Fiberglass brands

[mtn]

I'm "looking" for a boat, in the sense that I think I'll be buying a fiberglass boat in the next 2-10 years, and often find myself casually searching quite often.

With that in mind, I have a few saved searches on various platforms, and wanted to know if I was missing any fiberglass brands for multi-species boats (walleye boats, or fish and ski boats that are appropriate for the Great Lakes). On the "fish and ski" note... while Sea Ray may have made a fish and ski boat in 2002 (I'm making this up, unless they did), it wouldn't make the cut for this. Let's put an arbitrary age limit of 20 years.


So with that in mind... here is my list. Am I missing anything?

• Yar craft
• Stratos
• Tracker (Old Targa, also Tundra, even though it isn't glass)
• Warrior
• Nitro
• Ranger
• Skeeter
• Tuffy
• Lund
• Triton
• Larson
• Vexus
• Recon
• Backtroller

[REW]

I would likely put Warrior at the top of the list, followed by Skeeter, and then on down the line.

Stratos was discontinued this year, so if you buy a stratos - you might run into parts issues if that is a concern.

In the great lakes, you can encounter some huge waves. So, for your long life, it is to your interest to have a boat with a nice high bow area that will not Nose down into the waves and take 500 gallons of water over the bow.

But, even if you do take a substantial amount of water over the bow, if you have two large bilge pumps in your boat --- a really good idea for the Great lakes -- you will likely stay ahead of the water, unless you are in a storm where you continue taking waves over the bow.

But, if your boat running is going to be mainly on the great lakes you might consider even bigger boats than the ones you have mentioned.

All of the boats mentioned will float and perform very well in waves up to about 4 feet, but when they start getting bigger than that - some of these brands may end up being the worse for wear.

For example, in the Lund Line up, the Lund Baron - (An aluminum boat) is actually a pretty good Great lakes boat because the overall depth of the boat, along with the shape of the bow.

Also, for a lot of Great lakes work, a lot of folks find it to their advantage to have a full canvas or even better - a solid fiberglass cover over the bow area of the boat in front of the windshield. That way, if you happen to encounter a big roller that submerses the bow of the boat, the water will slough off the sides of the boats bow and gunnels - as long as the windshield was closed at the time of the encounter.

===================
Just as an example:
Here is a link to a Hydra-sport boat:

https://www.boattrader.com/boat/2006...-2900-7234412/

Look through the pictures and find the ones where you are at the front of the boat looking straight toward the stern. Notice the design of the bow and the gunnel area of the bow.
With a boat bow design like the ones on this link, you will find that as you enter a wave, the bow will cut through the wave and the overhanging gunnels on the bow area will deflect the wave away from the cockpit and the bow - thus giving it a much more forgiving design with respect to big waves.

If, you look at many of the typical freshwater smaller boats you will find a bow that tends to more or less go straight up, which allows the wave to be deflected straight up and then, if in a cross wind, have the wave dumped all over the cockpit and the boats passengers.

But the choice is yours and there are many very good boats to choose from.

As I said, my biggest concern for a big wave boat is to have a boat with a high bow that can easily deflect waves, rather than burying the bow into a wall of water and then have it roll over the boat and into the cockpit.

Best wishes.


Do your research and you will end up with a great boat for you and yours and your specific needs.

Best wishes.

[GarryB]

Backtroller Avid should be on your list.

[REW]

Now for an extreme example:
Here is a link to Alaska Crab boats that work the Bearing Sea with sometimes 50-60 foot waves.
Notice the height of the bow which is used to deflect the oncoming wave from the interior of the boat.

But, then behind the boat, there are relatively low gunnels or freeboard which allows for the boat to be used with Crab pots without having to drop the pots a long distance down to the surface of the ocean.

https://www.google.com/search?source...w=1641&bih=922


This is certainly an extreme example, but I simply post these pictures to help a person understand the function of the bow and the outsweep of the bow to protect the contents and crew that are on the boat working the sides of the boat.

Best wishes

[mtn]

Originally Posted by GarryB

Backtroller Avid should be on your list.

Never heard of them! Thanks for mentioning, I've added them to the list. Not one that I'm interested in, as I don't want a tiller, but definitely meet the criteria!

[mtn]

REW - thanks! I'm trying to avoid what we might call the "Ocean Boats" or "Carolina Boats" (anyone know the actual name I'm looking for?). One of the reasons I've kept a lookout is that I have basically unlimited access to a Grady White. It is excellent, but not the right solution for walleye fishing without a lot of customization that the owner isn't comfortable with.

As an aside, I also have access to a 12 foot aluminium and an 18 foot vintage Lund, but one that is shallow enough that you get uncomfortable - but not nervous - in serious chop, and cut my boating teeth on a 16 foot Bowrider in Green Bay. I've been out there in stupid conditions in wayyyyy too little boat, at wayyyy too young an age. But how else do you learn?

[2sac]

Larson FX is no longer as far as I know and forget about Tracker.

[jfaisten]

Boston Whaler has a new 230 Outrage. When it comes to fiberglass boats, BW is hard to beat for quality and resale.