Boats I Have Known and Owned
Dateline 3/23/98
I bought my first bass boat in 1974 and it cost me one-half my annual salary as a school teacher. I was "in high cotton" with a real bass boat though, and could not have been any happier. My Arrowglass 16 foot bass boat with a 70 hp Evenrude replaced the 17 foot outdrive I had been using and was a huge improvement.
After I got out of college, fishing became a lot more important than skiing. The ski boat we had was modified to allow more fishing. I built a frame that hung over the front running light and dropped down to the water. A trolling motor mounted on it. I could sit on the top of the frame and drive the motor with my foot. In my early 20's back then, I could reach down and change speeds or turn the motor on and off with my hand. If I had to do that now I am sure I would fall in the lake!
We also did a lot of trolling back then. I spent hours pulling plugs around Clark's Hill the first summer after teaching for one year. Linda would stay in the trailer and read in the during the hot days while I fished, then join me late in the day when it cooled off a little. Of course she caught the biggest bass of the summer, a 8 pound 10 ounce hawg that my father had mounted for her.
We decided to buy a bass boat the next March and visited the Atlanta Boat Show. We found just what we were looking for in the Arrowglass and arranged to pick it up on Saturday. We left the dealer pulling the boat with our convertible Cutlass and drove to Clark's Hill. It was wonderful - the boat handled like a dream, was unbelievably comfortable and we caught fish. We caught so many fish on Sunday we stayed until dark. Driving home that night, pulling my new bass boat down I-20, a driver (that is the only printable thing I can call him) hit me from behind, pushing the front of the boat onto the trunk of the car. His pickup missed the motor, catching the corner of the boat.
I jumped out of the car and ran across the interstate to where he had stopped without looking for traffic. I was intent on killing him and then asking why he hit me. As I approached he asked if we were hurt and that made me realize I might be lucky to be standing after my first accident ever. It took me over a month to settle with his insurance company - I had to go through the state insurance commissioner - and I will not have anything to do with State Farm insurance to this day because of the way I was treated - but I finally got my boat back and used it happily for almost five years.
With my new boat I joined a bass club to try tournament fishing. When I joined my 70 hp motor was the second biggest in the club. One other fisherman had an 85 hp that was bigger. Within about two years my 70 hp was just about the smallest in the club. Boats were really changing in the early 1970's and fishermen were going to bigger and faster boats. That has not changed but the rate of increase has slowed down a little.
I put a lot of extras on my 1974 Arrowglass. That was during the CB radio craze and I mounted one in the boat and tried to talk to other fishermen. It seemed like a great way to get info while fishing and I enjoyed talking on the one in the car going to and from the lake. One the lake the other fishermen I could contact were very limited in number and it never did pay off like I thought it would.
I also mounted a paper graph on my first boat. It came with a flasher mounted on the console but I quickly realized I wanted one up front so I would not have to turn around and try to watch it. Rather than buy another flasher, I ordered a Garcia curved line paper graph. That graph really taught me a lot about what I was seeing on the flasher and I have a paper graph on my boat still - and a flasher up front. I don't really like the LCD's I have tried - I guess it is hard to teach an old fishermen new tricks!
That first boat was a good fishing boat. It was very dependable for about four years before I started having problems. I caught a lot of fish out of it and have some wonderful memories of it. I guess your first boat is like your first car or first date - memories you either treasure or laugh about for years.
Three more boats have carried me to the fish since that first one. More about them and their personalities later..
Have you ever bought a boat? What are your experiences? Tell me about it. Do you have some fishing stories related to the boats you use? If so, you can also post information about it for others on my message board - you must register to post but can read the board as a guest. Also, if you have a story about buying a boat, or anything else about fishing, let me know about it at fishing.guide@about.com. for a "Fishtale"or discuss it in the chat room on every night at 8:00 EST. Tell others what you like.
Check out Coming Next Week - Next week's column topic, contest prize and new additions to the resources lists.
