Over the past year or so I noticed a big change in local boat sales.

With fuel and oil prices so high, many can no longer afford to continue running the big block 225 to 250 horsepower outboards. The same change is going on with many of my other boat dealer friends, as well.

More boat owners, especially fishing boat buyers, are downsizing and getting away from fiberglass boats and going to aluminum rigs and 4-stroke outboards.

If you’re fishing this area most of the time and make that occasional trip to the big reservoirs like Toledo Bend, there is no need for a 21-foot bass boat powered by 225 to 250 horsepower. Other than just looking good, it’s gross overkill in this area.

This statement comes from someone that has owned 28 team rigs from various boat companies in the 20 to 21 foot range.

Another thing that has created this trend is the price of the big rigs. If you lay off the options, a 21-foot bass boat with a 250 horsepower outboard cost anywhere from $48,000 to $50,000. If you load it up with all the bells and whistles, the price will jump to $50,000 to $65,000.

It’s hard to justify financing a bass boat that costs as much as a small house. There is no way you can win that kind of money in our small local tournaments to pay the note on a big rig.

My last big rig was a 2011 21-foot bass boat powered by a 250. It retailed for $56,000 before taxes. After program discounts and pro staff discounts, I had about $43,000 tied up in that rig.

I was flipping these big boats every 6 months, and moving to the next. I sold that last rig and while waiting on my next big rig I really went to the extreme as far as downsizing. I went from a 250 Mercury on a 21-foot boat to a 15-foot aluminum boat with a 25 Mercury 4-stroke.

It felt so good at the gas pump. Instead of peeling out $100 every weekend on gas and 2-stroke oil, I was spending like $10 a weekend.

With the 4-stroke engine I didn’t have to buy any 2-stroke oil. No more washing and waxing either.

I fish many bass tournaments and have won several and placed in several using that little rig this year. It sure felt strange after 30-plus years of running the big glitter rigs to line up with the big boats. They would blast off and leave me putt-putting along.

I began to notice things I never saw at 80 mph, like places to fish that I was overlooking.

Local fishermen fishing from small rigs were very friendly. I guess they were not so intimidated like they were when you passed them in a big glitter rig.

When running the big rigs, very few people in small boats would even speak to me.

I just sold that little boat and thought long and hard about what to do with my next Pro Staff rig. I went with a SeaArk 18’ Stealth aluminum bass rig powered by a 115 4-stroke EFI. The fuel economy is great, and it’s so much easier on your tow vehicle. On the really windy days I may have a rough ride, but nothing I can’t handle. The days with wind and white caps on our little lakes are fewer than the days with very little wind.

With less overhead you can actually win a tournament, and all your winnings will not be tied up in expenses. The price of a rig like this is about a third of the price of the big rigs I was fishing from. I still have plans to get a show boat, but the one I picked up yesterday will see a lot more time on the water than the big rig.

I look for more and more fishermen to go the way some of us have already gone — to smaller, more economical boats. My new rig is available for demo rides if anyone is interested.

Eddie Roberts writes a weekly fishing column for The Democrat. He can be reached at fishingwitheddie@bellsouth.net.