Help me figure out what boat to buy

[ratfusion]

Heres the situation and what I'd like to find. I'm in lake charles, and want to fish a little of everything to keep it interesting. My background: not new to fishing or boating, but not terribly experienced at either and I've never owned a powered boat.

I'm primarily interested in the catching something to cook aspect of fishing. To me that means crabbing and shrimping is nearly as important as landing reds and specks. I'm not as worried about performance as utility. Secondary concerns are the capacity to take 4 people out on occasion, the price, max wet weight of 5000lb, and being able to fish backwaters/ less fished areas.

From what I've learned so far I should be looking at two different types of boats, bay boats and flat aluminum boats. I'd like to stick to used but still safe/won't strand me. From what I can tell/guess 5-10yr old boats should be the best fit.

So with all of that in mind I'm looking at 18-22' bay boats which seem to run 5-15k in the age range, and I'd like to stick in the lower half of that. The advantages (again my learning on-the-fly guess) are being able to handle ugly weather on big lake and the ability to wander out in the gulf a little (different fish to cook).

The second choice, a 16-20' jon, can get me into Lacassine if Im under 25hp, is easier to haul around, and provides me better access to backwaters. The downfalls are no capacity for 4 people, and no big lake on windy days. Ideally I'd like to stick in the 3-5k range for these.

So with all of that please correct me where I'm wrong or missing something, and if I'm missing a third option please let me know. I have a fair idea of where to fish and crab, but I've never shrimped before and would love insight into that. Also if you've seen the perfect boat for sale, please point me in that direction.

Thanks for the help!