I'm new to the boating world and want to know ifsomebody could help me
out with some questions? In the future I will be buying a bass boat,
I'm looking at either getting a Tracker Pro Team 165 or a Tracker
Super Guide V-14 C. I will be fishing mostly small lakes and rivers in
Northeastern PA. What are the differences between the two style of
boats, in your opinion which is the better boat to go with, or is
there a better boat for around the same price? I would like to keep
the boat size 14' to 16'.

Thanks in advance,
Chris

On Fri, 30 Jan 2004 07:58:51 -0500, Chris
wrote:

I'm new to the boating world and want to know ifsomebody could help me
out with some questions? In the future I will be buying a bass boat,
I'm looking at either getting a Tracker Pro Team 165 or a Tracker
Super Guide V-14 C. I will be fishing mostly small lakes and rivers in
Northeastern PA. What are the differences between the two style of
boats, in your opinion which is the better boat to go with, or is
there a better boat for around the same price? I would like to keep
the boat size 14' to 16'.

I don't want to get into an agrument about this boat or that boat so
please understand that the following is strictly my opinion based on
observations and a little personal experience.

Both are good boats, built to the standards used in the industry for
this type of hull and the material used. Form, fit and function is
acceptable for the money being spent. They are what they are -
inexpensive aluminum boats and will do what you ask as long as you
don't ask a lot out of them. The "modified" V vs the semi-vee on a
boat of this type if a mute question - for the type of waters you
describe, the only advantage one has over the other, and it will be
marginal at best, is how much water either will draw.

Dollar-for-dollar, Tracker is acceptable - in particular if it is a
first boat and you are willing to take a hit on trade-in value or
straight up sale value as opposed to something like a Lund, Starcraft
or one of the other "name" aluminum boats. Remember that you will not
regain a large chunk of your investment if you sell it two/three years
down the road. Ten years down the road is another matter.

Now, as to fishability - I'm a 6'3" 210 pound guy and these boatrs are
small - REAL SMALL - for a guy like me. I can't stretch out my legs
under the console and usually wind up sitting on the back or front
deck under way when I'm fishing with a friend who owns one of these.
I tend to notice little things and one was that the deck wood seems
under sized in terms of thickness. When using the bike up front, the
base will flex - not a positive for me. I also can't sit on the rear
chair for the same reason. (This is a 165 by the way). The boat is
also very tippy - in other words, two guys of average build on the
same side of the boat will give new meaning to how close one can go
without flipping over the boat.

I have an open Lund V series that I use for pond hopping and river
fishing (if I can't get my Ranger in) - no deck except for a small
storage area I built up front to store anchors, etc. Now, if you are
looking for value, you can't beat a Lund - you will pay, but it will
hold it's value over time. If I'm lying I'm dying, but I literally
beat the hell out of a 16 ft Lund (I called it my "rock" boat because
it managed to find rocks on a pretty regular basis), I dropped it off
it's trailer once and it had a slight bend along one gunnel from an
unfortunate incident with a piling on the Connecticut River. Never
leaked, was used regularly by myself and a couple of friends who would
borrow it. I sold it for 2/3s what I paid for it 8 years after I
bought it.

My new "rock" boat is a Lund for obvious reasons.

As for others in the same class, but perhaps a little bit better in
the "form, fit, function" category, you might want to look at
Polarkraft, Prince Craft and those new Aussie boats, Quintrex. I
crawled all over a Quintrex 190 Legend at the boat show last weekend
and that is one hell of a boat. Not terrible expensive either. They
make a boat similar to what you are looking for which I believe is a
little more expensive, but you are getting a lot more for your money.

Very impressed with Quintrex from a "looking at without actually
talking to somebody who owns one" standpoint.

So that.s about it I'd be glad to discuss this off list if you want -
I'm not connected with any marina, boat dealer or manufacturer, but I
have a great deal of curiosity and I'm not shy about asking people
about their boats when I see one I haven't looked at or seen before.

