dream rig

My trusty 15′ Johnsen boat is just wearing out. Its over 30 years old and the thin fiberglass hull is not going to hold up forever. I replaced the soggy transom when I bought it 10 years ago, but its been seeping and is getting waterlogged again. And my 6? year old trailer is on its last legs too. I’m going to have to replace this rig in the next couple of years.

I came across what may be my ideal shallow water rig. Its a barebones Beavertail Osprey, its almost 18′ long, but it weighs just 450 lbs, about the same as my current boat. And its not outrageously expensive, about $16,500 for a basic rig with tiller-controlled 40hp motor and aluminum trailer. I’d want to add on a trolling motor, some electronics and a push pole, which would bring it up to around $20,000. And I could probably get about $2,000 selling my current boat (with all the extras included).

My alternative strategy would be to just buy a new hull and trailer similar to what I’ve got, and have all my existing gear re-rigged on the new boat. That means salvaging and reusing my 25hp Mercury, poling platform, trolling motor and bottom finder electronics. and scrapping the old boat and trailer. I think I could do all that for under $5,000. oh, but it wouldn’t be a sweet as a brand new Beavertail (below)!