Bigfoot Kicker it uses even less gas. But Big Dave is right the glass boats do ride better in rough seas. Then again my Sylvan has a deeper(safer) hull than any Fiberglass boat I have seen or owned. I have owned 24 boats. The transom on my Sylvan is more than twice the depth my Trophy had. The same can be said about the Gunnel height. My Trophy weighed almost 8,000 lbs while the Sylvan comes in at 2,300 lbs empty.
 
my lund has a 250 HP mercury verado on it , it is VERY quiet and good on gas !
it will idle down to troll (using the smart gauges on the dash) for those eyes and bows or get you where you want to go very quickly

when you buy , make sure you get the biggest motor you can for the size of boat you buy , NEVER under power a large boat just to save $
you will need the power one day

just my 2 cents
 
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