As long as people continue to buy them at outrageous prices they'll continue to make them and raising the price. No one can blame the manufacturers for the consumers stupidity.
@@bradleyrussell1973 I disagree because even if a pro had to have a $189,000 rig to be competitive most of us are never going to be fishing the Elites or the BPT. The guys spending $80-100,000 for a bass boat to fish the BFLs have more money than common sense.
Randy: as a retired CPA and someone who loves fishing I agree with you. To carry the craziness further check this out: A person spends $150K on a boat, either gives up interest earned on their money or more likely pays the bank 10% interest. So before the boat hits the water it costs $15,000 per year. Add depreciation (20 year life???) of the boat ($7,500/yr),insurance, fuel, equipment,etc and it is possible to reach $$30,000 per year or more. If you fish 100 times per year (not sure how this works since you need a demanding job to pay for this) it costs $300 per trip. Should a person decide to go down this rabbit hole they need to love to eat fish because in retirement that may be their only option. I’m sure some people will disagree with my example, but in my personal experience a 22 year old 16’ aluminum with a 50 HP engine allows me to fish a lot and not worry about the cost of my favorite pass time. Thanks for allowing me to add my 2cents worth. God Bless.
I remember thinking about buying a used boat for $3,500. Where I live, I have to dock it in the summer and store it in the winter. Basically the boat would have cost me around $3,000 a year to own it. After 10 years I’d have a $30,000 boat that I might be able to sell for $1,500. I still fish from shore and I’m fine with it.
So back in the 80's when I earned 10$ an hour and saved to fish a couple of B.A.S.S. trnys I also thought it to be an elites sport then. 20 grand for a bass boat!!!!! You is nuts. No matter how much things change they stay the same....
I drive an 04 Chevy 1500 and have a used 2020 Tracker 195. All in I’m less than 30k with a reliable truck and a boat that comfortably runs 55mph. I fish the local Thursday nighters and I am absolutely in love with my rig and wouldn’t change a thing about it.
If I am expected to spend that much on a bass boat it better well have a Flux capacitor on it that will take me back to the 80's when the fishing was better.
You can spend as much as you want on a hobbie or sport. It's limitless. The issue is what technology and boat size, motor, etc. should be allowed for tournament fishing. Just like any major sport. Everyone has to play by the same rules and have limits to what they can use. Otherwise, it's not a fair competition. No other major sport allows unfair advantage to other competitors.
fair competition???? hahaha...if everyone in the tournament had the same boat, trolling motor , engine, electronics, rods reels lures and line....the exact setups for each one then you might be able to say "its a level playing field"
At the top level of Bass tournaments it has always been very similar to polo. Only the people who have the money are able to play. If you really sit down and look at the business model of “professional Bass fishing “ it is absolutely clear that it is terrible. Anyone who thinks that it isn’t should take a tournament bass fishing business plan to a bank and see what they think about loans to make it happen. They will laugh you right out of the bank. I
We can take this same thing into hunting…..QDM. It’s become a competition, a quest for horns, they’ve lost the spirit of hunting in the name of marketing technology.
I’ve been using my 16’ 1976 StarCraft boat for 20 years now. I have upgraded with a minnkota terrova and a hummingbird 9” Helix FF. Also a 30hp Suzuki motor. I really don’t see where any more up grades would catch me any more bass. Funny when I talk of a new boat or electronic upgrades my wife reminds me that I would just that I end up just fiddling around with unnecessary junk and less time catching fish. That reminds me I gotta get going the bass are waiting.
fishing tournament is fine; sadly this what happen when greedy people is in charge; the sport was never the objective; the money is, they careless if the sport lived or die as long as their pocket is full
MY brother in law , a retired welder, has a very nice bass boat which he seldom uses because he enjoys , and gets exercise, fishing out of his pirouge for red fish and specs. I take him fishing in my boat in a lake thats a flooded jungle swamp of Tupelo and cypress and stumps and we dodge wasp nests while having a great time. My boat shows its years of fun and it’s long been paid for. Money can’t buy happiness.
