if i were on the hunt for a big ol inboard heavy duty fishing machine, i would know eactly what id go get, however, i have no experiance in the smaller aluminum boat catagory....
currently, im on the hunt for a new boat. my current rig is a 1978 glasply19' cuddy.... awesome heavy duty boat. problem is that i have to pay every month to store it, its a big boat for one guy to run by himself, and, it is a thirsty sob. i know gas prices will get well over 5$ a gallon at the fuel dock, and with a 60 gallon tank, im gonna go broke filling it up every time i wanna go fishing. plus, its not a very good hunting boat, there is no way it would work in the river, and i cant drag it up onto the beach. as much as i love my glasply, its kind of a single purpose boat... so.... im searching for a new boat.
what i am after is a 16' to 18' foot open aluminum skiff (tiller steering) with a v hull (deep, semi, whatever). but i dont wanna break the bank. now, the obvious brands come to mind, lund, lowe, smokercraft, hewes craft, g3, and so on and so forth... i am wondering if there is any brand out there that just simply offers a deal on a plain jane quality boat with no bs, that will be the best bang for my buck....... in otherwords, if you had 5000$ to go spend on a newer aluminum skiff (including trailer/motor) 16-18 feet, to use almost year-round in the salt, what would you get, and why?
oh btw i get dealer cost on mercury outboards so if you go over 5000$ by a few hundred, no biggie
