Aluminum Boat/vs Fiberglass Boat

I Have Owned Both, Now This Is Just My Two Cents...... My Old Hydra-sport Is A 17' Er And When I Got It In 88 It Had A 235 Evinrude On It And On A Nice Calm Evening No Boat Traffic I Would Turn Her Loose And She Would Hit Around 80 But Suck Gas Like You Knocked A Big Hole In The Gas Tank..... Kept Blowing Pistons So I Decided I Couldn't Afford It Nor Go That Damn Fast..... We Had A Tournament Out Of Osage Bluff In 89.... 3 Ft. Waves Washing In That Morning And I Said We Should Cancel The Tour... Oh No Lets Have It....... Two Aluminum Boats Were Sank That Morning From Water Coming In Faster Than The Bilge Pump Could Handle..... I Know The New Ones Are Much Nicer Now And Deeper. I Did Like Towing The Alum... Nice And Light..... Also V-max's Coming Apart On Him Does Not Surprise Me..... I Call It Slow Down, Even That Morning Of The Tourn. Just Get Her On Top Was All You Needed......crappie Will Wait On You....i Like Figerglass For The Stability Of It.....aluminum Is For Cabs And Polishing.........:)

I Have Looked At Boats For Years Before We Purchased Our New Aluminum Boat Last March. I Would Have Loved To Have A Fiberglass Boat. But I Couldn't Find One That I Felt Like Was More Geared To Crappie Fishing. Everything Was Bass, Bass, Bass! I Am Sorry But Sometimes I Like To Use Minnows! And My Lowes Has On Board Minnow Buckets. It Just Didn't Come With All The Extras That Most Fiberglass Boats Have, Deck Lights, On Board Air System For The Livewells, Gps, Boat Buckles, Double Trolling Motor Batteries And Stuff Like That.

So Since I Have An Aluminum Boat I Seem To Ask Too Many Questions About New Areas And Different Lakes. But With The Help Of People Like You Monty And Others On This Board, I Feel Safer When I Am On The Water In A New Area Or New Lake. And As Long As I Get Her Up On Plane And Drive The Boat With Some Common Sense I Don't Have Any Problems. Anyone Can Tear Up A Boat And Have Problems. But When Your Out There Just Wide Open Trying To Show Off You Will Have Problems.

I Went To Stockton One Day And Put In Over There At State Park. Everything Was Fine Until The Wind Picked Up And Those Large Tanker Boats Came Out. I Felt Like A Very Small Minnow In A Large Tank Of Bass And I Sure Didn't Like That Feeling!

Little better ride in glass and a whole lot easier to control in the wind. With that said I have caught a lot of fish out of a metal boat.

I have only owned a metal boat,and never fished out of a fiberglass boat till this year and only twice so far hint hint jim,,, but the fiberglass sure seems to hang arround the trees better than my tracker, I really like my tracker but if I ever get to the point of being able to have a glass boat, sure so for now. metal head me,

Back In 84 I Bought A New One..... And I Have Used An Alum. 14' With A 18 Hp. Buckneer On It, Caught A Lot Of Big Crappie Out Of Those Boats And A Lot Of "nojoes" As Well..... Big Water , Rough Water, Windy Cond. I Would Perfer The Fiberglass....... I Just Can't Weld The Damn Stuff......

I've had 2 glass boats and 1 alum boat.
First boat was a 16' fiberglass bass boat with a 50hp merc. Bought it around 1980 used, great boat, handled well, economical, rode smooth. Kept it 13 yrs, with hardly any problems. The only thing it didn't have was a power trim. I knew who I sold it too, they installed a trim kit and I know they had it for another 10 years w/o problems. I bet it's still running fine. Wish I still had it.
Next boat was a 19' Javelin F/S. Big mistake! Boat was nothing but problems.
150hp Evinrude. Hard to start, gas hog! Both livewells leaked like crazy. Handled like crap. I bought it this style because I had a couple of small kids and for that reason, it worked out fine. Kept it about 5 years. Was without a boat for a couple of years, then bought an alum boat.
2000 Fisher Marsh Hawk 17' with a 50hp merc. This boat really fits my needs. Yes, I will agree it does not have as smooth a ride as my first glass boat, but it is economical and easy to operate. I will be the first to say, I am rough on my boats, so it doesn't make me cringe as much when I scrape it up against a tree or a dock. Far less maintence than a glass boat. Basically just get in it and go.
I have been looking at Lowes new crappie boat, really looks like a nice set up. But, I'm going to try to make this one last a long time.

i have owned bboth through the years. 5 aluminum and 10 fiberglas. metal boats do serve a purpose and you can catch just as many fish in them. fishermen catch fish not boats. but the ride and stability of a glass boat cant be duplicated by aluminum. if it was have an aluminum boat or fish from the bank , i would have one. if it is where you can get a fiberglas boat i would definetly get it.

My decision to go aluminum was mainly economics. I could buy a new 17' aluminum boat and be able to push it with a 50hp for around $9000 at the time. A 17' glass boat with a min of 90hp would have been around $13000.
I really have no regrets. It does the job.

I have owned both. 2 glass boats: An Ebbtide and a Javelin. Punched big holes in the bottom of both of them. Almost sank in the Ebbtide. The Javelin was a piece of ****! I'm sticking with metal from now own.

Glass is a better ride and doesn't get pushed around by the wind as much as an aluminum. It's also much quieter when the small waves are lapping up against the hull.

Glass doesn't like rocks. Have had to repair a couple areas on the new Fiberglass in the last year. It's now $40.00 for a small package of gel coat repair.

Barn has an Alumacraft and doesn't have to slow down much when beaching the boat.

It's all about economics and how you're going to use it. One recommendation I do have is get Electronic Fuel Injection instead of carburator motor. You'll be a lot happier starting your motor.

My New 95 Has Efi And Starts Nice And Quick Every Winter When It Is Cold As U Know What......... My Old Carb. Model .. Sometimes The Only Way We Could Start It Was Pull It Back Out Of The Water And Get The Back Pressure Off Of It....... They Tend To Be A Little Loud.........:)

I have fished out of wood metal & glas got to say glass is for us & 4stroke yamaha easy on gas & thats a plus right now.

I've also had both and like many have said there are advantages to both, but I mainly fish LOZ and was tired of fixing the gelcoat every year because the back end would bang up against a dock when a wake came through. Im very pleased with my lowe 180W, 90hp, 3 livewells(2 in the front) and nice ride. Motor acts up on occasion and wish it was efi not carb.