I fish 75% smallmouth and the other 25% walleye or other species. I want something that fits in the garage (approx 16 1/2 foot boat) and budget is approximately $10k. Want something for rivers and medium lakes and the occasional Mille Lacs run. What boat below would be your first choice for this type of fishing? Or, reply to the thread with another suggestion:
Is this 10K loaded or 10K boat and then 2-3K in accessories?
Could be either I guess as long as its the same consideration for each boat model…let’s say it has a trolling motor you would keep but you’d have to add a gps…
Well if I could get a lund loaded with a good TM, sonars, and all that for $10K then I’d go for it all day long. But for the price you could probably get more boat for less by going with a different brand. Let me say this way. Most likely you could find a used lund for 10K with okay features but needs to be upgraded to be a great boat. But for that 10K you could pick up a used alumacraft and add a good trolling motor and a nice sonar and be under budget.
Anyways, I voted lund.
Since you mentioned fishing smallmouth, I’m guessing you’re casting which means you’re spending a lot of time on the trolling motor. If I were you, I’d be looking at glass since the wind doesn’t push em around so much. IMO, the tuffy 1700 is the perfect smaller boat, but looking around for one, they’re hard to come by.
I like the layout of the fish hawks as they are more suited towards casting, but the lack of dry storage is a huge turn off for me. If you can get a 17 footer in your garage, Harbor Recreation down in Edgerton WI has a 2002 Fish Hawk 1750 with (I think) a Suzuki 115 on it for under 11. I’m in no way affiliated with them, just happened to come across it looking at boats and thought it was a pretty solid deal. if the tongue of the trailer is an issue, you can always convert it into a swing way.
Tuffy with a Yamaha or Suzuki for stroke. Smooth ride extremely capable dry and very solid boat.no rivets coming loose or welds to crack. They are tuff to find but you will not find a bad review.when i get a smaller boat it will be a tuffy hands down.
Personally I would go with:
2013 TRACKER Super Guide™ V-16 SC
w/ 40 ELPT FourStroke EFI and Trailer
NO HAGGLE NO HASSLE™
National Price
$ 12,995* USA
Ready to go.
Actually I’m surprised by the survey results showing lack of interest in the 2 fiberglass brands. I really thought with the superior ride of glass that there would be a lot more people opting for the Yarcraft, Tuffy…maybe a warrior. Able to take in skinny waters as well as handling the occasional big water better than tin.
The second item I find a little surprising is the Lund Pro V being so popular. Great hull and all, but hard to find one that doesn’t have an old 2 stroke on it for $10k.
First, can you even find either of those two fiberglass boats for the price your talking about?
2nd, most people with boats that size like to be able to pull them up on the shore anywhere they please. As I’ve always understood it, that’s not exactly good for fiberglass. Plus they weigh a lot more than the aluminum boats.
As for popping rivets or leaking welds, can’t say I’ve seen that happen to often in todays hulls. Especially on the Alumacraft 2xb hull. Not saying it never happens just that I haven’t heard of it happening very often.
They all have their +’s & -‘s but for my money, if I was going to buy a boat that size, I would stick with aluminum for sure.
Have seen a ’97 Yarcraft 1678 with a 4 stroke (non-EFI) for $7000… it also weighs about 200 pounds less than an Alumacraft 165. So yes, they are out there but harder to find. I hear you about pushing up on shore, but a keel guard helps a lot.
Unless you plan on fishing small rocky rivers fiberglass is certainly the way to go. They are a much better ride, lighter, float in shallower water,usually have better storage and hold up a lot longer. There is a lot of old school walleye fishermen on this site and it has been pounded in their heads that aluminum boats are the best but I bet if they owned both in a comparable price point they would agree with my.
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Unless you plan on fishing small rocky rivers fiberglass is certainly the way to go. They are a much better ride, lighter, float in shallower water,usually have better storage and hold up a lot longer. There is a lot of old school walleye fishermen on this site and it has been pounded in their heads that aluminum boats are the best but I bet if they owned both in a comparable price point they would agree with my.
I have to admit, at my age, I fit into the old school walleye guy and have indeed been brought up to believe aluminum is better for most river fishing.
You do mention that unless we’re fishing small, rocky rivers, then glass is better.
Does this mean if we own a glass boat, we should stay away from that type of fishery?
That alone would be enough to convince me to buy aluminum.
As for the ride, hard to believe anyone would say aluminum compares favorably to glass boats.
And about which one is lighter, the old school walleye people also pounded into us that glass is much heavier.
Your saying that’s not true with these two glass models?
The hull on the Yarcraft is only about 750 pounds, compared to the Navigator which is about 950. The Yarcraft is a foot narrower so that has a lot to do with it too. The Tuffy is 1100 pounds, so more than the Navigator, but not as much of a difference as the old days. What’s interesting is that the aluminum boats have not only gotten wider (because of heavier 4 strokes) but they have the double plated hulls now. Aluminum boats have gotten heavier over time.
As far as repair, I wouldn’t want to fix either but I have heard that it is harder to damage a fiberglass hull and also easier to fix. I know lots of people with fixed aluminum hulls and sometimes it just doesn’t look very good and some seem to always leak.
But to each their own…I could probably own either, although as I age the softer ride of glass is starting to sway me more.
Yarcraft 1678 – 760lbs
Tuffy 1700 Deep V – 1100 LBS
Alumacraft Navigator 165 – 965 lbs
Lund Pro V 1660 – console 925 lbs, tiller: 881 lbs
Crestliner Fish Hawk 16 – console 1,300 lbs
I’m a bit surprised by the what I found concerning the weight of these boats. Especially the Yarcraft.