RYI: About 60% of the complaints about boats can be directly placed
at the door step of the dealer - lousy service, bull**** artists, that
sort of thing. Usually, folks like their boats - it's the dealer's
they hate. :)


Later,

Tom
S. Woodstock, CT
----------
The years will bring their Anodyne,
But I shall never quite forget,
The fish that I had counted mine
And lost before they reached the net.

Colin Ellis, "The Devot Angler" quoted
in A. R. Macdougall, Jr's "The Trout
Fisherman's Bedside Book" (1963)

"Chris" wrote in message
...
I'm new to the boating world and want to know ifsomebody could help me
out with some questions? In the future I will be buying a bass boat,
I'm looking at either getting a Tracker Pro Team 165 or a Tracker
Super Guide V-14 C. I will be fishing mostly small lakes and rivers in
Northeastern PA. What are the differences between the two style of
boats, in your opinion which is the better boat to go with, or is
there a better boat for around the same price? I would like to keep
the boat size 14' to 16'.

Thanks in advance,
Chris

You may have better luck posting on Rec.outdoors.fishing.bass as to getting
responses with knowledge of these boats.
Bill

I'm new to the boating world and want to know ifsomebody could help me
out with some questions? In the future I will be buying a bass boat,
I'm looking at either getting a Tracker Pro Team 165 or a Tracker
Super Guide V-14 C. I will be fishing mostly small lakes and rivers in
Northeastern PA. What are the differences between the two style of
boats, in your opinion which is the better boat to go with, or is
there a better boat for around the same price? I would like to keep
the boat size 14' to 16'.

Thanks in advance,
Chris


Chris, the Pro Team is a more "finished" boat. More more features and creature
comforts. For small, protected water, it's a good rig, especially if you want
to fish two.

The V-14 is pretty small. It's a neat little package, and certainly a good
value, but I would only go that route if I was fishing alone all the time, or
fishing with another when trolling. Two people casting in that boat means lots
of ducking and "sorry 'bout that."

If you have plans to regularly run distances up/down river, upgrade to the 40hp
over the base 25hp.



-- Rich Stern
www.nitroowners.com - The Nitro and Tracker Owners Web Site
www.mypontoon.com - The Pontoon Boat Web Site
www.fishingreportdatabase.com - The Fishing Report Database
www.mysporttrac.com - The Sport Trac Web Site

Hi Chris,

Tracker makes a basic entry level boat. Even its top of the line Tahoe's
are considered entry level among serious boaters.

I am not saying they are bad boats, but soon, you will want to upgrade
to a better bass boat. The only thing I have againsn't them is metal
hulls. They are noisy and scare off the fish. Sort of like shaking a tin
can full of marbles underwater. However, if you want a boat to just "get
out there" once in a while, A tracker may be for you. One thing is
certain. The base package with the 25 is grossly under powered. You
should consider the 40hp upgrade.

If you should desire to trade in the boat in a few years, I am afraid it
will have lost value very fast. Trackers are like that. Consult your
financial institution for "black book" price figures on 1,2, and 3 year
old models.

You may want to visit the February boat shows and compare other boats.
Often manufacturers have a lot of "incentive" money or rebates at the
shows, which make a new fiberglass boat attractive.

If you like bass boats, you will also like "shoal" type boats. The
amenities are the same, but the boats are built tougher.

Make sure you get a galvanized trailer. A painted trailer is ok for a
few years but rusts out after being dipped in water. Especially salt water.

Make sure you attend a USCG safe boating class! The life you save may be
your own.

Capt Frank Hopkins

www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks

Chris wrote:
I'm new to the boating world and want to know ifsomebody could help me
out with some questions? In the future I will be buying a bass boat,
I'm looking at either getting a Tracker Pro Team 165 or a Tracker
Super Guide V-14 C. I will be fishing mostly small lakes and rivers in
Northeastern PA. What are the differences between the two style of
boats, in your opinion which is the better boat to go with, or is
there a better boat for around the same price? I would like to keep
the boat size 14' to 16'.

Thanks in advance,
Chris

Hey Capt, that's not true about metal boats. Well some days it is when the
fish are real spooky. But many times noise attracts fish, especially white
perch. Many years ago I watched people beating the crap out of the water. I
thought they were just mad because they couldn't get a bite. Later I found
out they were "calling" white perch, and it works.

