Stick Steer: Tracker vs War Eagle

I was finally able to look at the two stick steer boats I was interested in, side by side. The War Eagle 754 vs and the Tracker Panfish 16.

I was was expecting them 754 to be a lot bigger, really didn’t seem bigger at all. I do like the motor choices on the War Eagle, the one I looked at had a Yamaha 50. With Tracker you get a Mercury or you paddle.

War Eagle pros and cons
- motor choices
- more options for trolling motors, Fish finders, etc.
- I did not like the sloping floor ahead of the drivers seat
- I do like the tackle storage trays on either side of the livewell


Tracker pros and cons
- chinese made Mercury motor
- I like the storage bin in front of the driver
- the padded center livewell will be good for grandkids
- seats are more comfortable
- underseat storage

The War Eagle was about $3K more than the Tracker, pricing new boats. Not a big enough difference to not get the boat you want, at least for me. A Suzuki motor may have been enough to sway me to WE, but all in all I prefer the Tracker in a stick steer boat.

I ended up with a barely used Tracker for a very good price. I got it Home today and of course it’s pouring down rain when I got it home. I’ll get some pics soon, and hopefully get it slimed this weekend.

Those smaller Mercs are made by Tohatsu and are every bit reliable. I like the Tracker except for the rear passenger/fisherman is quite cramped. I had a Pro160 which is same hull and it rode and fished great. Another option with the same layout as the tracker is G3 but more money again.

Here is another style I like
Gator Tough 15 DLX | G3 Boats

Never mind all the above. Just read the whole post and see you bought the tracker. Good on ya. Enjoy.

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Originally Posted by huntinslabs

Never mind all the above. Just read the whole post and see you bought the tracker. Good on ya. Enjoy.

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I need to change my sig pic :fish

as as far as I could tell, the differences in new Tracker that I compared to the War Eagle are that the new one is painted black, mine is bare aluminum, and the gunnel has the accessory rail on the new one, mine doesn’t. Other than that I couldn’t see any differences.

Thats the only changrs I can see as well. That hull has been used for many years. Good little hull.

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Glad you got what you want now get out and use it.

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Originally Posted by huntinslabs

Those smaller Mercs are made by Tohatsu and are every bit reliable. I like the Tracker except for the rear passenger/fisherman is quite cramped. I had a Pro160 which is same hull and it rode and fished great. Another option with the same layout as the tracker is G3 but more money again.

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The 40, 50, and 60 Horse Mercury Motors are made in A Mercury plant in China.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Marine

Huh. I was always under the impressiin they were outsourced from Tohatsu. Well mine ran like a champ and never a bit of trouble. And I ran it like I stole it.

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I’ve had the little stick steer Tracker out a couple of times and have some questions.

Is it it normal for the steering to be significantly lighter turning left than turning right?

Anyone have an an onboard charger on one of these? I’ve ordered a Noco Gen2, and can’t decide where to mount it.

I cant trim the motor much at all before the prop cavitates. Doesn’t bother me as I don’t intend to go much over 20mph in this boat.

I think this rig rig is perfect for fishing the small lakes where I live. We have ten lakes ranging from 20 to 950 acres, with speed limits that range from “no wake” to 35 mph.

This should make a nice trolling rig when i when I get some rod holders installed. At idle gps Speed is .7 mph. With the Terrova I can vary the speed from .4 mph to 2.0 mph.

I love the large storage box in box in front of the driver, I can easily fit all the gear I need in there and still have storage under both seats and on both gunnels.

I love fishing out of a stick steer and the lay out along with the rod storage down the sides. I dislike 2 things, the rougher ride up front when running rough water and your fishing partner sitting back behind you when you are running down the lake, you can't carry on a conversation and discuss the next stop to fish while running. I know they make suspension seats to help with the ride and I would recommend the investment in a good suspension seat. Hope you enjoy your purchase. With all this said, I have a bad back and wish I had spent the money to buy a suspension seat and kept my stick steer. I fish alone alot of the time and talking to a fishing partner is not a big deal when fishing alone. I miss my stick steer. 16' x 52" Bass America all welded all aluminum, great boat. Now running a 18' x 60" Triton jon boat, have not fished out of it yet, just bought it a couple weeks ago.

I really like the lay out of a stick steer boat but I wished somebody made the same type of boat maybe a little wider in a tiller steer model in a 18' model rated for about a 75hp with a nice livewell and good storage comparments that woud be my ideal crappie/catfish boat I see alot of v bottom bottom boats with this design but would love a modified v type so I would have a wider boat up front for spyder rigging.

Yes it is normal for steering to be lighter one way and harder the other. You might try adjusting the little tab on motor and just above and behind prop.
I mounted my charger in the rear of boat by batteries. I cut a piece of pressure treated board a little larger than charger. Used washers as spacers and made charger about 1/4 in above board for air flow. Then mounted board to floor.

If you can you might drop motor 1 bolt hole on transom. If it is already all the way down might have to go to stainless prop.

