Champion bass boat for crappie

A guy has a 18 ft. 1978 Champion bass boat w/140 hp Johsnon on it he wants 2500.00 for it, says its in mint condition always stored inside, runs like a champ, new starter battery, live wells/aerators work, all lights work etc.. Said Gel coat is excellent with a few minor scratches..
Question is does anyone here have one of these older Champions and use it for crappie fishing if so how do you like it, pluses/minuses.. I have a 2006 14 ft. Crestliner SC right now that's in excellent condition and no complaints other then I would like more room.. if I get boat going to swap my Helix 9, Lowarance HDs 7 touch and my Motorguide Xi5 over to it and put my original depth finders back Crestliner.. sold trolling motor so buyer would have to get another one..

few pics of boat

Send it to me and I will test the heck out of it for you . Seriously I have buds that use them and they work fine

P.S. if that’s an old VRO motor disconnect that and mix it yourself and disable the sounder ....word to the wise

Looks good to me, should be a crappie machine. The price is very right.

Boat is likely fine . Motor would be the concern. If your not an experienced outboard guy , spend a little money and carry it to a reputable mechanic and let him check it . Like the old saying goes " you pay for the motor and they give you the boat!!!" Good luck !! I love the old vintage boats , they are like a work of art when restored.

Have the motor checked, compression,etc. Boat looks good from a distance, how's the gel coat? Saw a couple of guys a while back in a new Ranger glass boat and they were crappie fishing, had it rigged up for trolling for crappie, front and back. Told my buddy that you don't see that every day, at least I don't. Good luck with it if you pull the trigger.

Well at that price it's not a bad deal but that's almost 40y old .I would look it over really good

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went looked at boat, for the age its in really good shape.. Gel coat was in VG condition with just a few long scratches from rubbing up against something..the Bad is the fact that it actually has no more or less room then my 14ft. Crestliner SC to stand and fish. Not near as many places to put rod holders, no rod storage either.. he has had boat since early last spring and has left it sit outside the whole time, storage compartments had 2 in of water standing in them from not raising jack high enough to let it drain.
If it would of had more room would of took it to have engine checked out and bought it but no advantage over the Crestliner.
It would be a good deal if someone gets it before he ruins it leaving it outside uncovered.

Hit enter too soon in previous post and it wont let me edit it..

If I had that boat the first thing I'd do is remove the front cushions and put in an elevated floor with a live well underneath it. That way you'd have a lot more room up front.

:hesaid Looks nice for age . It's 4 ft longer than your boat , any wider ? At that price you could afford some modifications.

no that's just it my boats fairly wide and the way that boat is set up its harder to move in then mine.. realize could of put in a elevated floor in but not really looking for something as a big project. Only way boat would work for me would be to take out all seats and make floor plan bigger and put in moveable seat pedestals otherwise cheaper to keep one I have already set up.

there is already a livewell up front so would be just putting in elevated floor possibly with more storage areas.

I have fished out of them bass fishing. They are great boats. Fast, good in rough water, motor is a gas hog. Only real advantage for you would be weight if you do a lot of spider rigging. Be a bit more stable in rough water. Would make someone a great starter boat. But like you saw tend to be a bit narrow up front for 2 people. Like you said just a shame to see someone just ruin a nice old boat like that.

Nice looking boat for it's age. The idea of extending the deck is a good one. The motor would be my concern, fuel economy on that thing is gonna suck


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Someone loved that boat for a lot of years , they cared for it , maintained it... shame a abusive owner has possession of it now . Wish you could have rescued it , but I understand. We're 2 years into a restoration on a boat we rescued. Im about 2 weeks away from having it on the water ( I hope ) not sure you ever get done working on a boat . I never have.

It would be a great boat for someone who wanted to spend some money on it to do it right and I remember those engines being gas hogs my best friends Dad bought a brand new one in 78-79 and he used to talk about it using a lot of fuel. It was fast though.

I fished out of the back of my friends Champion a lot on Lake Monroe and Raccoon here in Indiana back in the 70`s.

the kid that owns it is only 25, he got it from a family member, when I told him it was going to ruin it sitting outside he didn't act too concerned.. he didn't even know what the flasher unit on it was for, I explained it to him but don't think he understood it still.