14' Gamfisher boat in a truck

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Dman75

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Hi all,

First post here on TinBoats. I am looking at getting a 14' aluminum boat for my son and I to fish in. I really dont want to bother with a trailer. The main lake we are going to fish is electric motor only and most of the lakes nearby are 10hp max. So I am looking at a Sears Gamefisher 14' vhull today and hope that it will fit well into my Sierra pickup. It is an extended cab with a 6.5' bed. Since I haven't seen the boat in person yet, I was wondering if anyone here knew if this would be a good fit and something that we could handle. I also have a line on a Johnson 9.5 hp I think made in 72. Would this be a good outfit for these smaller lakes?
 
:WELCOME: Dman75!

That boat will work well. The only issue I see is lifting it in and out of your truck every single time to go fishing. I drive the same truck, your bed with the tailgate down is what 8 feet roughly? 6 feet of boat will hang out.

How old is your son? Can he help you lift it and what not?
 
My son can help. He's 12 and strong enough to help. I was just worried about it sitting in between the wheel wells on the truck. I have enough ratchet straps to secure it like a spiderweb if I have to...

I thought about a 12' boat but I like having the 3rd full size seat so he can sit up front and we can use the middle seat as a common area for both of us. We fished in Canada last summer with a boat about this size (14') and it worked nice. We were able to put pliers,bait, etc and work out of the same tackle box all in the middle of the boat. Most important we were both comfortable being in the boat all day with the room to stretch out.
 
You might want one of these


https://www.harborfreight.com/truck-bed-extender-45830.html

That will support the boat out farther than your bed and you wont have to worry about it so much.

If I were putting a 14' boat in a truck I would have one of these and a big red flag on the ends to stay legal.

Speaking of that you might want to check local laws to make sure that that much overhang is ok. I would think with the support and a flag...and/or reflective stickers on the support...you'd be fine.
 
I saw those from Harbor Freight. I will look into one. Looks like it would help.

I live in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Very close to both PA and OH. I will be hauling it in all 3 states to different lakes. I planned on putting a flag on it but may need some type of light for night time. What kind of light does well for this? Just some battery operated thing?
 
Well if you buy the support thing I posted you could add marker lights and plug it into the truck. In fact you could wire it just like a trailer and then you don't hide your tail lights any. It would be pretty easy to do as its such a short piece...

I'd get the reflective red/white tape like they put on big truck trailers. Put a strip across the support and wire it with lights...then don't worry about the flag. That has to be legal everywhere.

What part of Canada do you go to? We've been going to a chain of lakes up near Espanola for years...love it up there.
 
I used to load one in a truck bed and I'll never go back to that. Way more trouble than just trailering it around. With a trailer I can load and unload alone in just a couple minutes. I fish at least once a week though, for occasional trips it wouldn't be a big deal. Btw, I'm from WV too, way down south in Logan County.
 
Well, it's all a done deal. I did buy the boat today and also stopped by another gentlemans place and got a Johnson 9.5 hp to push her around with. Picked the motor up of $150. Looks to be in good shape. We'll see if she'll fire up tomorrow.

I put the boat in my truck (just fits between the wheel wells) and strapped it in. Loaded the transom first. Worked very well as I was about 1.5 hrs from home and the boat rode with no issues at all. After getting the boat I stopped to look/get the outboard. I just put it inside the boat by the transom (wrapped in a few old towels). At only 60 lbs the motor was easy to handle in and out. For now I am a happy camper with my new outfit. The boat is in really good shape - no dents and such. I think I will strip the paint that is on it sometime this summer. It has been painted with a dull matte finish. The guy that had it used it for duck hunting. I think I will strip and leave the aluminum on the bottom and paint above the water line. Also thinking about doing a bed liner coating for the floor.

Our Canadian adventure was out of Foleyet,Ontario. We did a fly-in through Air Ivanhoe outfitter. We had a great time. Most relaxing vacation I ever had. I was going to go again this yr but too many projects around home. This is why I got the boat now. My son loves to fish and we had so much fun while up there. Next yr we'll be back to Canada and I'll still have my boat. :lol:
 
Congrats man. If you want to take that boat to Canada this year there area ton of lakes up there where I go. All great for smallmouth and pike...laketrout, largmouth too...

Look up Lang Lake near espanola. that is one of 8 lakes in a chain...we camp out on the lakes in places. lots of fun. And really only cost fuel to get there.
 
Jason - I looked at Lang Lake. Looks interesting. May look into it further later in the yr. Sounds like a good way of getting up to Canada without spending so much $. I know our trip was expensive for both of us. I also like to find a place closer to home. I googled the route and looks like a 12 hr drive. It took us 17 hrs to get to the lodge we flew out of last yr. Long drive.

I built a stand for my motor last night and did a little cleaning on it. Today I put her in a bucket of water and tried to fire it up. 5 pulls and we were rolling. I can't let it run too much in the basement before the fumes start getting throughout the house so it only ran a few mins but sounded good. Shows alot of promise... =D>
 
Good deal on the motor. You'll like that lake system. Very few people and lots of places to fish. I love it up there. We try to go every year. We've rented boats at the lodge too.

Here is one from the year we rented the boat.
canada2008043.jpg
 
Dman75 said:
Well, it's all a done deal. I did buy the boat today and also stopped by another gentlemans place and got a Johnson 9.5 hp to push her around with. Picked the motor up of $150. Looks to be in good shape. We'll see if she'll fire up tomorrow.

I put the boat in my truck (just fits between the wheel wells) and strapped it in. Loaded the transom first. Worked very well as I was about 1.5 hrs from home and the boat rode with no issues at all. After getting the boat I stopped to look/get the outboard. I just put it inside the boat by the transom (wrapped in a few old towels). At only 60 lbs the motor was easy to handle in and out. For now I am a happy camper with my new outfit. The boat is in really good shape - no dents and such. I think I will strip the paint that is on it sometime this summer. It has been painted with a dull matte finish. The guy that had it used it for duck hunting. I think I will strip and leave the aluminum on the bottom and paint above the water line. Also thinking about doing a bed liner coating for the floor.

Our Canadian adventure was out of Foleyet,Ontario. We did a fly-in through Air Ivanhoe outfitter. We had a great time. Most relaxing vacation I ever had. I was going to go again this yr but too many projects around home. This is why I got the boat now. My son loves to fish and we had so much fun while up there. Next yr we'll be back to Canada and I'll still have my boat. :lol:
Click to expand...

:postpics:
Lets see em
 
I bought a 14 foot flat bottom from a guy who was driving a small truck, I think it may have been an s10 or something, but it was small enough that half the boat hung out the back. He had the tailgate down though, I would have left it up.
 

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