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Yarcraft 1678 – 760lbs
Tuffy 1700 Deep V – 1100 LBS
Alumacraft Navigator 165 – 965 lbs
Lund Pro V 1660 – console 925 lbs, tiller: 881 lbs
Crestliner Fish Hawk 16 – console 1,300 lbsI’m a bit surprised by the what I found concerning the weight of these boats. Especially the Yarcraft.
Are you surprised by the ridiculous and inaccurate weight you posted for the Crestliner?
From Crestliner’s website for new model 16′ class Fish Hawks:
Fish Hawk 1650 – console: 1060 lbs
Fish Hawk 1600 – console: 830 lbs
The early 2000 Fish Hawks were awesome fishing boats and IMO they have gone downhill since then. The 1650 SC had a dry weight of 880 lbs and you should be able to find an early to mid 2000’s with 4s motor in your budget.
If not the crestliner, I would look at the Alumacraft Nav. They make a very nice boat at a good price as well, the 2xb is a solid hull and dryer ride than on the Crestliner or Lund. It will be a couple MPH slower than other brands, but who buys a 16.5′ tin boat to go fast, right.
Lund’s are not for people on a budget. They are a nice boat but you are going to pay an extra $2000 on average for the same class of boat as compared to other tin boats.
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Yarcraft 1678 – 760lbs
Tuffy 1700 Deep V – 1100 LBS
Alumacraft Navigator 165 – 965 lbs
Lund Pro V 1660 – console 925 lbs, tiller: 881 lbs
Crestliner Fish Hawk 16 – console 1,300 lbsI’m a bit surprised by the what I found concerning the weight of these boats. Especially the Yarcraft.
Are you surprised by the ridiculous and inaccurate weight you posted for the Crestliner?
Both the tiller and console version of the crestliner are 830#. Took 30 seconds to find it on the crestliner website.
Anyone ever fish out of an Alumacraft Magnum 165? I don’t really care for the thicker gunnels but otherwise like the layout. Would prefer a Navigator, but the Magnum’s are a little less expensive too.
I have heard that the Navigator tillers were only rated to 60 hp until a few years ago and were really underpowered. The Magnum is a little smaller and I think a 60 might be fine on those.. ?? Anyone that has experience with one feel free to chime in.
I take my skeeter in some real sketchy water on the upper Mississippi, but there are times I wish I had a Jon boat for smaller rivers. Don’t get me wrong I’ll never be without a glass boat I just wish I could add another boat. As far as the weight goes the tuffy is an exception, those things are tanks. Tuffy is a good boat and got my vote.
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Personally I would go with:
2013 TRACKER Super Guide™ V-16 SC
w/ 40 ELPT FourStroke EFI and TrailerNO HAGGLE NO HASSLE™
National Price
$ 12,995* USAReady to go.
Ready to go if you do not use a sonar and only fish on calm lakes with no trolling. Great boat to go out and anchor somewhere, but that is about it. You’ll easily spend 3K upgrading the features to make it a good multi-species boat.
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Yarcraft 1678 – 760lbs
Tuffy 1700 Deep V – 1100 LBS
Alumacraft Navigator 165 – 965 lbs
Lund Pro V 1660 – console 925 lbs, tiller: 881 lbs
Crestliner Fish Hawk 16 – console 1,300 lbsI’m a bit surprised by the what I found concerning the
weight of these boats. Especially the Yarcraft.
Are you surprised by the ridiculous and inaccurate weight you posted for the Crestliner?
Both the tiller and console version of the crestliner are 830#. Took 30 seconds to find it on the crestliner website.
Here’s where I found it:
And I now see, after looking closer, that was the 1850 model.
Sorry, my bad!
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Actually I’m surprised by the survey results showing lack of interest in the 2 fiberglass brands.
Most companies don’t make a sub-17′ glass offering. Those that did / do have never sold many of them so they’re hard to find. And any glass boat priced sub-$10k is going to be long in the tooth. In my opinion the only real choice given your parameters is a tin boat. I’d vote A-craft with tiller.
The above site list the weight at 1,060lbs.
Wondering also if the $12,995 for the new Tracker… you have to add in freight & prep and of course sales tax too. Gets to be around $15k ?? Nice, new boat, warranty, but quite a bit higher than the $10k budget…
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Actually I’m surprised by the survey results showing lack of interest in the 2 fiberglass brands.
Most companies don’t make a sub-17′ glass offering. Those that did / do have never sold many of them so they’re hard to find. And any glass boat priced sub-$10k is going to be long in the tooth. In my opinion the only real choice given your parameters is a tin boat. I’d vote A-craft with tiller.
I like the A-craft Nav tiller too but until recently they were only rated to 60hp. Do you think I’d be able to get out of the hole with a second fisherman that is a tall strapping lad like you James? If a 60 would work, I think that too would be my #1.
The tracker is a good choice for just a basic boat. Comes with a wimpy little 12v trolling motor and tiny $100 sonar, no extras at all. Just a basic boat to get you on the water. Not what many would consider a good smallmouth/walleye boat unless you put a couple grand into it for upgrades.
And yes, that price would be out the door (minus tax) at any BPS. If you had to order it, there would be an approx $800-2,000 shipping fee depending on where it is coming from.
So conservatively , add about 2 grand to the price for shipping/tax.
More room in a 16 1/2 foot tiller.
I’d go Lund or Alumacraft.
I have a Yamaha 60 tiller on my 16ft. Two big guys, no problem. Three big guys, a little slow – but OK.
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