Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

Me and my partner are one of 2 teams in the west to qualify for the BASS National Championship in Bemidji, MN August 7-12th. I really do not want to tow my dads single axle Bass Tracker 4000 miles round trip. I've called just about every tackle shop and boat dealership within 5 hours of the tournament site and have had no success. Any help, contacts, or leads would be greatly appreciated. We would be willing to pay quite a bit of money to have a boat for the weekend. Thanks everyone!

Congrats! Maybe look at renting a flat bed and load the boat on that? When you get there, unload and use the trailer hitch to launch/load.

Good luck!

Consider shipping the boat on a vehicle carrier. I shipped a car from MN to CA. It cost about $500 one way. Kinda expensive I know. Just another option.

Unless you know someone there who will loan you a boat you have only 2 options. Drag the boat out yourselves for a gas cost of $700 for the 4000 miles or ship the boat out for $1000 if that is the correct amount. I would just bite the bullet and drive the boat out yourself since you will have to drive there anyway in order to get the boat launched and pulled. If they have a local fishing forum you could ask there or on BBC but I doubt many people would loan you their boat. Good luck.

Thanks for all the helpful responses! I'm probably going to have the boat shipped out, does anyone know of a company that will ship boats cross country? Any positive experiences with specific companies? Thanks again!

Heck, if you're willing to pay that kind of money to ship your boat there's gotta be someone out there who would rent you their boat for less than that. I would find local fishing web pages for the area and post an inquiry.

$500 seems cheap to ship a boat to MN. I think you would be looking at at $2K+ one way.

I'd love to rent a boat and would be willing to pay a fair price for sure, but I simply can't find a boat! Lot's of fishermen back there have tiller motors and we can't fish out of those. The Bemidji area isn't popular for Bass fishing like the great lakes area is, bass boats are rare!

Have you contacted B.A.S.S. and asked for their help? You can't be the first person/team faced with this problem.

Whats the big deal with towing. If you ship it back you still have to rent a truck to tow it around there, unless you're going to drive back and if you're driving tow the boat. after you leave California the seed limit is the same for pulling a boat as for driving a car.So no loss of time. If you have axle and tires checked before going and check them each time you gas up( finger on the hub and tire to check temp), no big deal. 1800 miles = 21/2 days , 2 motels, $300 in gas and you're there. I have been running back and forth from Stockton,Ca. to Holiday, Fl. 2500 miles for the last 8 years. Towed my pontoon, a u-hual, a tow dolly with a car several times
Leave early so you have extra time to stop for flats or repairs but heck , you should do that anyway
slow down spend an extra day driving and go off the freeway for food and motels, see America


If you do make sure your spare for boat is good and take a jack and lug wrench

Life. live it

rods right on the money

if you haven't worked out your boat problem. Give me a call.

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