Deep V Fishing Boat Indicision

[Denny of Pa]

Reluctantly, I must soon give up my old faithful 1984 Alumcraft Bass boat which has gotten me from Canada to Florida on all sorts of fishing trips in the past 20 years.

The problem is, at the young age of pushing 70, my knees just don't bend as well at lower angles as is required in a 6" high bass boat seat. I need a seat which is higher, just so I can bend this lower apendage and expect to be able to get back up, not to mention the possiblity of tripping off the front casting deck, which is dangerous where i expect to do most of my fishing on the Big "O" or the Everlades of Florida where on many days I see more gators than I do fish.

I have been seriously considering a Tracker Targa possibly a 17 or 18WT, but to me they seem to be a bit "pricy" if you know what I mean. So I have been looking at a few alternatives, and the more I look the more I am convinced that many of this size ship are all made by the same manufacture but have different names attached. ie. the Crestliner , The Lund, the Alumcraft, the Sylvan, ( which i believe use to be Starcraft ) all pretty much look alike in the same length classification. At least they do from what I am able to see On the WEb only.

My problem for all the alternatives is that there is no dealers closer than a hundred miles from me, for anything other than the tracker, and so far none have been very apt to send to me any pricing or info on their boats.

So my question is there any recommendations out there for a Deep V Alum boat that I would not need to mortgage the house to buy.? I would even consider a good used boat of similar size, up to about 10 years old.

EDIT

Any suggestions would be much appreciated ,, Thanks


Denny

 

[bigskiohio]

Re: Deep V Fishing Boat Indicision

starcraft supersports are cheap but not as wide as some of the lunds.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Deep V Fishing Boat Indicision

You need to give more info.
tiller
side console
dual console
walk thru

What "amenities" do you need?
livewell?
storage needs
motor size?
What "level" of boat do you want?
top of the line?
high trim level
low trim level?
utility
flat top gunnels?
bimini?
set up for a kicker? remote steer?
price range? 10k 20k 30k ?

way too many options until you narrow it down.

Also, Brunswick hasn't owned all those boat lines for long, some have been added recently.
Genmar (recently bankrupt) also owned 15 different boat brands.
And there are others out there too.


How about if you give us a make/model that looks good to you, then we can offer some similar alternatives.

 

[bill and doris]

Re: Deep V Fishing Boat Indicision

Sounds like you might need to move up to something larger. I'm 68 and wife said I couldn't fish by myself anymore. She would go with me, but not without a bathroom. Goodby Bass Tracker, hello Voyager 25' trippletoon. I now don't have to worry when I get up for a drink, if the waters going to be in me or I'm going to be in the water. It's also nice when nap time rolls around.

 

[JB]

Re: Deep V Fishing Boat Indicision

If it is the seat that is the problem, why not just equip her with the seat you want? Seems a lot more practical to me.

Got pix?

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Deep V Fishing Boat Indicision

If I was going to pop $20-40K for a fishing boat, it wouldn't be a Tracker. The build quality is not as good as other mfg's you mentioned. I own a little tracker that had weld problems and I've crawled all around the Targa's as saw things that would keep me from buying one, poor fit/finish, etc.

Like JB said, how about modifying the seats in your boat to fit you? I know some of the low slung bass boats might not be a good candidate for this, but it's an option.

If you get a new/used boat, look for one with pedestal seats as you can adjust their height by swapping posts or some of the pedestals are power adjustable. On my Crestliner I have a 12" seat post for driving, but when trolling I swap over to a 18" post and lean/sit on the folded seat. It's easier to jump up and grab a rod it you are all ready 1/2 way up.

 

[Denny of Pa]

Re: Deep V Fishing Boat Indicision

You need to give more info.

What "amenities" do you need?
livewell?
storage needs
motor size?
What "level" of boat do you want?
top of the line?
high trim level
low trim level?
utility
flat top gunnels?
bimini?
set up for a kicker? remote steer?
price range? 10k 20k 30k ?

way too many options until you narrow it down.

Also, Brunswick hasn't owned all those boat lines for long, some have been added recently.
Genmar (recently bankrupt) also owned 15 different boat brands.
And there are others out there too.


How about if you give us a make/model that looks good to you, then we can offer some similar alternatives.

I had thought that I had given most of that when I mentioned that I was looking at the 17 or 18 WT Tracker. and this is the ONLY boat I have any price info on. at about $22M They have 20" pedistal seats, , lots of running room which can run with 4 persons easily . both come with a 90 HP Optimax as standard Equipt and troling motor, depth finder etc.

The WT stands for WalK Through consol

the problem with building my own seat up is that to get 20 " posted seats would put me higher that the rail and i wolud also need to bend D O W N to reach my streering wheel only 12" off floor, ( Not a real good option to say the least.)

