Advice on purchase of a 1998 Champion 186 DC Tournament

[Skiddy]

Very true MMosher. That lake is tough for any boat smaller than 35 ft.........just need to hide back in the arms. Dang huge boats are wrecking a great fishing lake.

[Mizzou211]

Heck of a nice boat! I had one just like it that was red and white with a 175 EFI. Terrific fishing platform.

[Cojab]

That one looks very clean.
If it helps you at all I just bought a 2000 186 with slightly higher hours on it and close to but not as clean as that one for 10k. Mine came with a Johnson 150, newer 80 lb Foretrx, Lowrance Elite 7, and Hook 7.
Very fun boat. Nimble, but very stable also. Good luck on your search.

[STLBassBuster]

Thanks for the info STLBassBuster. I assume you've fished Lake of the Ozarks, would this length be on on the Ozarks? Or should I look bigger? I will hopefully be buying a lake house down there in a few years.

I have fished loz in a 181 to a 210. Just have to use common sense and you will be fine. Head to party cove at 11am on a holiday weekend no lol.

[Skiddy]

No party cove for me STL. Getting too old for that....plus hard to fish with all the distractions.

[Skiddy]

Thanks Cojab. That is helpful. I'm stuck in a place debating wether to over pay a little for a super clean boat....or buy one not as clean that already has all the upgrades. I got him down to 11 so far but know I will have 2k-3K in upgrades.

[Slam69]

Skiddy, sorry to let you down, but I bought that boat yesterday. I Live an hour and a half away so I drove with my kid and we checked her out. The pics don’t do it justice. I have never seen a cleaner boat outside of brand spankin new! His level of cleanliness and maintenance was on an OCD level! I have more pics if anyone is interested in seeing them. Once again sorry to let you down. Good luck in your hunt!

[techman]

Let's see the pics!

[Lea]

Welcome, Slam!!!! Congrats on a great find!!!!

Hope Skiddy finds another soon.

[Slam69]

Thanks Lea! Our first Bass boat! My boys are super excited to get her on the water and shopping for stuff we’ll need. Already bought a new fish finder! BBC is a great resource and we’ll definitely be tapping into the wealth of knowledge that exists here. Will post pics once I figure out how to re-scale size.