I desided buy the boat that owner of legend use. When I heard they had a boat for $102,000 at Houston boat show 4 years ago. I was working for my sponsors at The late Bob Sealey , the Big Bass Splash.The owner of Legend Boats had booth there and ask me , when he going get me in one of his boats. I told him, when he make me a deal , I couldn’t turn .down.He asked go check at his blue boat and see what thought about it. Later that evening we went for test ride and I love the ride.Then he made me offer, I couldn’t turn down.Its one of last Alpha 211 made. I bet u want buy new 16 to 18 foot boat for I gave for it.Thanks again Randy , for great channel. Enjoy coming by visit it, every day.
@@joshuagaston99 Yeah but he kept saying "i bought it from the owner of legends, the owner of legends said this, the owner of legends. you'd think he'd know the guys name
This is the reason why I enjoy just fishing for pleasure. I'm a pretty darn good fisherman but it's just to expensive to try to compete. I'll make some great memories without all that expense.
It's called marketing Randy. .Shimano wants $1100 for a series 100 Stella spinning reel because it works so well with the $800 Loomis NRX rod. The Japanese are making swim baits that sell for $2000. Watch the Barrett Jackson auto auction. There are idiots on there that are willing to pay $450,000 for a "71 corvette L88 that cost $7000 new. There is always going to be someone with more money than brains that is willing to pay some outrageous fortune to own something that no one else has. The pros have done this to themselves. Let them worry about it. I can care less if professional bass tourneys disappeared tomorrow. It wouldn't affect my enjoyment one iota of the sport I've enjoyed for over 70 years.
If Joe money bags can afford it more power to him. I'm fine with my 02 188 Champion Elite and minimalist electronics. I am pulling it with a newer truck though.😁
I saw that video by Ken Smith. Did you see those trolling motors on the power poles? Wow. It is crazy. Their are a few and I mean a few people out there that can afford to buy it. Forest Wood told me a long time ago that he went to a boat show in Nashville, Tn. and they had a Ranger 391v on the floor with a 300hp mercury on it just for show. It was only rated for a 150hp. Now this old guy from Chicago ,Il. walked up with his grandson and looked at the boat. The little boy said he liked the boat and wanted grandpa to buy it to go fishing. The old man wrote them a check for it so he could take the little boy fishing. They explained to the grandpa about the engine on the boat but he said to keep it on there because the little boy liked what he saw. Crazy people. They only put that motor on there for display only but had to sell it like it was because that little told his grandpa what he wanted. By the way, the grandpa didn't know anything about fishing. That is straight from Forest Wood!!!!!!!!
I have a Pelican Argo 100XR Kayak, a Zebco Rhino 230 spinning reel with stock 12 lbs mono that I got for free, and a Total Tackle 6'6" Medium rod which I bought 15 years ago when I bought a few combos for my sons and I. Watching your channel and many others, I am finally learning how to fish. But these items mentioned got me some fish. That said, I have upgrade to a Piscifun reel and an Ugly Stik GX2 but have not had a chance to try them out. Cheers Randy.
Build 15-16’ boats like we had in early 80’s. Skeeter, Ranger, Hydra Sport, … throw a 60-90 engine on it. And charge low 20’s. Would that even be doable? Would they sell?
There is always those “deep pocket” people, I’m 70 I’ve known them all my life. Where it’s a driver of a Lamborghini, Ferrari, etc, A 16 ft row boat and a new Ranger. Cigarette boats vs. a 20 ft cuddy cabin! It’s all relative. Troubling? Yah, but in a pro sport, they’ll start limiting equipment
$200,000 or $2,000,000, it’s all the same to me. They priced me out of that game when a new boat breached the $20,000 mark. I’d be willing to bet I have a better time on the water with my little late 80s Kingfisher and 50hp 2 stroke, Garmin with down, side and mapping than most of the guys who are gonna spend that $189,000. I may not be able to pinpoint the biggest bass in the lake, but I will certainly find enough structure to make for an enjoyable day. I’ll also have enough crappie for dinner any time I’m hungry.
