Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

Just wondering how many hrs on average most regular, non tournament guys put on their boats per year?

400

I fish once every two weeks for 8 months a year over the past 23 years and only have about 450 hours on my outboard. I know plenty of guys use their boats more than I do.

About 400 to 450 hours. Based on 1 to 2 days motoring every week for 10 months a year.

I don't see how anybody could put 400+ hours on a motor each year unless they're guiding every day or some type of commercial operation.
The average guy Probably doesn't put 50 hours a year on their rig. A few years back I was fishing way more then I should have and I could barely put 100 hours a year on mine.

I have a 1976 monark w/850 thunderbolt merc
I would say fishing 2 to 4 time a week Eastman
& Hensley lakes like I do not use the boat on bigger lake hour are few and far between.
I just bought a Ranger 395vs with a 225 Yamaha with 183 hours on the motor. Plans are running the ranger on bigger lakes. I'm keeping both boats so I have the choice which one will go when I go.

Whoopbass wrote: ↑Mon Oct 16, 2023 2:46 pm I don't see how anybody could put 400+ hours on a motor each year unless they're guiding every day or some type of commercial operation.
The average guy Probably doesn't put 50 hours a year on their rig. A few years back I was fishing way more then I should have and I could barely put 100 hours a year on mine.

I agree with you Whoopbass

Most people fall into the low to moderate use range and average 25-50 hours fishing a couple times per month up to once a week. Guys who primarily fish smaller lakes will be on the lower end.

I used to average 100 hours a year fishing 2-3 days per week year round on the delta. My last two motors were right at 1000 hours each when they hit the 10 year mark. These days I have a lot more free time and put 150 hours or so fishing 3-4X per week.

400 hours per year is ridiculous if you’re using the boat strictly for bass fishing. Full time guides might hit that and striper guys who are trolling w the big motor all day

I only fish the Delta. I run about 20 minutes, fish for about 4 hours and run back. That probably explains the low hours on my motor.

Agree with blue Ranger and whoop bass

I fish 6 to 12 days a month sometimes more
I burn about 100 hours a year
I think I run more than I need too

JVGondal wrote: ↑Tue Oct 17, 2023 9:35 am Agree with blue Ranger and whoop bass

I fish 6 to 12 days a month sometimes more
I burn about 100 hours a year
I think I run more than I need too

Gas prices keep me from running more than I need to

100 hrs per year if you use your boat pretty often. 50 hrs per year if you take it out once every couple weeks.

3 hours run time per outing is a lot for the average bass boater. Average run time on California lakes is probably under 10 hours annually.
Tom

In 05. Bought a new boat. Put 300 hours on it in 2 years. Had my current boat 10 years. Don’t think I’ve put 300 hours on it. No hour meter. Hasn’t been hooked to a computer in 6-7 years. So don’t really know.

I think a lot of the differences in responses are because of how the question is interpreted. The original question is number of hours on a BOAT per year, but of course the number of hours on a motor are a lot less than that. If I fish 8 hours in a day on my boat, it still usually only amounts to about 15-30 minutes on the motor. Of course, people fishing large bodies of water requiring long distances between fishing holes (e.g., the Delta) would put more hours on their motor than someone fishing a small lake for instance.

100hrs a year if you fish avg 4 to 5 days a week !

I'm on my 8th year with this boat and I've run just a little under 300 hrs fishing 5-6 times a month on average size lakes like Pedro, McClure and Pine Flat, with an occasional Eastman thrown in and a 4-day at Clear Lake and the Delta. So that would be and average of 37.5 hrs per year +/-.