Thinking about going 'glass

[Racer268]

I can lay down sideways on the front deck of my ZV18. Two people can fish up front without being in each others way. It's not fast but i love how smooth it is in bigger waves. Significantly better than my Tyee was. I drive a Toyota Tundra and could feel the difference between towing these two boats.

[dauntless eye]

Originally Posted by 2sac

The bulk of my fishing is on inland lakes. I fish Lake Michigan both in IL and WI a few times a year. I'd like to start fishing it more. While my current Lund is fine in what I would call "timed" waves, it doesn't handle rollers or wakes as well as I like and, while I don't mind getting wet when the water temps are in the 70's, It's not pleasant when the temps are in the 40's. Guess I'm basically looking for a drier ride.

the more forward the cockpit the drier the ride..you would want a yarcraft..but you do sacrifice front deck space.. i have had a ranger,a skeeter mx and now run a triton fishhunter in glass..they all out performed the **** out of the alumes i owned and i have had about all except tracker,starweld and the thicker alumes....in market for my last boat i'm 71..looked vexus but starting at 72k my way made me squirm, the same with warrior..love the keels on ranger and skeeter both would have yammies on them..asian or not i cannot say enough good things about yamaha..merc is a crap shoot 4 out of 10 you will have issues with..i've had 22 ..10 were problematic..yammie, and rude nary a problem
biggest issues i have with ranger is JOHNNY MORRIS owned these days..he has a tendency to cheapen anything he touches..i have no prob with yarcraft as i gave up green carp fishing years ago...so its yarcraft, skeeter or triton for me(triton also morris owned so they end up last on my list)..take a yarcraft for a spin, and a skeeter..i think you will enjoy the yarcraft ride..mine was on detroit river..it sure seemed better than lund, and even warrior(not a fan of trim tabs either)

[Flyinghappy]

Originally Posted by dauntless eye

the more forward the cockpit the drier the ride..you would want a yarcraft..but you do sacrifice front deck space.. i have had a ranger,a skeeter mx and now run a triton fishhunter in glass..they all out performed the **** out of the alumes i owned and i have had about all except tracker,starweld and the thicker alumes....in market for my last boat i'm 71..looked vexus but starting at 72k my way made me squirm, the same with warrior..love the keels on ranger and skeeter both would have yammies on them..asian or not i cannot say enough good things about yamaha..merc is a crap shoot 4 out of 10 you will have issues with..i've had 22 ..10 were problematic..yammie, and rude nary a problem
biggest issues i have with ranger is JOHNNY MORRIS owned these days..he has a tendency to cheapen anything he touches..i have no prob with yarcraft as i gave up green carp fishing years ago...so its yarcraft, skeeter or triton for me(triton also morris owned so they end up last on my list)..take a yarcraft for a spin, and a skeeter..i think you will enjoy the yarcraft ride..mine was on detroit river..it sure seemed better than lund, and even warrior(not a fan of trim tabs either)

I get the Johnny Morris thing, but from all I have read and my experience. Ranger quality "maybe" dipped but is back up and Triton has only gotten better. So these 2 are still decent. We'll see what the future hold, but for now, it hasn't happened yet. I think the reputations will keep them from doing to much to cheapen.

[2sac]

I had someone else on another forum say that going from a Lund to a glass multi species would be a lateral move and suggested a 22-24' center console bay boat. What do you guys think of that?
Secondly, any of the glass brands mentioned have a snap out carpet option or sea deck or vinyl floor?

[Kracing11]

Definitely not a lateral move in my opinion. Had an Alumacraft, which was a very nice boat, but no comparison to the YarCraft 186 I have now. Snap In carpet and seadeck are both offered on YarCraft and I am sure on all the other brands too with the exception of maybe one or two.

