Speedman
Active Member
For me it was the desire to win and never be 2nd! You see, second to me is just first loser!.
In 1994 I was on my second bass boat, a 15' stratos 355V with an inline Merc 115. That little boat did 64 mph and since most tourney boats had 150's on them, I kept right up and even passed some of them. That year, 2 things happened. The first was in a tourney in April in MAss ( very cold). I was fishing a Tourney and got boat number 3 on take off. I was heading up the river about 3 miles to a warm water discharge that only had enough room for 1 boat and if you got there first, you basically win the tourney ( now it's off limits). I was 200 yds from the discharge when a skeeter starfire got in front of me and cut me off as he was coming off plane and nosed his boat in first. Well that SOB won and I was p'd off big time. I said I WILL have the fastest boat some day! 2 weeks later, I was on the same section as a non-boater and got paired with a guy with a real cool looking boat called a "Gambler" it has a 200 yami on it and we got boat 43. He asked if I had a helmet as it was a single console and it was 38 degrees out!. I didn't but he had an extra, thank god! He explained we were running down the river 45 miles and it didn't matter that we had boat 43 as we would get there first! I said "yeh, right". We took off and immediately passed 5 boats in the first 2 miles and kept passing and passing. I was waving at the boats as we wasted them! We got to the cover first and caught a few but nothing to win, but I was hooked!.
I started doing research on Gamblers and test drove a couple ( even though I couldn't afford them). I got the annual Bassmasters boat review and saw this little clip about a boat called an Allison that went in the 80's with a 150! Wow, I thought, too bad it's in Tn! The Gambler did 77 and I thought that was cool! In June, I blew the power head on the 115 and decided it was time to go for my gambler. I found one real close to my house that was barely used, the guy bought it to fish with his kid when he got out of the service, but the kid hooked up with a hoe and married her, so the guy was selling the boat! The prob was the bank would not finance as he wanted more than NADA so I was heart broken.
The very next day, my best friend ( current owner of a 350 hp gator jet boat), calls me up and says "what was the name of that REALLY fast boat and I said "Allison" He replies that there is one listed in the Wantadvertiser paper for 14k and it was within an hour of his house! I called the guy and he was drunk! He asked me if I was a tournament fisherman cause he aint sellin it to no punks who would get killed in it!. Of course I lied and said I want a "family" boat with some speed. Well, we made the arrangement to see it and I pulled into his driveway to see this imacculate, sexy, beautiful 94 xb2002 with a rat 200 on the back! I was smiling like a kid who got his first BJ from the hottest cheerleader on the squad! Holy Cr$% was this thing cool! I wanted to buy it on the spot, but the guy said I needed to see it run and he would not let me drive it untila AFTER he had the check in hand! We met up the next morning on the river and it was a little foggy but beautiful Sept morn. He fired up that motor and we took off up the river. At 60 he said "you ready?" and I gave him the thumbs up! I then watched the 90 mph speedo got to "H" on the MPH on the bottom of the gauge!!! I absolutely could not believe what I was in! I bought it for 13k ( can't believe I had the balls to negotiate). He taught me how to drive it up to about 80 and it took a good year for me to get it comfortable in the low 90's.
I remember the first tourney I showed up " the guys nicknamed it the "space shuttle". Man I started a 10 year reign of terror on all the boats up here, winning so many tournaments because of the boat. Either because we wasted everyone to the best spot or because at the end of the day while they were running back to the ramp, I still had 5-10 minutes to fish. I would say that at least 10 times over the years, I have won a tourney in the last 5 minutes of the day because of the boat!
in 1997, the rat motor, blew up and I bought a 97 promax for 12k that was on a little mirage race boat that did 126 mph, that was a fun ride. In 2007 the power head on the promax went and has a new fresh rebuild with some extra goodies. The boat is worn as I have only waxed it twice in 13 years and the carpet is a little worn, but you can not find a single carck anywhere near the transom! I just redid the trailer and changed it from blk to white to match the boat.
The feeling you get when jumping tourney wakes at 80 mph is just so cool. EVERY person who has ever ridden with me has said it is simply the BEST riding boat they have been in, period!