Whats more is the bank or finance company financing it with the high chance of getting it back and the depreciation on it. I'm seeing a lot of Phoenix's in bank parking lots lately
it's very simple either go back to the day's when bass supplied the boat's and you moved your tackle to there boat's for trny day's or pay the $$$$$, cause it's only going to get worst. I gave up in 2012 when it was costing me 300 a day to fun fish in ca
The best days off bass boats were when boats like Stroker , Bumble Bee, Gambler, Bullet , Norris Craft etc. were popular. Late 80's to mid /late 90's. Those light weight 2-strokes made those boats fly !
Hey Randy. They are turning it into auto racing. Nascar, indy car and F1. Especially local short track. If you come from money you can buy a ride. Pro bass fishing will be there someday. 5 years from now if your rig doesn't cost 250k plus you can't compete.
Still too much. There are some great boats for a lot less that work just as well. Since I learned how to fish I don't need 30k in cheater electronics. I suspect most people who would buy that boat couldn't figure out how to use the darn FFS. What a joke.
If a person has the funds to buy this, so what? How is that any different than the big cigar boats or the cruisers that run up and down the lake just to cruise fast and get the sexy ladies. My grandson and I saw a cruiser on Kentucky lake that had five 200 horse motors on it.
No one said you have to buy it, and to answer your question of "who buys it?" Whoever has the money and wants to can buy it, that's what makes America great.
@@randyblaukatintuitive……Randy, I wish the economy was as good as you believe it to be. Don’t go by the unemployment figure, go by the labor force participation rate, which is at historic lows. Inflation may be 3.5%, but that’s after it ran up by over 9%. Employers are cutting workers and the dollar in in trouble as being replaced as the world’s reserve currency. You need to dig a little deeper to get your facts.
@@robertdtimmerman I realize certain parties out there have vested interest in trying to undermine the good news about the economy however literally every leading economic indicators on the rise and any legitimate economist will tell you the economy strong right now we have the strongest economy in the world right now, and the lowest inflation from any industrialized country since Covid. Look how the economy was in the tank in 2019-2020 and how it’s recovered since then.
@@randyblaukatintuitive Randy, I am sorry, but your full of it. I live in the real world ,and know too many people that have been affected by this Biden travesty. Yes, I do understand that Congress has something to do with it, but not as much as Joe. Everything is up in price. Inflation is out of control, and we as a country cannot live this way anymore.
I caught 12 flounder and 3 black sea bass today from my kayak that I paddled over to a bridge and tunnel on the Chesapeake Bay. No fish finder, no motors. And definitely no live scope. Would I like a boat? Sure. And if I get one it will be about $170,000 cheaper including a way to drag it down the road. Randy I really believe you and the other anglers that think like you should start a tournament series without live scope and without insanely expensive boats. I really think it could be successful.
Lol that’s an ikon that’s not the norm , Bass cat is running an ad for a 21ft boat 250 motor loaded to the hilt power poles 2 graphs in the front and back your choice trolling motor and your choice of FFS transducer for 80 thousand …. Ikon is an extremely niche market their maybe selling 40-60 boats a year
That Basscat deal is the best thing going right now in a high end boat. A lot of folks can’t afford it. Some will buy it anyway. If you can afford it, they sure are fun. If you can’t, lots of other fun options available.
I bought an older used bass boat in great shape and customized it to my liking, I have all the bells and whistles for a fraction of the price. No livescope though, I'm not really against it, I just don't feel the need to have it.
Insanity? hardly, looks to me like some pretty cool tech. I can remember back in the 80s when I would tell real working people about 'professional bass fisherman" they would just laugh and say "that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of". Roll forward to today and people now take notice because of all the advanced tech being applied and don't automatically think it's so stupid. Also, 99% of the 5 million bass fisherman in America don't know about or care about what the 200 pros do. For all of us recreational fisherman who don't care about tournaments he advances in technology are a welcome addition to the sport to help us catch more fish. I have a 12" Solix on my console, a 10" Helix on my bow and MegaLive and they are critically important to me. So much so that if my electronics were all out of commission I wouldn't waste my valuable time going fishing until they were all functioning properly. I don't spend 300 days on the water and so my electronics help me locate fish much mo quickly than without and therefore make my trips more enjoyable. You elitist pros may consider it not 'real bass fishing" But for us regular joes it's extremely important and you really need to get over your self righteous attitude. Different does not equal wrong.