--
Bill
Chesapeake, Va


"Capt. Frank Hopkins" wrote in message
nk.net...
Hi Chris,

Tracker makes a basic entry level boat. Even its top of the line Tahoe's
are considered entry level among serious boaters.

I am not saying they are bad boats, but soon, you will want to upgrade
to a better bass boat. The only thing I have againsn't them is metal
hulls. They are noisy and scare off the fish. Sort of like shaking a tin
can full of marbles underwater. However, if you want a boat to just "get
out there" once in a while, A tracker may be for you. One thing is
certain. The base package with the 25 is grossly under powered. You
should consider the 40hp upgrade.

If you should desire to trade in the boat in a few years, I am afraid it
will have lost value very fast. Trackers are like that. Consult your
financial institution for "black book" price figures on 1,2, and 3 year
old models.

You may want to visit the February boat shows and compare other boats.
Often manufacturers have a lot of "incentive" money or rebates at the
shows, which make a new fiberglass boat attractive.

If you like bass boats, you will also like "shoal" type boats. The
amenities are the same, but the boats are built tougher.

Make sure you get a galvanized trailer. A painted trailer is ok for a
few years but rusts out after being dipped in water. Especially salt
water.

Make sure you attend a USCG safe boating class! The life you save may be
your own.

Capt Frank Hopkins

www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks

Chris wrote:
I'm new to the boating world and want to know ifsomebody could help me
out with some questions? In the future I will be buying a bass boat,
I'm looking at either getting a Tracker Pro Team 165 or a Tracker
Super Guide V-14 C. I will be fishing mostly small lakes and rivers in
Northeastern PA. What are the differences between the two style of
boats, in your opinion which is the better boat to go with, or is
there a better boat for around the same price? I would like to keep
the boat size 14' to 16'.

Thanks in advance,
Chris

You might go look around at the bass fishing site
http://www.wmi.org/bassfish/index.html also.


"WRH" wrote in message
news:zUTTb.19081$CJ1.673@lakeread01...
Hey Capt, that's not true about metal boats. Well some days it is when the
fish are real spooky. But many times noise attracts fish, especially white
perch. Many years ago I watched people beating the crap out of the water.
I
thought they were just mad because they couldn't get a bite. Later I found
out they were "calling" white perch, and it works.

--
Bill
Chesapeake, Va


"Capt. Frank Hopkins" wrote in message
nk.net...
Hi Chris,

Tracker makes a basic entry level boat. Even its top of the line Tahoe's
are considered entry level among serious boaters.

I am not saying they are bad boats, but soon, you will want to upgrade
to a better bass boat. The only thing I have againsn't them is metal
hulls. They are noisy and scare off the fish. Sort of like shaking a tin
can full of marbles underwater. However, if you want a boat to just "get
out there" once in a while, A tracker may be for you. One thing is
certain. The base package with the 25 is grossly under powered. You
should consider the 40hp upgrade.

If you should desire to trade in the boat in a few years, I am afraid it
will have lost value very fast. Trackers are like that. Consult your
financial institution for "black book" price figures on 1,2, and 3 year
old models.

You may want to visit the February boat shows and compare other boats.
Often manufacturers have a lot of "incentive" money or rebates at the
shows, which make a new fiberglass boat attractive.

If you like bass boats, you will also like "shoal" type boats. The
amenities are the same, but the boats are built tougher.

Make sure you get a galvanized trailer. A painted trailer is ok for a
few years but rusts out after being dipped in water. Especially salt
water.

Make sure you attend a USCG safe boating class! The life you save may be
your own.

Capt Frank Hopkins

www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks

Chris wrote:
I'm new to the boating world and want to know ifsomebody could help me
out with some questions? In the future I will be buying a bass boat,
I'm looking at either getting a Tracker Pro Team 165 or a Tracker
Super Guide V-14 C. I will be fishing mostly small lakes and rivers in
Northeastern PA. What are the differences between the two style of
boats, in your opinion which is the better boat to go with, or is
there a better boat for around the same price? I would like to keep
the boat size 14' to 16'.

Thanks in advance,
Chris