My fishing buddy sold "our" boat.........now what?

[Gut Hook]

Well it looks like my days of just buying the bait are over. Yesterday I was informed my buddy sold his boat. This hurts.

I have been thinking about a nice canoe with square stern/ 5 horse moter on a trailer.

Does anybody have any recommendations? I can't fish from the bank the rest of my life!

G.H.

[MNStarfish]

Buy your own boat! Even if it is just a little 14ft with a 9.9 or something. Your "fishing buddy" could be looking for some payback boat time!

[freeloader 'R' us]

hopefully you did not pizz him off by only buying the bait and him paying for everything else along with letting him do all of the maintenance. hopefully you did not only call him on friday afternoon to find out what time he was picking you up to go fishing. hopefully you did not add insult to injury brag about your big pay raises as you insist on covering the $4 for bait. it gets old after a few trips. trust me. sometimes i would rather fish from shore.

if that is not you then buy the boat and do not forget to invite your friend along every trip. why not? he will spring for the bait. ;)

[MNStarfish]

It sounds like you have fished with my brother-in-law too! He is so generous to offer to split the cost of bait and gas with me, what a pal!

[The Great Guide]

My recommendation.. Buy a boat. Invite your buddy. Have him buy the bait.

TGG

[steve(IL)]

Some "pal". It costs way more than bait money to own, operate and maintain a boat. You may come to realize how much you took for granted.
If you would've given him $20 every time you went out, you probably would still have been getting off cheap.

[whitetips]

I have a 14ft Sea Nymph, 6 hp Evenrude (76) and shorelander trailer
for sale, has snap in padded seats and a set of oars, I used it for hunting. $400 in exchnge for registration. Boat is in good condition.
Motor runs like a top, has a mud implellar.

[SUPERTROLLER]

I wish you guys wouldn't dump on the poor sap. Yes, he can buy his own small boat fairly cheaply and get back on the water. What I don't understand is why you guys think that because YOU bought a boat that everyone YOU invite on to it has to help you pay for your toy! If you want to be a professional guide then be one. If you want to own a boat and enjoy your time with family and friends, then do so. To expect someone else to pay your bills for you is ludicrous. Yes, the guys can help pay for gas and bring some munchies but the upkeep is your responsibility, not your GUESTS. Do your charge them for enjoying the warmth of your heated home in the winter or to cook out on your grills in the summer when you entertain? Of course not. To expect them to do more than this makes it a business and not a friendship. Just my view on this topic.

P.S. Partner and I fished out of my boat for a lot of years and he borrowed it on weekends when I worked. Now he owns a boat too, and we use his most of the time. I still help pay for gas. The maintenance is his just as mine was and still is mine. We just enjoy each others company and that's the way it should be.

[Brewhunter]

Don't let those other posts get you down. I'm willing to bet your friend would have enjoyed your company even if you didn't cough up the bait, good friends are like that. You do what you can and they do what they can, sometimes it doesn't come out even, if that bothers someone, pehaps they're not the friend they should be.

Way I see it, boat costs just as much to run with just me in it or with someone else too, may as well enjoy the company.

[Jig Master]

Thanks SuperTroller, I couldn't have said it better.

[freeloader 'R' us]

yes it is nice to have friends along to fish. no i do not expect people to pay when i INVITE them. i guess i am one heck of a friend as I do not ask him for anything. so what does that make him when he is not willing (but can afford) to offer up anything when he can fish out of my boat for free weekend after weekend?

[Hawgeye]

Good reply supertroller. I own my own boat because I can fish where I want, When I want and with whom I want. That is the cost of owning my own boat.

If I invite someone to fish with me, it is because I get bored fishing alone. If that person I invite joins me, I don't expect anything except to respect my equipment, keep the shoes relatively clean, spill munchies on the floor, throw them in a garbage bag...common sense stuff like that.

As far as gas is concerned, if they offer or just hand me a $10, I take it with the "you didn't need to do that" speech. If they don't offer, I don't think anything of it since I would have likely gone anyway. I am not afraid to accept money if they offer but in turn do not expect to be paid since their company and watching their enjoyment is why I invited them. Who knows, maybe they will invite me pheasant hunting or some other activity that I enjoy!

[appleye]

Dig deep and by a boat!

[Mike]

I have owned several boats in my life and I have always "asked" friends to go along fishing not with the intent for them to "pay for the privlige of fishing with me" I can't believe how vain some people can be do you really think that you are so "great of a guy' that people will pay just to have your company for a day?? GET REAL !!!
I feel that the company of a good friend has no price tag on it and like others have said I will be going anyway so if a friend can go along it is to my advantage and my pleasure not to pay for my fishing trip. Just me venting
MIKE

[rickn]

I couldn't have said it better, supertroller, I neither expect my friends to pay, nor would I accept money. When we drive somewhere, almost without exception, he pulls my boat. Boat gas is split, as is truck gas. bait and hotel are split, by mutual consent. If we are fishing local, I ask for the company, not the money.On the longer trips, I furnish the boat. This also lets me drive the boat, and fish my way. Been doing it like this for 25 years, and NO complaints, from any of us.

[water_wolf]

Excellent response Supertroller...echo my sentiments 100%.
BTW you are invited to my camp this summer for a cookout. Just show up.


with the steaks, beer and salt potatoes...Ill supply the grill :7


Rich Ferguson

[Hawgeye]

I think you are saying that you do accept money. I agree 100% with you that it should be split since as a boat owner, we may offer the boat and vehicle wear and tear at our expense but do split all expenses involved in the particular trip. There are times I say, "it is my treat" when they offer to pay for gas.

If it is a 5 hour trip however, I do feel that the price of gas should be split. If it is a local run to a lake 1 hour away, back that night, I don't let my guest pay for anything. If he wants to pay for the bait, so be it.

[rickn]

For an out of town trip, trip expenses are split, but I won't take anything for the use of the boat, I would have gone anyway. When friends go, it's nice not to have to pay for all the tow gas myself. On a local trip,getting the bait is fine, but not required. I usually have bait at home. I enjoy my own company immensly, but sometimes I take a friend who likes my boat.he's been a regular for 25 yrs, and is NOT shy with the checkbook.

[GR8WTHUNTER]

My buddy that I fish with most often is selling his boat Not his choice, kinda one of those divorse things. We had always tried to alternated boats on trips, but because I do not work a set shift, we seemed to make a few more trips in his boat. We never paid each other and even when I tried to give him a 20 to cover expenses because it was my boats turn, he never took the money. I wouldn't take his if the roles were reversed. This year I will have the chance to "pay" him back so to speak until he gets back on his feet and gets a new rig. We have had lots of good times fishing togeather and money was never an issue.

If I ask someone to go fishing with me on a short trip I don't expect him to pay. On longer trips, cost of fuel, oil, and the like are discussed and split.

You are doing the right thing looking into your own boat. Remember your buddy that took you along all those years.