What kind/brand of boat?

dworley

Recruit
Joined
Jul 25, 2012
Messages
1
I live in the south in Arkansas and am wanting to buy a fishing boat. I have decided I want an aluminum v-bottom style. Preferably at least one 17' in length. I have looked at the BassTracker, G3, War Eagle, Fisher (which is Tracker) and many others. I dont want to spend a ton of money I just want something good for the lakes small and medium in size mainly for bass fishing. I was curious of any help or maybe some opinions that could help me decide on what boat brand or model to go with? Any help?
 

Bob_VT

Moderator & Unofficial iBoats Historian
Staff member
Joined
May 19, 2001
Messages
26,064
Re: What kind/brand of boat?

Welcome to iboats.

You are on the right track ;)

Aluminum boats are easy to maintain and if they need a re-build that comes easy too.

I had an older Fisher (when Fisher was the original manufacturer before Bass tracker) and I regret selling it. It's construction was great.

There are SO MANY brands and we have a HUGE following here of Starcraft owners (I am guilty since I own 2 of them).

Visit the restoration section and see how people have turned old starcrafts into beautiful functional boats.

Look in our Completed boat section http://forums.iboats.com/forumdisplay.php?f=407

Look at this section too http://forums.iboats.com/Starcraft_Boats?boatid=243
and http://forums.iboats.com/Spectrum?boatid=239
and http://forums.iboats.com/Alumacraft_Boats?boatid=6

just to get you started. Visit Craigslist and the ask here on the forum for opinions.
 

McLoki

Cadet
Joined
Jul 25, 2012
Messages
11
Re: What kind/brand of boat?

I just purchased a tracker Pro-Guide V-175. We are mainly using it on lakes in central Illinois and fish for panfish. We love the stability of it and it works really well for us. We did get a 9.9 bigfoot motor as a kicker for the lakes around here with a 10hp limit. (we will probably use the 9.9 about 90% of the time and the 90hp optimax only about 10% of the time due to local HP limits on the lakes we typically fish on:()

Anyway - we are super happy with it. There are a number of really good boats out there, buy one with the layout you like and go from there. The one suggestion I can make is take everyone you want to fish with you to the dealer and have all of you climb in.

That is what made the switch for us from the V-16 to V-175. The V-16 layout was what I wanted, but just got to crowded for us with my wife and I and 2 kids in the boat. Also my daughter said she felt safer with the deeper sides and full windshield of the boat we purchased. It was a perspective i would not have considered if she had not been in both boats.

good luck with your search,

Michael
 

jestor68

Commander
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
Messages
2,308
Re: What kind/brand of boat?

There's an '88 Tracker Pro 17 with 35 hp Merc with pwr trim on E-Bay.

No reserve. Guy lives in Imboden, AR. Looks like a really nice boat. :) Bids are at about $1600, with 5 days to go.

That's an $11,000 boat new.
 

jestor68

Commander
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
Messages
2,308
Re: What kind/brand of boat?

Let's see if this picture comes thru. $(KGrHqN,!o8E-)F3lgL)BQDwWIh+sw~~60_14.JPG
 

Bob_VT

Moderator & Unofficial iBoats Historian
Staff member
Joined
May 19, 2001
Messages
26,064
Re: What kind/brand of boat?

Keep this thought in your head......

Earlier this week there was another iboats member looking for an aluminum boat. One of his "needs/wants" was a boat with some higher freeboard due to the body of water he was intending to boat on.

Yes the tracker is nice but the modified V model does not have that freeboard as compared to the deep V.

I am not sure what you consider a small to medium size lake but, when the weather gets windy and rough I would rather be in a deep V
 

lncoop

Vice Admiral
Joined
Apr 18, 2010
Messages
5,147
Re: What kind/brand of boat?

Ahoy there feller Arkie!:D As you probably know, there are a bunch of aluminum boat manufacturers in our neck of the woods, and because of that one can't swing a dead cat without hitting a tinny (as them yankees say:p) for sale. Now, the one you should buy depends on a few things. First, what is your budget? Second, where in Arkansas do you plan to fish? There are thousands of lakes, rivers, streams, bays and backwater sloughs all over the state, and the kind of water you'll frequent will figure heavily into what kind of tinny you need. If you'll throw out a few names I can help you dial it in. Secondary to that is how you plan to fish. I know you're primarily thinking bass, but what about trolling for crappie? Do you want something you can drop in the White or Little Red for trout fishing occasionally? Will you be duck hunting out of it? Third, it would help if you could clarify what you mean by V bottom. I'm amazed at how few people around here (Arkansas, not iboats) don't know the difference between a V and a semi-V. I'm not saying you're one of them, but humor me. Fourth, and most important, hurry and get your rig so you can come to this. http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=537863
 
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