Nolin and Bass Tracker

[bg64vw]

Got two questions. Anybody heard about the walleye bite on Nolin and Green River Lake? Also can anybody tell me what year Bass Trackers went from rivet to welded hulls? Thanks in advance

[Barefoot]

i don't know about the walleye there but i think tracker went all weld in 99...

i could certainly be wrong though

[kydonky]

I have an all-weld crestliner aluminum sport fish. Really like it. But just for the sake of argument I would not be a bit affraid of a riveted aluminum boat . The thickness of the aluminum is probably more important than weld vs rivets. Rivets can actually be stronger than some welds. There are literally 1000's of older starcraft, crestliner and even lonestar riveted aluminum boats from the 50's, 60's and 70's out there that are just as tight as the day they were made. My dad had one (62 starcraft) and I have a friend with a 1955 lonestar both still good. The bigest problem with these old aluminum boats is the transoms were reenforced with marine plywood that eventually rots making the transom weak. Replacing the transom wood is quite a chore, but can be done by about anybody with a little bodywork experience. The big + on the newer aluminum boats is that the transoms are also all aluminum that is very thick (not all though, some still have wood)

[kydonky]

P.S. these older boats are getting more scarce not because of them wearing out but because the price of aluminum is so high many can be sold for scrap for more than they bring as a boat.