New Boat - Need Advice

[ks.snow]

Looking at getting our first boat this winter and need some advice from you more experienced folks.

I live in Cold Lake, so a good majority of the time we will be using the boat on Cold Lake, but will also be going on some of the smaller lakes around that have a boat launch.

We are looking at a “fish&ski” so we can take our friends and family out for water sports and the rest of the time we have a good boat to fish with. Fishing is more important than the water sports to us. Capacity would be for 6 people on occasions, but more regularly 2-4 people. My fiancé also wants to have a spot to lay out and relax on, so a big casting deck at the back of the boat would be a good spot i figured.

Right now I’m really looking at the Princecraft Sport 172 Max with the 115 HP motor instead of the 90HP. It comes with all the fixings (Bimini, travel cover, ski pole, bow cushions, etc.) and has a massive casting deck at the back.

Our budget is around $45k with electric trolling motor and graph included.

We are also shopping around for Lund, Crestliner, and Alumacraft. Any recommendations for dealers in Edmonton for all 4 of the brands? We’ll likely head into the city at the end of the month to look at all the brands and see what we like and go from there.

Also was looking at a few dealers in Sask since its not much farther away than Edmonton for us.

Figured Feb and March should have good boat prices before things start to pick up near the spring? Right now Barry Jay’s has the princecraft listed for $43K.

[rasbok]

Personally i'd buy a used Lund or ranger for cold lake in at least a 19ft before a crestliner , prince craft or sylvan. They are descent boats for the smaller lakes just not for big water unless your gonna go at least 21 ft in a crestliner

[Willowtrail]

I'd choose Alumacraft and Crestliner out of those options.

My Alumacraft had great fit and finish, it was a 2015
They have a dealer at Riverside in St. Albert now

Crestliner I'd go see what Free Spirit has left in stock

Then sit in all 3 and open up and look at the storage and if it suites your needs

[ks.snow]

I'd choose Alumacraft and Crestliner out of those options.

My Alumacraft had great fit and finish, it was a 2015
They have a dealer at Riverside in St. Albert now

Crestliner I'd go see what Free Spirit has left in stock

Then sit in all 3 and open up and look at the storage and if it suites your needs

Thanks for the tips, I’ll check them out. We aren’t married to a brand yet, so we are going to sit in all 4 an see which ones we like.

[SamSteele]

Looking at getting our first boat this winter and need some advice from you more experienced folks.

I live in Cold Lake, so a good majority of the time we will be using the boat on Cold Lake, but will also be going on some of the smaller lakes around that have a boat launch.

We are looking at a “fish&ski” so we can take our friends and family out for water sports and the rest of the time we have a good boat to fish with. Fishing is more important than the water sports to us. Capacity would be for 6 people on occasions, but more regularly 2-4 people. My fiancé also wants to have a spot to lay out and relax on, so a big casting deck at the back of the boat would be a good spot i figured.

Right now I’m really looking at the Princecraft Sport 172 Max with the 115 HP motor instead of the 90HP. It comes with all the fixings (Bimini, travel cover, ski pole, bow cushions, etc.) and has a massive casting deck at the back.

Our budget is around $45k with electric trolling motor and graph included.

We are also shopping around for Lund, Crestliner, and Alumacraft. Any recommendations for dealers in Edmonton for all 4 of the brands? We’ll likely head into the city at the end of the month to look at all the brands and see what we like and go from there.

Also was looking at a few dealers in Sask since its not much farther away than Edmonton for us.

Figured Feb and March should have good boat prices before things start to pick up near the spring? Right now Barry Jay’s has the princecraft listed for $43K.

I did a walkthrough of the Princecraft 172 Sport Max for Barry Jay's that is on their Youtube channel. If you are interested in that rig, PM me any questions. I have run the 172 for a few weeks while waiting for my boat to arrive and can give you my first hand experience with that model, and with Princecraft in general.

SS

[SamSteele]

Crestliner I'd go see what Free Spirit has left in stock



Important to note that Free Spirit is no longer a Crestliner dealer, so they are selling their stock but warranty work would likely have to go to the new dealer (Martin Motorsports).

SS

[Poppa]

I'd choose Alumacraft and Crestliner out of those options.

My Alumacraft had great fit and finish, it was a 2015
They have a dealer at Riverside in St. Albert now

Crestliner I'd go see what Free Spirit has left in stock

Then sit in all 3 and open up and look at the storage and if it suites your needs

hey Scott -- which Alumacraft are you running? I'm in the market this spring and looking at all sorts of options. Used market is really limited right now, so might have to buy new. Leaning toward a Competitor 185 with a 90 tiller, but like seeing what others are doing...

[Willowtrail]

hey Scott -- which Alumacraft are you running? I'm in the market this spring and looking at all sorts of options. Used market is really limited right now, so might have to buy new. Leaning toward a Competitor 185 with a 90 tiller, but like seeing what others are doing...

I sold that boat a couple years ago and was able to help design my current Eagle Performance Boat in Red Deer

I had a Dominator with a 135 HO Evinrude. Boat was awesome. I lean more towards the Trophy or the T Pro as I like a wide gunnel boat to ount rod holders, down riggers and walk along.

[Ebrand]

Whatever you decide on.

Make SURE the motor is the MAXIMUM HP for the boat.

Anything less is way under powered.

MAX HP from the spec plate. Or more.

Underpowered ruins the whole boating experience.

[Cold lake guy]

I’ve had a couple of sylvans, but to get a deep hull you need to go with a higher end boat, I currently run a 2003 Lund 17ft fisherman GREAT boat on cold lake. I was in huge waves a few times and no issues, this is a deep hull Canadian made boat. 115 2003 merc it’s a Yamaha power head that year. 40mph gps with a stainless prop. In my opinion buy an older boat, your going to be staring at it in a snow bank most of the year lol

[junglejay7320]

in 2005 i purchused a 17ft alumacraft trophy series....a few of my buddies said i cheaped out on the honda 75 four stroke motor..it did 34 mph with me in the boat only and lost 1 mph with every adult i put i the boat...i fished almost every northern lake in alberta with no problem..slave.,calling,siebert baptiste,fawcett...yes that guy beat me across the lake but i was only a minute or 2 behind him...now for pulling skiers..yes definitly you need at least 90 or even 115 is the perfect motor to pull skiers and have 4-5people in the boat...as for the boat its self...i did my home work for a solid year before buying...lund is the cream of the crop...but you pay...double hull plate for those hard bouncing waves... all the storage you can think of...just and all round nice boat....my cousin has a crestlinier and he really likes it...back to alumacraft...it had a double plated hull only from the front half..basically where the boat is going to take the impact of catching air off a wave and landing hard...cold lake is a big lake...regaurdless if the boat is 16-21 feet you are not going out on ****ty days...maybe 24ft and bigger...so i would not go to big to cut down on the cost..also big means bigger motor...17-18ft is pefect for alberta..skiing...90-115 horse...

[GrillBoss]

If you are like me your first boat will eventually turn into a different boat, then another, etc. By the time I got to my 4th boat I got it right. For me (Cold Lake area) it is a 18 foot Lund Tyee Grand Sport with a supercharged Mercury Verado 150. It is a pricy boat so I bought mine used with low hours for half the price of a new one , which has worked out well for me.

[ks.snow]

Thanks for the tips so far everyone. Defiantly some more to think about that I haven’t so far. Not a lot on the used market right now, but thinking it may pick up in the coming months.

We are likely going to look at new for now to see what we want and then broaden our search from there.