I've been looking a lot on Craig's List and I guess boats are expensive here. Actually I think it's the jon boats that are expensive. As fishing boats, jons aren't as popular as they must be in the south and east. In MN you can get lots of 12' round or v-bottom boats for cheap. I was talking to my brother about this a couple of days ago. The new boat dealers don't carry as many jon boats as you may be used to in TN. And, because we are the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" maybe people here don't fish the rivers the way people in the south and east do. I have noticed that the jon boats that do come up for sale generally have a higher price than a comparable round bottom of the same length. Duck hunters do use them here but again, I see as many round bottom boats listed as duck boats as I do jons. If I was to make a guess I would say that on Craig's List at any given time the round or v-bottom boats outnumber the jon boats at least by 25:1. I spent some time today looking for new boats and most of the better quality welded jons don't even have dealers in MN. I looked at Allweld, Excel, Weld Craft and several others that didn't have any dealers in MN. Lund, Crestliner and Alumacraft all build boats in MN so they are pretty easy to come by but several of the brands I see people talking about on Tinboats aren't sold here. I guess it's a regional thing. And maybe that's true of fishing styles too. Maybe all the lakes here just seem to make the round or v-bottoms somehow better. I don't get it. It is a drag for someone like me who specifically wants a jon. I might have to drive to MO for one I have been looking at.
As for the one I cited above, it's a strange looking thing and I have never seen that design before. And you're right, it's a lot of dough for a fixer upper that needs that much fixing upping...
