Boat Show

[JasonJ]

Man O man, the wife and I went to the boat show Saiturday. Lots of tasty niblets there, hard to keep from buying something. It was the new boat smell, had to be.

I was particularly attracted to the aluminum rigs, especially the Duckworths and Hewecrafts. there were also some Starcrafts and Crestliners and, well, anything made of tin that I really was interested.

Then there was the bass boats. Thats my dilema, what kind of boat do I need. A Duckworth Navigator 175 is as close to a perfect boat for me and my lake as I can find within my price range. The only problem is virtually no casting deck. The thing is built like a tank though, and that is what I like about it.

The Crestliners and Lunds and those type of aluminum boats have better casting decks, but don't have that military/industrial look and toughness of the Duckworth type boats.

I think if I were buying right now, I would go with the Duckworth. I can always remote control the front trolling motor and just cast from the back while bass fishing, and it is a better rough water boat, and there is nothing in it to rot.

But those bass boats were so sparkly, so sparkly...

 

[arthat]

Re: Boat Show

Hi JJ,

FYI, I owned 16' Starcraft Aluminum boat for 30+ yrs. with no problem, Some models are made heavier than others. I don't know if the "Mariner" model is still available, but it was a solid boat and was green in color. I now have a Fisher Al. boat 12 yrs. old and no problems either. It is made in the same plant as Starcraft. Try this li.nk: http://www.starcraftmarine.com/?page=showroom&hullid=1

I hope this helps,

Successful Boating,

Art

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Boat Show

Here in the midwest we are blessed with an abundance of tin boats. Alumacraft, Lund, Crestliner, Sylvan, StarCraft, G3, MirroCraft and a host of others. They compete head to head in every segment so you can compare makes and models until you puke.

 

[KCook]

Re: Boat Show

My tin boat was a Tracker bass rig. The big casting decks were nice. But what I like best about it was the comfy seats. Not all fishing boats have seats with thick cushions. For rough water the hull shape was far from ideal though.

Kelly Cook