Thanks Cray, I think I'm going to mount this charger on the vertical panel in front of the battery/fuel tank compartment. There just isn't any more room in there for a charger.

I was thinking the torque of the motor/prop was causing the different in steering effort. It's no problem to steer, just noticeably different when moving the stick forward versus back.

The ipilot Terrova is such a great feature. I'll never have another boat without it. I used the cruise control feature a lot this weekend. I'd set it for .4 mph and all I had to do was make an occasional minor course correction as we fished along.

I weigh about 265, my fishing partner is considerably lighter and my wife isn't even half my weight. I'm thinking the boat is sitting more down in front and lifting the prop up. The "sweet spot" for me seems to be about 16 mph. It will easily do that with the motor trimmed all the way down. I think it's in the middle hole now, I'll probably leave it alone just for shallow clearance issues.

yesterday the lake was like glass, with an occasional light breeze. The little stick steer boat was perfect, in it's element I think. Saturday my partner caught a largemouth on a plastic worm on the bottom in 40 ft of water. I have never caught a bass anywhere near that deep. But that's where the locator said the fish were, and it was right.

Congradulations on getting the boat you wanted

Love my Tracker Panfish!

I've got my charger mounted temporarily in the back of the rod box on the port side. It works out pretty good there so I just might leave it.

Cray is right about adjusting the trim tab on the motor. When I got my Tracker it was much harder to turn left, pulling back on the stick. I've got the tab set right of center now and it steers much easier.

I wish I had upgraded the trolling motor when I bought it. I did add a Power Pole micro anchor since one of the lakes we fish is pretty shallow and it works fine, now I wish that money had gone to the TM.

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Originally Posted by SuperCorona

Love my Tracker Panfish!

I wish I had upgraded the trolling motor when I bought it. I did add a Power Pole micro anchor since one of the lakes we fish is pretty shallow and it works fine, now I wish that money had gone to the TM.

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What TM do you have now?

MK Edge 45 12v

Iwill try adjusting the trim tab on the motor. My setup is

Tracker Panfish 16
Mercury 40 4 stroke
MK Terrova 55# with iPilot link and US2
Humminbird 698 SI KVD
Lowrance 4x

im having some issues with the Humminbird. I think (not sure) I have a relay to switch to the US2 transducer. I get a good DI and SI return on the HB, but the depth reading jumps around all over the place, nowhere near correct. Then once in a while it will straighten out and give good depth readings, next time I look at it it will be Ben jumping between 100 and 150 when I am in 20 feet of water. Funny thing is that the imaging is good thru all this.

warhawk,
I have a Fisher 1610 SS (stick steer) it has a 2006 Mercury 40hp with power tilt/trim. It was a new boat that had seat in show room until I purchased it in Feb 2009. I have no idea were the motor was built. However I can tell you I have 1,386 hrs. on it with only one problem. The fuel cooler cracked at about 1,200 hrs. and I had to replace it, a little pricy to install at Mercury dealer $600.

With my power tilt/trim I normally can just trim it at want ever speed I'm going and neutralize the steering.

My only complaint is most lakes I fish in Oklahoma are 8,000 to 100,000 areas and as flintcreek said the rough ride up front when the wind gets up.

I fish a lot by myself and it's great. However now at 72 years young my back is starting to go bad and I think I'm going to have to change boats.

Hope your boat/motor works out as good as mine has.

Installed the NOCO Genius2 Charger last night, it’s a 2 Bank 10A per Bank, Charger. No room for it in the battery compartment, so I mounted it to the vertical panel in front of it. I used a electrical conduit fitting to run the wires then the aluminum/ carpeted panel. I still need to tidy the wiring up a little.

if anyone buys one of these chargers, be aware that you’ll need extra long drill bits and driver bits as the mounting screws are in a deep well, almost 3 inches deep.

i had the boat out the other day for 3-4 hours, on the trolling motor almost the entire time. The cranking battery charged in about 10 minutes, the trolling motor battery charged in a little under 1 1/2 hours.

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Attachment 281694

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Originally Posted by rdjj71m

warhawk,
I have a Fisher 1610 SS (stick steer) it has a 2006 Mercury 40hp with power tilt/trim. It was a new boat that had seat in show room until I purchased it in Feb 2009. I have no idea were the motor was built. However I can tell you I have 1,386 hrs. on it with only one problem. The fuel cooler cracked at about 1,200 hrs. and I had to replace it, a little pricy to install at Mercury dealer $600.

With my power tilt/trim I normally can just trim it at want ever speed I'm going and neutralize the steering.

My only complaint is most lakes I fish in Oklahoma are 8,000 to 100,000 areas and as flintcreek said the rough ride up front when the wind gets up.

I fish a lot by myself and it's great. However now at 72 years young my back is starting to go bad and I think I'm going to have to change boats.

Hope your boat/motor works out as good as mine has.

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A lot cheaper than changing boats......it can tame any ride your boat can handle.

RegardsAttachment 281746


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