Mini Bass Boats??

[whitten1823]

I'm looking to get a mini bass boat because with my wife being in the Army, there isn't any room in on post housing for a boat and trailer. Questions I have though, do they require registration with a trolling motor under 10'?? Are they pretty sturdy for as small as they are?? Are they a pain getting in and out to fish in??

Thank you!!

[Ultralite]

Sadly, yes! I actually just got a renewal notice in the mail for my 8' Pelican mini bass boat, which uses a trolling motor. We registered it when it was bought. Any boat powered by something other than yourself has to be registered with numbers and all. They are pretty sturdy for how high up off the water you sit. You'll fall in before the boat flips I believe! The 11' is much more stable than the 8' one, yet the eight footer is light enough to move around by yourself. The 11' is, too, but it can be a hassle sometimes, and doesn't fit as well in the bed of a pickup. As for getting in and out of the boat from the bank it is quite easy...no different than a jon boat. I'm not sure if you'd want to put an outboard on one though, I tried it once and it was more of a thrill/workout to try and get it on plane. Good luck!

If you're in doubt, try calling a Bass Pro shop and see if you can test one out.

[MO Slab]

About to sell mine...It is registered..It's an 8 ft. Bass Baby,comes with 2 seats,50 lb Minn Kota Endura trolling motor,StowAway battery,Hummingbird 110 clamp-on depthfinder(nice)....I bought this a year ago,trolling motor still has 1 year of warranty...send me a PM if you're interested...I use a small utility trailer but, boat will fit in a standard truck bed(tailgate down) or inside a long bed(tailgate down)....You can check it out at Bass Pro.com

[queyit]

KL Industries Sportsman II 9ft from a gentleman. Very stable, easy to move in and out of the bed of my F150. Have hit some serious spots that I could not get too with my 16ft tracker. I'd suggest a 40 to 55lb thrust trolling motor and not a outboard...

[rocket rich]

I really like my 9 foot pond prowler with 36 pound thrust and a great 3 hp johnson neat little boat. I use a deal I made to haul it like a bed extender only longer that fits into my 2 inch hitch. no trailer to fool with and can take it down in ten minutes. I don't use it as much as I thought but it's nice to have with my other boats..

[whitten1823]

So does it only need to be registered if it has a motor on it or if it's over so many feet?? Would I be ok with oars?? I dunno if oars would do much with the wind out here though.

[Ultralite]

In my opinion it would be an awkward boat to paddle with oars. Although I've paddled mine before, it's not fun to do so in any kind of wind. It has to be registered if it has a motor of any kind. Yall correct me if I'm wrong, but when bought new, the store should send in the papers to get it registered and you'll get the stickers in the mail. I just had mine come up for re-registration, and they want 23$ for 3 years of registration, so it's not too bad.

[sneakypete]

If you fish on a lake that is subject to radical fluctuation of water level and has a lot of flooded timber in it, I would NOT buy a plastic boat. The Shadow's brother was in one on Bundick's Lake February a year ago and ran it up on a piece of reebar that some good-ole-boy stuck in a stump to run a trotline. If there hadn't been someone on the bank that heard him and his buddy hollering for help, they both WOULD HAVE DROWNED!
Pete

Confirm with the Shadow.

[Ultralite]

Wow that's pretty crazy, never heard of one puncturing. Was he running an outboard on it?

[sneakypete]

Check with Dwyane, UL - I have forgotten.
Pete