Home Forums Fishing Freshwater .Lets see your old Bass Boats

Here is mine a 1983 Champion on original trailer and I just finished putting in new carpet and new seats. Seats were made in Arkansas by Deans which was the only place that I could find that makes original equipment.

How old is old?

I bought this Alumicraft last year so it is new to me but it is a 95 model... Hey almost 20 years old....

The original owner told me it had never spent a night outside and he only used it a couple of times a year and kept it in his garage... and I believe him.... I replaced the trolling motor and the carpet under the trolling motor mount was exactly the same color as the rest of the carpet.... gotta love it

All I really need for fishing... 17 foot, good motor and everything works.... only runs around 42mph but that is plenty...

That qualifies as old. On mine the motors are original and still work ok but the 50hp is a little weak. Some of my wiring needs replaced. That's next.

Man with the price of some of the new ones now, I can see why the used boat market is so strong....

Amen to that.

I live on Clearlake in CA, which is the second rated Bass Lake in the US. I just looked at a Ranger a guy just bought and he just fishes for fun, with everything on it $83,500. Un real.

In the late 50's & early 60's all I saw on lakes & rivers were tin boats & wooden Carolina Boats. After I finished college in 1963 a group of us went to Santee Cooper, SC bass fishing. I saw a fiberglass Skeeter bass boat with a 50HP OB. It had a cable operated Motorguide on the bow. I had a dealer order a Terry Bass Boat & had installed a 50HP engine. All my buddies told me I bought a racing boat & that a 50HP was to much engine for fishing. I paid $3000 for the boat, motor, & trailer. Only 3 years later 100HP motors were being used on a vast number of fiberglass bass boats.

I have a 1966 cartercraft wooden boat 14' with foot controlled trolling motor and 1953 mercury mark 20--That old enough

I can't see your picture, but in the mid 80's I spent a lot of time in the back seat of a 17 ft. Champion. My buddy's boat-we fished a lot of 2 man team tournaments down in Ohio on the Red Man circuit. He had that old Mercury 115 h.p. Tower of Power on it. 'Always thought he needed a little different prop, as it seemed to work very hard to make speed. A really nice boat though, and man, we put some serious fish in that boat. I remember fishing Kinzua Dam Reservoir up in Pa. We caught smallmouths until our arms hurt. Heck, we were culling the livewell by 8:45. Only problem was, everyone else was on the bite too. I think we came in 9th that day.

Sad to say, my buddy sold that boat and the guy he sold it to sunk it up on Erie. 'Had to have a death wish to take that boat on the big water like that. He foundered in the Rocks on South Bass. He and his partner survived, thanks to their life jackets, but it was a very scary deal.

Another guy I used to fish with, who actually was my tournament fishing mentor, had an ancient Ouachita tri-hull with an old 50 horse Chrysler. Big heavy fiberglass tub-yellow and white. There's a couple of them still around. We called it the Flying Bathtub, but to say that thing flew was an overstatement. He's upgraded several times now. I don't know if he's still fishing tournaments or not, but he was a very good hook, and had worked his way up the ranks to the point that he was running a nice Ranger and had sponsorships. 'Haven't heard from him in quite a while, but the last time I did he was considering jumping up to the bigger circuits.