Minimum use requirements to buy a boat?

[fishing bum wannabe]

My fishing partner lives in Worcester and travels to Bass River to fish. He keeps his boat on a trailer on the Cape, about a mile from a launching ramp. He also drives 85 miles to get to his boat, and fishes almost every weekend from late April until the end of October. Because it is on a trailer, stored on the Cape, he doesn't have to tow it 170 miles each time he fishes, and doesn't have to worry about storms.

I have had a boat for 18 years, and lost it this fall. I have tried fishing from the beach this fall, but without the boat I don't have the success I have with the boat. On several trips this spring and summer I caught between 10 and 30 keepahs (I never keep more than 1, and never one over 33"). This is as many or more than most of my shore bound friends catch in a season. Over the season I catch between 100-200 Keepahs. My best single day of Bass from the boat, 5 years ago, I lost count at over 100, at least half keepahs. Needless to say I will spend the winter finding a deal so that I can be afloat again next spring. My boat was my most important piece of fishing tackle.