To sell, or not to sell

[Dan360]

I picked up a 2014 Alumaweld Stryker last year. Its a 20 footer and I put all sorts of goodies on it. The only problem is, I never use it. I bought the boat so I would fish more. I find its too much of a hassle for small likes that I like to fish. Because of this, I took up salmon fishing out on the coast and I dont have a lot of fun doing it. I'm mostly into fishing for smallmouth and walleye.

So, do I cut my losses and buy a boat that suits me more? I bought the alumaweld so I could become more of a meat fisherman. As much as my wife and parents love the fresh fish, I dont have nearly as much fun as I used to.

If I do sell, would it be wise to sell of the accessories separately or as a package? Id rather sell as a turn key package because of the pain of trying to make multiple deals.

[hewesbob]

Dan, not sure where you live but a 20 ft boat fishes very well at Banks Lake, Potholes, Moses Lake, Columbia River, Snake River and many other places for Walleye and Bass. We have an 18 ft Hewes with all the goodies you can get in a boat and we fish all these places with great success. My only regret is that we didn't buy the 20 ft model. If you really want to have a fun fishing trip take a kid that has never fished and watch the excitement when they hook into a fish. Good luck in what ever you decide.

[Amx]

put an electric motor on the bow, and use it. with that boat you can have the top up and the family still be dry when it rains while wally fishing. and you can still try that salmon-type-fishing-in-the-sound-fishing-stuff now and then for meat, can't really do that with a bass boat...

or trade it for a bass boat, or a wally boat, oh ya, that is a wally boat sorta. :-)

[scraig1962]

Keep the big boat for the big water and buy another small boat for small lakes.

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

As stated above, it's a good, safe boat for the Potholes and Banks. Both of those can kick up a nasty wind. At least on Moses Lake it's possible to pull out of the wind but not on Banks nor Potholes.

Banks is doing very, very well on walleye right now.

[Dan360]

I do banks and pottholes a couple times a year. I have a hardtop, so it takes some of the fishable room away. For a bowmount, i have a columbia river anchor and have to use an adaptor. Since the front end isnt really roomy enough to fish on so it sits a little stern heavy with everyone in it. Im worried with the extra height from the adaptor that it will be difficult to keep the motor head in the water and still be short enough to stow on the shorter bow.

[Amx]

Then you should sell/trade it and get what you want/need/will use to fish the way you want.

[high country]

I am fishing a 23' hard top which is the replacement for my 18' walleye tournament style boat previously. I bought this because the prime time is always old and the family can stay warm and dry.......but it's a handful. I feel you pain, but I will fight the wind before going back....

[Dan360]

Are you running a bowmount?

[Larry3215]

We have a 20 ft Smokercraft which is similar to your boat but with a soft top. We have a 12 volt, 55#, long shaft bow mount on it and it works great. We use it in small lakes, big lakes, rivers and out on the sound for everything from rainbows to bass to walleye to halibut and sturgeon. We have the bow mount offset several inches to one side on the front (so we can add an anchor mount in the future) and its on a removable base. No issues at all. Oh, the bow mount is a freshwater only version, so we dont use it in salt

That said, if you dont like the boat, get rid of it! But.....dont go smaller!!

We decided several years ago to downsize from our old reliable 24' Glasply cudy. It weighed a ton (actually a LOT more than a ton) and was not the easiest boat to load and launch and used a ton of gas. So we downsized to an 18' aluminum boat. We regretted every minute we were out on the smaller boat - especially in weather or on big water or going after big fish. So we went back up to a 20 ft boat and we love it. Our only regret is we didnt get the 22 ft model!

[Dan360]

I just bought a bigger truck yesterday. Ill be interested to see how an extra 140hp does on hills towing my boat. I wonder how much I could ask for my boat and remain reasonable. Its a 2014 model with 2014 yamaha F115 and T9.9 electrit start and trim. Sits on a Rogue welded trailer with load guides. Two Scotty 1106s, washdown pump, lowrance HDS 8 with downscan imaging, lowrance vhf, columbia river anchor system, 6 rod holder mounts, port side wiper, and all the required safety stuff. It came out to 43k after tax. I put quite a bit down so I dont think Im upside down on it.

[Larry3215]

The first year depreciation is the worst unfortunately. If you are considering a smaller boat, maybe you could do a straight across trade at a dealer or a swap plus cash in the want adds.

[Dan360]

I would hope that it hasnt depreciated 50% of what I bought it for. Thats how much Im still into it.

[hewesbob]

I bought our Hewes at the Spokane boat show 2011 for $32,000 and change, we have all the goodies you can bolt on it. I did a refi last week and the boat still books for $29,000 so I don't think you are going to get hurt to bad by selling. The only problem may be the time of year. Good Luck

[Dan360]

Yeah, im gonna clean it up and garage it for the end of winter boat buying season. I owe about 25k on it now. That will be down around 22 or 23 by february. I found a boat I want. Its a Ranger multispecies aluminum boat and it comes fully loaded at 26k plus tax.

[kokanee1]

Man I have the same boat 2013 except a 18 footer. Love this thing. I fished Banks with 5 guys this year. All of us trolling bottom bouncers. 3 across the back with lighter BB and 2 in the bow fishing heavy BB just killed the walleye. Stryker is a great boat.
We have had it on the Columbia, lake Wenatchee (with 3 foot waves and wind) and out on the Sound many times. I drive it on when loading and can launch and load almost any where. Added a bow seat and Ipiolt trolling motor. This boat will do everything. Added a tower from Whodat towers in Olympia and now we ski, tube and wake board when not fishing. Only wish I bought a 20. I'm keeping mine for along time unless you want to trade. ;)

[kokanee1]

Here it is

[Dan360]

Are you near Olympia? If so, would you mind me looking at your bowmount setup sometime?

[kokanee1]

No I'm in Woodinville. I can send you pictures if you like.

[Dan360]

That would be great. Id really appreciate it.