Another Great Debate - hull choice

[Dutch]

What type of hull do you like on the boat you fish from:

 

1) Deep V aluminum

2) Modified V aluminum

3) Glass - bass boat style

 

What are the pros and cons in your opinion?

 

Why did you choose the hull you did?

 

If you don't have a boat and were buying, what would you be looking for?

 

I'll start - bought an aluminum "bass boat" style boat for the fact it was my first boat and I knew it may get scratched up a bit as I learned the ropes. I couldn't stand it if I scratched up a gel coat, but a nick in the paint can be fixed easier. Not too many of these types of boats sold now - only the Tracker Tournament V18 has a hull like mine, but I wish there was more choice. I like the ride, cuts through chop pretty good and is stable for fishing.

 

I read the ride in a mod-v is a bit rough in larger 2-3 footers, but I don't get into that much around here.

 

As I said, I just prefer aluminum as it's more fogiving IMO than glas and rides a bit better. Not ruling out a future glass boat though.

[Twocoda]

ive had tinnies of all sizes and love the ride of floating over the waves ..it just gives you more of a fishing feeling ....but you are limited to chop and i always got nervous when the waves get too tight together in fears of possibly getting swamped...

 

for the past 8 years ive been in glass....and i probably feel a false sence of security by having the deep v plow through the waves as opposed to riding over them ...

 

there are pros and cons to both but my comfort level tells me glass from here on out ...

[Guest skeeter99]

glass all they way

 

tin imo will leak eventually

 

smoother ride/ much more stable glass is completely repairable, tin can be repaired but is never the same imo

 

plus glass look better anyway

[cranks bait]

My first boat was a modifies jon. It was in my price range and had good storage and decks for casting. Small enough to be easily pulled and stored and beached at the cottage, although I never did.

 

My boat now is a deep v. It handles the rough water amazingly well. I don't get bounced around in it any more than glass boats. I'm still able to beach it. Use a smaller motor and still get good speeds. Can also tow it easily without having to get a bigger vehicle. And I still have great storage and casting decks. It also won't get as beat up by the ice come fall for duck season.

[carll2]

fiberglass all the way..handles the waves amazingly.

[tonyb]

Entirely depends on the type of fishing you want to do with it...and bodies of water.

 

Answer those questions and it will really help narrow down the choice, comparable glass boats will be faster than aluminum as there is less drag on the hulls.

[charlesn]

As I said, I just prefer aluminum as it's more fogiving IMO than glas and rides a bit better. Not ruling out a future glass boat though.

 

Not sure which comparable glass bass boats you've ridden in, but on an apples to apples (or as close as you can get) basis, there is no comparison, the glass rides WAY better than tin from my experience in both.

 

I went from a 17'1" Lund Bass boat (they stopped making them in 94 or 95) to a 17'1" glass boat (Champion 171) and the ride difference was like night and day. Same length, same horsepower, totally different ride. The speed was actually quite similar though even though I expected the glass boat to be faster.

 

Charles

[hirk]

As said,it depends on the type of water you fish,but if it's anything other than close too flat most days or very small lakes,glass,glass,glass

[Dutch]

Would be fishing almost always inland lakes - tri-lakes for example. Maybe get out on Quinte or Simcoe once or twice a year.

 

I like to get from spot to spot somewhere between 40-50 mph. 50 seems really, really fast to me and I don't think I would feel comfortable going much over that.

 

Can you beach a glass boat without too much damage to the keel/bottom? Some of the launches I uses are not in the best shape and don't have docks. Pretty tough to launch and park yourself without beaching it.

[trapshooter]

Deep V aluminum would be my choice.

 

Like others said, however, it depends how/where you want to use it. Do some research and weigh the pro's and con's of both.

[DRIFTER_016]

If you do much fishing in Shield lakes you want an aluminum hulled boat.

When you bump a rock with a fiberglass boat it cracks and splits, aluminum is more forgiving in this instance.

Glass boats ride nicer for the most part, mainly because they weigh a lot more than the same type of boat in aluminum.

Glass boats fell more solid running in heavy seas due to the added weight of them.

If you are running mostly inland lakes I would go with a Vee or Semi Vee in either aluminum or glass, they both have their plusses and minuses.