I do like the tracker high pedistal seats, but then i noticed that many of these other boats have the same kind of set up , not to mention that many of them in the same length classification are almost identical to the Tracker targa But like I previously mentioned i seem to be very limited on getting any qualified info from dealers so far from me on any of them

 

[roscoe]

Re: Deep V Fishing Boat Indicision

I have been seriously considering a Tracker Targa possibly a 17 or 18WT, but to me they seem to be a bit "pricy" if you know what I mean. So I have been looking at a few alternatives,

The "pricey" and "alternatives", had me thinking you might be looking at other options as far as trim level and engine size.

Tracker was the first to come out with a published price boat package.
Some others do have them, but leave it to their dealers to determine final pricing.

Getting a dealer or salesman to give you a bottom line price over the phone, would be easier if you were buying a new truck.

Trackers are often the cheapest in a particular size and style of boat.
But for a reason. Some people don't like their fit n finish. Others complain about the construction.
Many complain that the boats are underpowered.

A 90 hp on a 1500# boat that is rated for 175, not gonna keep most people happy.

According to the Tracker site, the smallest motor available on the T18WT is a 115 hp, so a 90 would be weak.

If you only take out 1-3 people at a time, the motor issue becomes less important.

Point is, you get what you pay for. I would look for the boat that offers the specific layout that would be most convenient for your use.

For several thousand less, you can get a Pro Guide V-175 WT, not a bad package, better rod storage. But you sacrifice trim level.

Best bet for pricing on other boat brands, is a road trip to a major boat show. But expect the prices to be higher, unless it is a cash n carry show special.

good luck.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Deep V Fishing Boat Indicision

If he's going to be prowling around in Lake O and other FL backwaters he may want to stick to something with a pretty flat bottom as well as something not too heavy. I was down there last summer and fall and we were finding bottom plenty of the time in a flat bottom skiff.
Something that I did find to work well was a buddies larger flat bottom Polar skiff, its an 18' with about an eight foot or so beam width and a 90 hp four stroke outboard. It was stable, had plenty of fishing room, it was light, easy to launch, and I felt secure in that boat. He had three pedestal seats, one fore and aft and one just ahead of the center console.
The only thing I was thinking that would be better yet on that was possibly a jet drive for real skinny water. We ran it both in the lakes, rivers, and in the ocean on calm days. It seemed the perfect all around boat for southern FL.

As far as Tracker, I'd have to be pretty hard up for a boat before I looked to them for a new boat. They may be cheaper but you get what you pay for. Besides having a buddy up here who had a major hull failure on a 1993, another buddy is going through a horror story trying to get one fixed under warranty.
I'm not a fan of the plexi windshield on the 18WT either. I've got a dealer within walking distance of me, they have a few of them out front, (full of snow).

If your dead set on buying a Tracker then at least take a good long ride in one that's been in use for a year or two and observe any problems. To me they sound like a rattle trap in rough water. Another neighbor is already redoing his interior and decks after only about 6 years as well, he's already found broken supports and many signs of just plain poor construction. There are boats that are built by boat builders, and those that are just slapped together by assembly workers. Unfortunately Tracker seems to be of the latter.

 

[Denny of Pa]

Re: Deep V Fishing Boat Indicision

I was curious myself as to why I did not see any jet drives in FL, with all the shallow water that they have, but what i was told is that there is ALLOT !! of grass in thieir lakes which really do a job of clogging up the jets intakes.

The V-boats do work pretty well there though especially in the lakes and canals. which is what I think I am going to need to get the depth inside a boat to minimise my "elderly" knee strain.

I appreciate the idea of attendng a boat show to get multiple deals presented without needing to running all arond the country to find different dealers.

Thanks to all for your input

Denny

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: Deep V Fishing Boat Indicision

This might work:
http://www.gheenoe.net/sixteenft.html

They are made for Fla freshwater fishing in skinnny water.
Extremely stable, but I don't know about the height of the drivers seat.
Whatever you need (within reason), they will probably make for you.

 

[Expidia]

Re: Deep V Fishing Boat Indicision

So the only dealer is a Tracker dealer. Personally, I would never buy a Tracker anyway. They look nice, have the bells and whistles . . . but that's as far as it goes when compared to better boats out there for similar money.

I would not buy new anyway in your case. Just find one on Craigslist and plan to drive a little further out to see it and buy it. That same Tracker dealer, I'm sure will service an outboard for you if you need something done later on.

Like others have noted, first focus on buying the "boat" for your needs . . . For me, deep V's are the only way to go, because I like a dry ride, a 20 inch transom and for safety the highest sides I can find.

As mentioned above . . . Once you have the rig, it's easy and cheap to adjust the height of the seat and customize it for your personal comfort.

I swapped the cheap posts my boat came with and bought online two Springfield air ride adjustable seat posts.

http://www.marineengine.com/products/accessory.php?in=3215218

I found them for $82 each online with free shipping.

Best part is besides smoothing out the bumps, they adjust by pulling a small lever on the side (like an office chair) and have about a 10 inch travel. I change the height throughout the boating day which is great for the knees. For many of us the older you get the stiffer your joints feel staying too long in one position.

Here is a link to the thread from 2 seasons ago when I was pondering upgrading the seat posts:
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=257759

Post back and let us know what you finally decided on once you get a rig.