IKON stated from the beginning their boats were going to be on the high scale of dollars. Obviously this boat has been rigged this way on purpose as an example of what you can do. I don’t see any pro angle running this but there are people who can and will buy this because they have the income to do it.
Randy, I know you remember when Bass masters had 18ft 150 hp maximum limit. And even then, I had friends buy 19 and 20ft boats with 200 hp boats and couldn't use them in the big leagues. I fished mutispecies had 22 ft boat with a 150hp. And all my bass fishing buddies were asking only two questions. How fast and can you get a bigger motor? How sad that speed is the most important quality to a "Bass fisherman".
Bass boats have always been expensive. I've been wanting one for a real long time. They've always been out of reach of your average blue collar worker. Rangers and Skeeters have been top tier for quite a while. Those boats have always been expensive. That Ikon sound even more expensive than that. Its all the new electronics that make them even more so. As most of us can attest, back in the day a nice bass boat consisted of 150 hp Merc, bow mounted trolling motor, and fish finders front and at the console. Not the case anymore. This has also been one of my chief complaints for Bassmaster magazine. They always put down the top of the line equipment in their "suggested gear" section of each story.
Randy, just take that jet drive off your 16 ft. jon (for safety reasons), and add an outboard, wheel steering, and a back seat and you're ready for the Elite series, after qualifying of course.
The reason why this is happening is because people are stupid enough to pay that kind of money for boats if people continue paying it, they will continue making them
Looking at the biggest price in 98 , 30 000 it was around 60% of a lower income people house , that 189 thousand still is below the lower house price today around the 350 thousand with only a 54% of that price , if it's about average house price in 1998 a boat was about 20% of a average home price , today is a 43% , as far is someone willing to pay that price it will continue to jack it up , I still have my 84 bass trophy Bayliner rooting in my friends yard without motor can't even afford a used one , I'm happy to use my canoe , 😂
Randy, the too many tournament organizations have diluted my interest to nil and I don't pay any attention anymore. $60,000 in electronics is beyond my budget and it would have me fishing in a fashion that I do not enjoy. I simply use the electronics I can afford and fish in a manner that I have refined over 50 years. I am an extremely accurate caster and I love to target fish in shallow water. When I can't catch enough fish in a particular lake, regardless of the reason, I simply move to another lake or river that provides better results. That's my gig and it works for me!😉
Hell you can go buy a fully loaded nitro at my local bass pro with everything except for power poles for 67 thousand , it’s not the boat companies THATS EXPENSIVE it’s the ADD ONS I.E THE ELECTRONICS , that’s who is driving the prices up on boats because you need 4-7 graphs , 2 - 4 livescopes , a hydraulic jackplate , a mount FOR the electronics , power poles , and 4-7 Lithium batteries everything I just named at BASE PRICE costs $26,000 and that’s for the LEAST amount of each ,add 2 more graphs , 2 livescopes for the back of the boat and that’s over 30 grand in electronics ONLY before you can even put the boat in the water , I get where your coming from randy but the boat you posted is like comparing a Lamborghini (ikon)to a Chevy camaro (Nitro)
And I’m speaking from experience I bought a MINT 2000 champion 203 elite with nothing on it , so far I’ve put and ultrex ,mega 360 , livescope , 2 humminbird solix 12s, a garmin 106 , BBT mounts , lithium batteries , and a recessed foot pedal and all of that’s was $15,200 before tax , the shit I’ve got on my boat costs MORE than I paid for it , nothing jacking prices up more than these electronic companies if you wanna boycott something boycott them not skeeter , ranger , and nitro they’ve got nothing to do with it their only putting on the units YOUR asking/paying for
They call you tomorrow and sponsor you with it, your opinion changes greatly. Praise the banks anglers baby, we don’t need all that madness. It’s still fishing in our world….