If you are going to run larger lakes most of the time go with a glass vee bottom boat.

Flat bottom boats (john boats) are better in rivers and shallow lakes.

[charlesn]

Can you beach a glass boat without too much damage to the keel/bottom? Some of the launches I uses are not in the best shape and don't have docks. Pretty tough to launch and park yourself without beaching it.

 

There's a thing called a keel guard that I see catching on up here. You put it on your boat and you can beach on a concrete, dirt, gravel or sand ramp no problem.

 

I put her up on the crystal beach ramp when they pull the docks with no problems.

 

For the type of lakes you visit, you really can pick any boat you want and be pretty safe. You might need to watch the weather a bit for Simcoe and Quinte, but I've never been scared on the water on the Kawarthas like I have on Erie or Lake O.

 

40-50 mph is still plenty fast and gets you from point A to point B in a hurry on those smaller lakes.

 

Good luck with the boat choice, but if it were me, I'd go for about 17'6"-18'0" fibreglass bass boat with a 135-150 HP on the back. Can cruise at 40-50 no problem and for those really nice days when you feel the urge, can hammer down and enjoy the extra speed that is available.

[charlesn]

One other pretty major thing is the positive floatation in a fibreglass bass boat which I think is not as present in an aluminum. When I punched a grapefruit size hole in my hull in the 1000 Islands area, I was in 134 feet of water. Even though water got in and filled the boat up to the top of the driver seat, the boat never fully sank and my cell phone and GPS worked until I beached her several miles away. The front deck stayed dry through the whole ordeal.

[DRIFTER_016]

One other pretty major thing is the positive floatation in a fibreglass bass boat which I think is not as present in an aluminum. When I punched a grapefruit size hole in my hull in the 1000 Islands area, I was in 134 feet of water. Even though water got in and filled the boat up to the top of the driver seat, the boat never fully sank and my cell phone and GPS worked until I beached her several miles away. The front deck stayed dry through the whole ordeal.

 

You probably hit a deadhead floating out in the middle of the lake, been there, done that!!!

The log that punched a hole in your boat would more than likely just dent an aluminum hull.

The hull on my aluminum boat is completely filled with floatation foam anywhere there is room.

The whole center of the floor on either side of the gas tank as well as the rear casting deck behind the storage compartments and live well.

I have no concerns of my boat sinking to the bottom. From about 3' forward of the console to a foot and a half from the rear of the boat has floatation foam in the floor.

 

[Greencoachdog]

Deep V aluminum would be my choice.

 

Like others said, however, it depends how/where you want to use it. Do some research and weigh the pro's and con's of both.

 

 

I really like the Deep V's too, they feel like a safer boat to me!

[Billy Bob]

Get one that doesn't leak and go catch a fish.......

[charlesn]

You probably hit a deadhead floating out in the middle of the lake, been there, done that!!!

The log that punched a hole in your boat would more than likely just dent an aluminum hull.

The hull on my aluminum boat is completely filled with floatation foam anywhere there is room.

The whole center of the floor on either side of the gas tank as well as the rear casting deck behind the storage compartments and live well.

I have no concerns of my boat sinking to the bottom. From about 3' forward of the console to a foot and a half from the rear of the boat has floatation foam in the floor.

 

I guess I should have mentioned that I sunk my first boat (an aluminum Smokercraft) at the launch ramp in Lindsay when the ribs separated. It was an older boat and it definitely did not have positive flotation. Also, the day I nearly sunk my Lund bass boat on Simcoe, a Lowe aluminum boat did in fact sink. Had I had my fibreglass boat I would NOT have even gotten wet. Take that for what it's worth. Just my experience.

 

I doubt very highly that it would've only dented an aluminum hull at the speed the boat was traveling. But you could be right, it could've maybe only had a dent. Or I could've lost $20,000 worth of gear to the bottom of the lake and enjoyed a gentle float in my PFD to Gananoque... lol it's just conjecture at this point, but as someone that has owned both, there's no way I would ever go back to aluminum by choice.

[Greencoachdog]

I guess I should have mentioned that I sunk my first boat (an aluminum Smokercraft) at the launch ramp in Lindsay when the ribs separated. It was an older boat and it definitely did not have positive flotation. Also, the day I nearly sunk my Lund bass boat on Simcoe, a Lowe aluminum boat did in fact sink. Had I had my fibreglass boat I would NOT have even gotten wet. Take that for what it's worth. Just my experience.

