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Posts: 190
| I have owned both glass and aluminum.
1998 1800 tuffy renagade
1996 185 alumacraft competitor
1985 16 aluminium deep v with no name
1994 18' charger bass boat dual console
1981 17' bayliner
2002 17' key west bay boat
16' rebuilt custom sylvan rigged for musky fishing (father in laws boat)
2000 proline 2501 walk around with twin 200s
While each have there place. I broke down my boat buying decisions in some different factors that might be of use.
1. How many miles will I have to trailer to go to fish
2. garage/storage space required
3. what water will I be fishing
4. What obstacles might I hit
5. How much do I want to care for the boat
6. how many people will I fishing with
7. Gas consumption ( do I have to buy gas at a marina)
8. What are the boat landings like where I fish
9. What fish are you fishing for?
10. Waves
1. How many miles will I have to trailer to go to fish
Where I live now it takes me 4-8 hours to get to where I want to fish. Trailers are also important, but so it the weight and width of the boat. My tuffy was one heavy boat on a single axle trailer and was not fun to tow. My charger was heavy as well but had a dual axle trailer it was great so the bigger the boat get a dual axle with brakes. However a smaller light boat with big water potential is better for me. Remember going through tolls sucks with a wide boat.
2. garage space required
If you get into a big boat validate the on trailer length to make sure it will fit into the garage. Also, validate the width as somebody else mentioned as your boat could get to wide for your drive way.
3. what water will I be fishing
If all your fishing is big water, no obstacles go glass. The weight of the boat, the cut of the v, and the solidness of the glass will always make for a better ride.
I fish in canada, lac cout., and other north Wisconsin waters. In my charger I could not launch at the la cout. the water was to shallow. I actually tried and back down on part of the chicago bar. took out a prop the transducers and chipped the back of the boat. Aluminium is lighter inch for inch.
4. What obstacles might I hit
No obstacles go glass. I fish canada as I mentioned and sometimes get close to the rocks and hit them going slow (trolling, or just using the trolling motor). You shake your head call yourself an idiot and move on in aluminum. This sucks in fiber glass and do not let anybody tell you different. Yes you can fix glass but it sucks, I have done it I know. Jacking the boat up grinding, sanded, getting the suction on a strake to get the glass to set, it all sucks. I have even chipped my boat stump fishing for crappie in shebyville on stumps. Glass in not as veristal as people will lead you to believe.
Sure the aluminium will get stratched up, or you take a nice deep chunk out of it, but it still fine. The dangers of not fixing the glass is costly as well. On my bayliner the boat hit the trailer funny and took off a piece of glass about 6 inch long and 3/4 of a inch wide. I left the boat in the water up in lake geneva by the end of the summer I had to cut out a section of the boat about 1' by a 1'6" to replace to blistering gel coat. aluminum you just leave it.
If you actual hit something hard and fast with a aluminum you will poke a hole in it. If you hit something hard and fast in glass you will crack it and cause stress fractures. aluminum you weld up a patch, glass you start grinding and praying.
5. How much do I want to care for the boat
Anybody who saw my bass boat and tuffy gave me compliments on them. I spent many hours buffing it shining them and keeping them beautiful. So much so they I was scared to take it to lakes I was unfamiliar with in fear of hitting something. When you have a glass boat it has prestige, you want to keep it looking awesome. For all my glass boats I spent hours buffing, time wasted. The aluminum I would wax once a year and be done with it. I treated them like the work horses they were.
6. How many people will I be fishing with
2 3 4 5 family
This does not weigh into glass vs aluminum but it is still important. It weighed heavily into my latest boat purchase. I was between a range 681, a tuffy, and a alumacraft. I will state at the end what I bought, but seating 3 people or four people in some musky boats is tough. Especially if you want dual console and want to be able to cast 3 people comfortably.
7. Gas consumption is huge to me. Not just the boat gas but the truck gas. Towing my tuffy, my truck then a tahoe, the gas burn was high. Then with most glass boat you have a need to throw big horses on it that also eat gas. Sure you can throttle back and conserve, but come on if you got it you will use it. Aluminum boats inch for inch generally require less horses.
8. boat landings
As I mention big glass boats need good landings. Where as big aluminum require less water and the roller trailer option can help. I’m not sure if you can use a roller trailer on glass.
9. The catch
My general rule of thumb.
Walleye boats 2 livewells preferably one on the front deck and one in back and a beer cooler.
Musky 50+ inch live well and a beer cooler second live well a plus
Trolling for salmon rear floor space to work the trolling rods, high sides, high than most glass multi species boats if you do not want to do a lot of bending setting rods.
Crappie aluminum (the locations of fish get you into areas with obstacles.
10. Wave action
I have been out in some pretty mean s***. I have been in 16 footers yes 16 footers in my key west fishing the gulf stream. I have been in 6 footers in my alumacraft. I have fished lake Geneva (can get extremely rough with a 9 mile wind ), lake of the woods (the big bowl), and lake Michigan ( which sucks because the waves bunch up) The boat will do as good as the captain. I don’t care what boat you are in safety first, and the only thing your going to accomplish doing 30 MPH in 3-4 footers in a cracked transom, broken electronics, a broken back.
SO what did I just buy last weekend? I went back to a alumacraft. I got a 175 cs navigator with a 115 four stroke Yamaha. I will post some pictures when I can.
19’10” on a swing tongue trailer. Fits in standard 20’ garage
Inch for inch it is lighter and wider than any tuffy 1200LBS 96” beam
Fishes 3 people casting, and seats 4 so I can take the kids out.
Minimal maintenance
I can bounce it off rocks and stumps without to much trouble
The 115 is pretty fuel efficient however I would have liked an optimax
It has a roller trailer for bad launches
54 inch live well
Front and rear casting decks
The alumacraft is a well made boat. I like the lund 2 but in my opinion they have not made a good musky boat until the predator, which will be coming out as a console later this year. ( I talked to the lund guy at the boat show.)
Final thought. Big water no obstacles go glass. Random lakes, bad launch, rocks stumps go aluminum. Other people covered the money aspect.
Just my 2 cents
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