In 1994 I was on my second bass boat, a 15' stratos 355V with an inline Merc 115. That little boat did 64 mph and since most tourney boats had 150's on them, I kept right up and even passed some of them. That year, 2 things happened. The first was in a tourney in April in MAss ( very cold). I was fishing a Tourney and got boat number 3 on take off. I was heading up the river about 3 miles to a warm water discharge that only had enough room for 1 boat and if you got there first, you basically win the tourney ( now it's off limits). I was 200 yds from the discharge when a skeeter starfire got in front of me and cut me off as he was coming off plane and nosed his boat in first. Well that SOB won and I was p'd off big time. I said I WILL have the fastest boat some day! 2 weeks later, I was on the same section as a non-boater and got paired with a guy with a real cool looking boat called a "Gambler" it has a 200 yami on it and we got boat 43. He asked if I had a helmet as it was a single console and it was 38 degrees out!. I didn't but he had an extra, thank god! He explained we were running down the river 45 miles and it didn't matter that we had boat 43 as we would get there first! I said "yeh, right". We took off and immediately passed 5 boats in the first 2 miles and kept passing and passing. I was waving at the boats as we wasted them! We got to the cover first and caught a few but nothing to win, but I was hooked!.
I started doing research on Gamblers and test drove a couple ( even though I couldn't afford them). I got the annual Bassmasters boat review and saw this little clip about a boat called an Allison that went in the 80's with a 150! Wow, I thought, too bad it's in Tn! The Gambler did 77 and I thought that was cool! In June, I blew the power head on the 115 and decided it was time to go for my gambler. I found one real close to my house that was barely used, the guy bought it to fish with his kid when he got out of the service, but the kid hooked up with a hoe and married her, so the guy was selling the boat! The prob was the bank would not finance as he wanted more than NADA so I was heart broken.
The very next day, my best friend ( current owner of a 350 hp gator jet boat), calls me up and says "what was the name of that REALLY fast boat and I said "Allison" He replies that there is one listed in the Wantadvertiser paper for 14k and it was within an hour of his house! I called the guy and he was drunk! He asked me if I was a tournament fisherman cause he aint sellin it to no punks who would get killed in it!. Of course I lied and said I want a "family" boat with some speed. Well, we made the arrangement to see it and I pulled into his driveway to see this imacculate, sexy, beautiful 94 xb2002 with a rat 200 on the back! I was smiling like a kid who got his first BJ from the hottest cheerleader on the squad! Holy Cr$% was this thing cool! I wanted to buy it on the spot, but the guy said I needed to see it run and he would not let me drive it untila AFTER he had the check in hand! We met up the next morning on the river and it was a little foggy but beautiful Sept morn. He fired up that motor and we took off up the river. At 60 he said "you ready?" and I gave him the thumbs up! I then watched the 90 mph speedo got to "H" on the MPH on the bottom of the gauge!!! I absolutely could not believe what I was in! I bought it for 13k ( can't believe I had the balls to negotiate). He taught me how to drive it up to about 80 and it took a good year for me to get it comfortable in the low 90's.
I remember the first tourney I showed up " the guys nicknamed it the "space shuttle". Man I started a 10 year reign of terror on all the boats up here, winning so many tournaments because of the boat. Either because we wasted everyone to the best spot or because at the end of the day while they were running back to the ramp, I still had 5-10 minutes to fish. I would say that at least 10 times over the years, I have won a tourney in the last 5 minutes of the day because of the boat!
in 1997, the rat motor, blew up and I bought a 97 promax for 12k that was on a little mirage race boat that did 126 mph, that was a fun ride. In 2007 the power head on the promax went and has a new fresh rebuild with some extra goodies. The boat is worn as I have only waxed it twice in 13 years and the carpet is a little worn, but you can not find a single carck anywhere near the transom! I just redid the trailer and changed it from blk to white to match the boat.
The feeling you get when jumping tourney wakes at 80 mph is just so cool. EVERY person who has ever ridden with me has said it is simply the BEST riding boat they have been in, period!