"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
*JimH* wrote:
"NOYB" wrote in message
nk.net...
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...e300Marlin.jpg


wrote in message
oups.com...
Take a picture of your new boat, sounds like a hell of a fishing
vessel.




Let's see a picture of your boat Kevin.


Kevin said he'd post a photo after Smithers and Skipper posted photos of
their boats.

Right now, I own three different boats: a 17' Whaler, a 25' Whaler, and now
the 30' Grady. The 25' Whaler is going up for sale as soon as I get it
cleaned up. I haven't even had time to give it a good scrubbing since
Hurricane Wilma went through.

My brother has an 18' Outrage with a 4-stroke Suzuki. It's perfect for
towing to the other coast for near-shore trolling when the sails and dolphin
are in close to shore. It's much cheaper (and quicker) to hook that up to
the back of my SUV, and trailer it across to an area of Florida where it's
only a 5-10 mile run to the 100 fathom curve. I'd have to run the Grady out
over 100 miles into the Gulf...or 120 miles south to the Keys...to see the
same depths where the pelagics hang out.

I thought about selling my 17' Whaler and just using my brother's boat when
I "need" a smaller boat. But I decided to keep it for backwater fishing,
and to tow to areas where it's impractical (or too expensive) to take the
big boat. I keep it in the garage, so it stays in like-new condition. When
my kids get a little older, that will become "their" boat to use.

I couldn't replace that boat today for less than $35k if I bought a new one.
The latest 17' Montauk is a nice boat, but it doesn't have a built-in
livewell, nor built-in fuel tanks. My Outrage has both...with the fuel tank
holding 34 gallons. With that much fuel on board, I have a range of about
90-120 miles.

On the Gulf Coast of Florida, you really "need" two different style boats to
fish for everything that you can catch over here.

The 17-footer will be my tarpon/redfish/snook/sheepshead boat. The
30-footer will be my grouper/amberjack/kingfish/blackfin tuna boat...and for
running to the Keys.