Boats for Sale in Missouri

Titles and registration

The Missouri Department of Revenue titles and registers boats and outboard motors, and you handle it at a local license office. Both the hull and the outboard carry their own title, so when you buy a rig you should leave with two titles signed over, plus the trailer paperwork. Missouri also collects sales tax on the purchase price when you title it, which is worth budgeting for on a private sale.

Boater education

Anyone born after January 1, 1984 must carry a boating safety identification card to operate a vessel on Missouri lakes. The Missouri State Highway Patrol, whose Water Patrol Division enforces boating law, oversees approved courses. There are additional age limits for operating alone, so check the Patrol's rules if a teenager will be driving.

The lakes

Lake of the Ozarks is the big one: a long, winding reservoir behind Bagnell Dam with roughly 1,150 miles of shoreline, hundreds of commercial docks and a weekend party scene that makes some arms of the lake very rough. Big performance boats and large cruisers run the main channel, and Shootout weekend each August draws the go-fast crowd. If you want calm water, look at coves well off the main channel.

Table Rock Lake near Branson is clearer, cooler and quieter, with Corps of Engineers parks and marinas such as State Park Marina. Truman Lake is a flood-control reservoir with standing timber and great crappie fishing, and its water level swings a lot. Bull Shoals sits on the Arkansas line, and Stockton, Pomme de Terre and Mark Twain Lake round out the list. The Missouri and Mississippi Rivers carry barge traffic and strong currents.

What sells

Missouri is pontoon and bass-boat country. Tracker, Nitro and Sun Tracker are built in the state, and Bass Pro Shops started in Springfield, so these brands are everywhere on the used market. On Lake of the Ozarks you also see a big share of cruisers, bowriders and wakeboats.

Season

April through October for most owners. Anglers fish Table Rock and Truman into winter.

Buying tips for Missouri boats

Ask where the boat lived. A Lake of the Ozarks boat that spent seasons in a wet slip on the main channel takes more pounding than one on a lift in a quiet cove. Check hull-to-deck joints, transom, stringers and gauges. Zebra mussels have been found in Lake of the Ozarks and other Missouri waters, so inspect intakes and drain livewells and bilges before moving the boat to another lake.

Confirm both titles, hull and motor, before paying. A Tracker package bought new usually came with matching paperwork, which makes a missing outboard title a red flag.