I used to be a die hard bass fisherman until my partner took me to the marsh a couple of times in his bay boat. After about two trips I knew I was done with bass fishing and started looking at my options for fishing the marsh. I had a Ranger bass boat at the time and I called and spoke with Ranger and they told me that their saltwater rigs had a number of things that the freshwater boats didn't. Different wiring, stainless fittings, aluminum trailers, etc. I decided it was not worth it to use my bass boat regularly in saltwater. My research confirms everything everyone else is telling you. If your trailer is not galvanized or aluminum I don't think you can keep it from rusting out in time. Any metal that is not stainless will likely rust out unless your are ultra careful with your cleaning. If your trailer has leaf springs be prepared to replace them in time. There is no way you can get the salt out of them. I still wanted to do a little freshwater fishing so I ended up buying a Ranger Intercoastal which has the design of a bass boat but it is rigged for saltwater. Now, I have always been pretty OCD about caring for my boat, and I really wanted a foot control trolling motor so I ordered my Ranger with a Motor Guide freshwater series trolling motor since no one at that time had a saltwater troller with foot control steering. I figured that with the care I give my boat the trolling motor would be fine. Wrong. Within 2 years I already had rust showing up on the troller.
The bottom line, in my opinion, is if you are going to be fishing saltwater you really need to look into a saltwater rig. You will save lots of money and your upkeep will be much lower than using your boat in saltwater.
Good luck with your decision.
Charlie
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