 

I doubt very highly that it would've only dented an aluminum hull at the speed the boat was traveling. But you could be right, it could've maybe only had a dent. Or I could've lost $20,000 worth of gear to the bottom of the lake and enjoyed a gentle float in my PFD to Gananoque... lol it's just conjecture at this point, but as someone that has owned both, there's no way I would ever go back to aluminum by choice.

 

 

So you're saying you're a submarine Captain?

[JeffBornFishin]

Spent a lot of time on different build type of boats over the years.

 

Our deep v fibreglass we have had since new will be 23 years old this August.

 

It is a lot of work to keep the gel coat clean and in mint condition but hey I am fussy and I like the shine

 

I can walk around and fish in the boat with my fat and it doesn't lean over like a tinner.

 

Ride is better imo in a glass deep v.

 

Can corner very sharp at speed and is stable.

 

One of my guys at work is a pro and I have been out with him plenty of times in his Tracker all welded pro bass outfit and I must say I was impressed with the ride.

 

His boat will be 4 years old this summer and has taken a nasty tea stained colour on the metal.

 

Think I will stick with the glass

[POLLIWOGG]

I like the deep V for getting there and back but the lack of stability when trolling or drifting and taking waves on the beam makes me wish I still had the old 20' cathedral hull under me. A true deep V is great at speed but lousy at going slow.

[Sinker]

For me, and the fishing AND hunting I do out of mine, a deep and wide aluminum TILLER is the only way to go. I can guarantee, I'd kill a glass boat in less than 5 years. I mean demolished. My 16ft Starcraft is going on 12 years of solid use from the day ice goes out, until I'm breaking ice in the late fall to get in. Not a leak, but many, many, many dents and scratches. A glass boat would be killed for certain.

 

If I was going to be trolling great lakes more, I'd want a bigger glass deep V hulled boat, but for what I do, a glass boat is not gonna take the beating I'm going to give it.

 

Sinker

[trapshooter]

For me, and the fishing AND hunting I do out of mine, a deep and wide aluminum TILLER is the only way to go... for what I do, a glass boat is not gonna take the beating I'm going to give it.

 

Sinker

 

Amen!

[Tybo]

One of the fastest boats I've been in,was a aluminum deep V off-shore.130mph.

This boat weighs more then Kevlar,with the weight being almost the same as glass.

This is do to the heavy reenforcement of the bow.

With this boat having a 26 degree dead raise the bow take more of a pounding then

the average 17 to 19 of a aluminum fishing boat.

 

The dead raise of the bow has more to ride stability the the material that the boat is made of.

A long dead raise is made to ride on top of the water.

A low dead raise will plow through the wave more.

 

To truly under stand dead raising, go out in a sail boat. Then compare it to your fishing boat.

You will under stand what I'm talking about.

if the boats you are comparing have different dead raise.

It would be like comparing apples to cumquat's.

[POLLIWOGG]

Its the angle at the transom not the bow that gives the boat its characteristics when at speed eg a deep v has a rise of 22deg or more at the transom is about 10% slower than a flatter bottom boat on flat water but can cut the chop where a flat bottom boat has to slow down for comfort. The bow angle comes into play when going bow down cutting the chop. A deep v boat like an off shore racer will have a narrow v bow to cut into the waves where a cuddy cruiser will have a fat tubby V bow and flatter bottom to make more room inside but also more buoyancy that keeps the bow from submerging into the waves. The fat cruiser will have a nice ride through the rollers at 5 or 6 knots where the deep V the faster they go the better the ride.

[Billy Bob]

One of the fastest boats I've been in,was a aluminum deep V off-shore.130mph.

 

With this boat having a 26 degree dead raise the bow take more of a pounding then

the average 17 to 19 of a aluminum fishing boat.

 

I have to agree with everything else you said except this quote. With a 26 degree dead rise which is much greater than most (all) fishing boats it will actually cut through the waves much better giving it's passengers a much smoother ride and much less stressful on the boat's hull. It more like a knife cutting through the water than a paddle being slapped on the surface of the water.

 

 

Bob