Pro bass fishing has gone INSANE!!! Even local tournaments, some of the boats are ridiculously setup and priced… B.A.S.S and MLF had a chance to set up competitive rules, but they failed
I fish out of a 1448 jon with a 9.9 that I paid cash for. Pro fishing is like pee wee baseball in that anyone who has a bat and ball can play; pro baseball isnt the same because theres a try out and a cut. Anyone with resources can fish proffesionally. Lack of skill is overcome with expensive boats and electronics. If guys want to buy these boats and can afford them let them spend their money its stilll a free country. Can't blame the boat and electronic companys for building and selling whats in demand; we still live in a country with a free market economy. So what needs to happen to make fishing "fair" is to form teams with a try out and a cut? All the equipment is provided by the team like NASCAR does? All the player brings is skill? The leauge then makes it a level playing field? Is that fair? Who knows😂😂😂😂 As far as guys using family money to finance a fishing career its no different from some kids having colledge paid for and others of us having to go to work out of high school. Life isnt fair and never will be.
The economy isn't that good for working people and I just got a great deal because boats aren't selling well this year. This year they have sold less than half as many as recent years and there are others in the same boat.
Serious question would this even exist if tournament fishing wasn't so popular? Or if bass fishing in general wasn't so popular. Money brings out the worst in everyone.
Th most REEEEDICULOUS!!! thing on water. $200k should have runnin water,sleeping qtrs,and a dang nice full srvc bar. I'm definitely Team Randy on this issue. Hey Randy,a year ago I was lucky enough to run x an 88 363v BMC edition, 2 (very responsible prev)owner boat . Bad org XP150(elec fire)for $1k. I had a good MG55lb,and th best 90Evrd OMC built in 84. Literally th 90 sat for 9 1/2 years covered, i swapped mtrs,mounted th MG up front , and plugged in existing harnesses in th back. Fresh charge and it fired rite up and has ever since. It will be on display on lake Ray Robts in '25 at th Classic with a replacement 150-175, but th lil 90hp is pushin her at a very respectable 38mph (gps speedo). Including batteries and the first full gass up....
Thank you for having balls enough to state the truth. It is absolutely appalling to see fishing become so very expensive! Id actually like to see tournament's where no electronics are allowed. Thats when you learn if someone can catch fish versus play a video game, watching a screen instead of your line. I will get laughed off this page for suggesting such, but ill stand on my thought, even if i stand alone. Yes, Im old school, and remember when a top notch spinner bait was under $4.00. Always thought as a kid that fishing would always be an affordable hobby and adventure. Once again, I was wrong!!
Extremely good for those with little debt, with their savings and investment accounts at all time record highs, making more money than ever, easily outpacing inflation at the store and gas station. Absolutely terrible for the not so financially savvy younger generation with little to no savings, used to spending all their extra income on, entertainment, that were already living paycheck to paycheck.
It wasn’t that long ago when you were in a sponsored skeeter promoting 100k boats so this seems a little hypocritical. The real reason the prices are so high is because people keep paying it.
I might like the night/day vision camera, did not know that existed on boats Imagine facing that to front of house while out of town and record what happens. Might find something not like.
This just reaffirms how much FFS has affected bass fishing. Never before have we had a piece of technology that gave such an edge over competition. And it’s just being further and further exploited. That being said, there should be regulations to limit it. Bass fishing is funny. It just follows the money like anything else. There was a big problem throwing an a-rig when I was tournament fishing and organizations gave hook limits. The dilemma here is the amount of money involved. Limit the tech, limit the money spent. It is what it is.
Randy i have an old Ranger with a 115 and what you don't get is this you have absoultely ZERO control over what people I how about you do you and let other people have what they want.
Randy, that was an Ikon and they are stupid ugly on top of it. AND wasn’t the most expensive boat at the classic. Bass Cat had a new Jaguar with the Mercury Racing 500r supercharged V8 that was over 200K 😂😂🤣 And the economy still sucks
