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Senior Member
Depends on what your after like stated above? If you want stable smooth rides, stable fishing platforms and more creature comforts go Fiberglass. If your looking at fishing small waters and don't mind some of the drawbacks mentioned in the other posts go Aluminum. My small aluminum works great for the creeks and small lakes plus towing it around is a breeze.
Senior Member
I agree with DJD 100 percent. Before I retired for good, I knew I would be fishing during the week and by myslef a lot so I wanted to upgrade from my 14" V hull w/15 HP to something I could get a little more distance and versitility with. I shopped for almost a year, looking at glass vs aluminum, etc. After comparing several brands and models, I finally decided on aluminum and got a good deal on a 17"6" G-3 175 WELDED aluminmum with a 40 HP Yamaha. For my purposes, it has been great and I have never been sorry. BTW, if its too windy, I don't go out so thats not a problem.
One piece of advice though, if you go aluminum go WITH A WELDED HULL versue rivets. I have read and heard of too many rivetted models that leak, etc after a few years of use.
Hope this helps.
Grumpy
Senior Member
If you are looking for a good lightly used aluminum I have on for sale, check out the boat board, and if you need pictures let me know and I will send them to you. Its just like Grumpy's but it has a 60hp 4-stroke on it.
Senior Member
Several have said it before - it all depends on where you want to fish. I used to have a tracker and I fished, mainly Nolin, occassional rough, green or barren trip - and it was perfect - I couldn't tell it was behind me when in tow, and for the most part it fished fine - it would rock a little, but usually fished by myself so it didn't bother me.
Then I moved to Ky lake area. The tracker was great on calm days, it did rock a little. But when there was any wind at all, a larger lake can get rough quick, and the tracker didn't really suit my needs there - So I went with a 20 foot Triton - and it was great. I could definitely tell a difference in feel and MPG when towing.
I found out babies were on the way so I went down to a smaller 17' Sprint Fiberglass -and it is great too. It is not near as stable as the triton - but far above the tracker or other alluminums.
The all have their advantages.
Senior Member
Good points; I have a 2003 17' aluminum Triton with a 50 merc. The boat has no wood in it. It is about a 1000 lb. boat, motor and trailer. It towes easy. Very easy on fuel. Better than any I have had in the past. With the aluminum you don't have to worry about the rocks and logs as bad or in some places the ramps I have to pull up to or on to let the wife out of the boat.
Bad points; It has a rough ride on the main lake when all of the play boaters are out. The boat does move around more than a glass boat when folks are moveing around in the boat. But we are not moveing around much. We are out there to fish.
I fished this past spring summer and fall about three times a week out of it. I fish Barren River lake, Green River in mammoth cave park, Shantie Hollow lake and Nolin lake and Nolin River. I did make 1 trip to Cave Run last spring.
I think for myself I will stick to the aluminum but that is what I like. Your needs may be different.
DA
Member
I have a aluminum 2004 Lowe 180W w/ 90hp Johnson. It's 18' long & I think 88" wide. About all I do is crappie fish in the fall, winter & spring & then bluegill fish some in the summer. Now all the boats I can compare to that I've owned are 2 14' jon boats w/ small motors. I fished out of the 2 jon's for a little over 30 yrs so anything other than a floating log was a step up for me but I did catch lots of fish out of Barren River Lake in those jon boats. The only other boats I've fished out of was a mid 90 model Ranger & a late 90 model Stratos & I just fished out of those a couple of times but both nice & comfortable. I do love my Lowe boat, lots of storage, 3 live wells, great on gas, easy to tow w/ my 6 cyl. Toyota pick up, but it's not as stable as the 2 glass boats I fished out of but a heck of a lot more stable than a jon boat. Now I can fish KY Lake, Barkley and don't worry much but I'm still carefull about when I go out on the main lake. Again it all depends on what you can afford & how & where your going to use it.
Senior Member
Grumpy, have you ever heard of a Lund with leaky rivets? They are used up north on some of the biggest rough water lakes around and take a real beating.Originally Posted by Grumpy
Senior Member
I have never heard of a Bass Tracker with Rivets that didn't leak. I have been told that almost all boats with rivets will eventually leak to some degree, some worse than others.
Lunds are nice boats, and probably in a league above most alluminum boats. Maybe it is the design of the Deep V that makes them less prone to losing seals around rivets. If I ever go back to an aluminum boat I will probably look at the deep V's, just because they handle the chop a little better.
Senior Member
Lund boats are double rivetted with their own design rivets etc. Yes I have never seen a Bass Tracker that did not leak. We had the same problem with a Lowe leaking, it was repaired with Lund hardware.
There is a reason airplanes are rivetted and not welded, I know it sounds strange but it's much stronger method of assembly.
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