[Ltrain]

Originally Posted by 2sac

I had someone else on another forum say that going from a Lund to a glass multi species would be a lateral move and suggested a 22-24' center console bay boat. What do you guys think of that?
Secondly, any of the glass brands mentioned have a snap out carpet option or sea deck or vinyl floor?

If you want to start fishing Lake Michigan more would a bay boat be a good choice? I could understand the pros of having that boat on inland lakes but would be worried about lack of free board on the big pond. I dunno I could be wrong but I don't see bay boats when I'm on Michigan or Erie.

[Flyinghappy]

Originally Posted by 2sac

I had someone else on another forum say that going from a Lund to a glass multi species would be a lateral move and suggested a 22-24' center console bay boat. What do you guys think of that?
Secondly, any of the glass brands mentioned have a snap out carpet option or sea deck or vinyl floor?

My Triton has a snap in carpet option that I added and has sea deck under it.

I would say no on the lateral move. My dad's good friend has a newish Lund 19' (I believe could be 20') and in talking they both decided that my Triton was a nicer boat with a better ride and much dryer (obviously opinion, but opinion of one that owns the Lund). I have also had a lot of experience with 16-18' aluminums from Crestliner to Lund and find the glass a much nicer platform for me.

[SLE]

Originally Posted by 2sac

I had someone else on another forum say that going from a Lund to a glass multi species would be a lateral move and suggested a 22-24' center console bay boat. What do you guys think of that?
Secondly, any of the glass brands mentioned have a snap out carpet option or sea deck or vinyl floor?

Definitely not a lateral move, the glass boats will ride notably better and provided a drier ride, I really don't think there's any question about that.

I know ranger has a some type of viny/rubber flooring, yar-craft has a sea deck option however I think that's now be standard on the new 219 and the 2095. You used to be able to get bare textured fiber glass also. And both Yar-craft and ranger offered snap-in as an option. Not sure if that's still the case or not. Lund Gls and Warriors have similar options. I think the only one that doesn't have flooring options is the Nitro which has a tucked and permanent padded carpet.

[Waxy]

Originally Posted by 2sac

I had someone else on another forum say that going from a Lund to a glass multi species would be a lateral move and suggested a 22-24' center console bay boat. What do you guys think of that?
Secondly, any of the glass brands mentioned have a snap out carpet option or sea deck or vinyl floor?

It is definitely NOT a lateral move. Ride quality will vary among the glass manufacturers, some certainly ride better than others, but any of the same sized glass boats will ride better and drier than aluminum.

A bigger center console bay boat would likely be another step up in ride quality, but not really an option that I'd consider.

I think the snap in/out carpet option is pretty readily available from most of the glass manufacturers. I know for certain it's an option with Warrior, as is Aqua Traction flooring.

Waxy

[REW]

2sac,

A frfeind of mine has a 22 foot Ranger bay boat with a 200hp Mercury on it, and it is a wonderful boat to fish from.

The boat will be standing still and he will punch it, The bow will come up a bit and by the time that the bow comes down he is on plane and headed for 60 mph.

Easy to fish from in any position on the boat and nice livewell and cooler setup.

But, everything had better be stowed and or tied down before the throttle is punched. If not, it will fly out of the stern of the boat when the boat accelerates.

Never felt unsafe in any wave situation and it tracked very well. But, there is little protection for the driver or passengers when flying across the water. But, never have any back issues, because the best thing to do in that boat, and it was easy to do, was to stand when running across the water. That way, if you hit 3 or 4 foot waves, you had all of the flex of your knees to absorb any shock coming off of any waves. With the design of the center steering area and the big grab bars on each side, it was easy to stand and be safe as one navigated quickly from spot to spot.


He currently keeps the bay boat at one of his homes, but has added another new boat to his inventory. It is a 20 foot Larsen with an Evinrude 300hp engine on it, and he totally enjoys the new boat. This boat has a walk through windshield and has similar speed of the previous bay boat. Very very dry and smooth riding boat and he does a great job fishing in this boat as well.

Be safe