Aluminum Bass Boat

[Shark Bait]

Here is a question for Lester and the the other folks in "Bass Country"

I just got back from a two week trip to America (actually it was Texas and Oklahoma). While in Texas we went to Lake Toledo Bend where my brother-in-law has a lake house. While we were out on the lake in his "plastic" boat he was telling me about how the USCOE built the lake and how the it was flooded before a lot of the trees were removed which resulted in a lot of submerged stumps and that it was common to "bump" into them when fishing, which we did. I don't know about you but hitting things below the surface is a little un-nerving - especially in a "Plastic" boat.

My question is - does anyone make a quality, welded aluminum Bass Boat? I could only find a few welded boats, most are riveted, that were made from rolled sheets of soft 5056 instead of the harder 5086 plate. It seems to me if you KNEW you were going to run into submerged stumps when fishing a welded aluminum Bass boat would be the way to go.

Any ideas?

SB

[Tin Cup]

I remember seeing all welded bass boats at Cabelas in CT this past fall. I can't remember what make, maybe Lowe. They had both a shallow V bass style and jon boat in the all welded format. They looked pretty nice.

[21ftcc]

What about seaark?


I've also seen pressed bass boats, without welds.

[Nat]

Xpress

Bass, duck and bay boats

http://www.xpressboats.com/

[welder]

G3 boats are getting popular around here .

[JETTYWOLF]

Not far, just one state away is all the aluminum bass boats ya want!!!

Most of those, and even G3's I certainly wouldn't own unless I was on a real budget.

I'd go to the people who really build them to hit stuff......the Cajun BassBoat Boys.


Look at that. Even Lenco trolling tabs on the stern. Yeeeee haw!

[Shark Bait]

Jetty: Whats the link to Cajun - I can't seem to find it.

SB

[Justindfish]

This is a link to my thread of my boat that I'm having built it's not a bass boat since I will be using it as a multipurpose boat, but the guy that is building it for me does build bass boats also. I'm actually about 80 miles from Toledo Bend and the guy that is building the boat for me has a G3 repair that is for a guy that is on his 3 warranty boat from them becuase they are falling apart and he uses it in the back coves of Toledo where all of the timber is. My builder has also told me that he built a bass boat for a guy a while back for the same intended purpose fishing hard on Toledo in the stumps and I think the guy had it for 6 years and then decided to sell it an go with a bigger boat and he called the builder to come look at the boat and give him a idea of selling price and he told me when he looked at the hull it was still just as straight as it was when he delivered it to the guy. I usually fish Sam Rayburn which is really close to Toledo and it only has timber at the north end of the lake but I have fished Lake Fork around Dallas and I'm told it is worse than Toledo. There's lots of glass shops around there along with trolling motor repair shops.

As for as I know if your looking for a 5086 1/8" or 3/16" bass boat you will need to come to my neck of the woods Southeast Texas and mostly Southern Louisiana.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1356

[bassboy1]

Most tournament glass bass boats are set up to run in the 70 plus mph range. Some, in fact, run over 100. All while maintaining a stable bass fishing platform. But, the norm for most performance bass rockets is 70 - 80. Not many alloy boats touch it (at least matching the speeds and handling) but the Xpress X series does.
http://www.xpressboats.com/view/131

They have been my dream bass rig for a while. They are available with the same features as the glass rigs. I have been drooling over the X19, with a 200 Etec for a long while. I have heard numerous reports of the X19 with a 200 running 73 - 75 GPS, and having very similar handling characteristics to many of the glass boats.

Now, they won't take a beating as well as a true plate alloy boat, but for what they are used for, they really are excellent. While they may not take a high speed hit well (still probably better than the equivalent glass boat) there are no worries about rocks and stumps at fishing speeds (glass boat owners are worried about their gel coats where scratches are imminent). And, the tin rig needs no buffing and such to keep it looking sharp.

[Shark Bait]

Justinfish: Do you have a link to your builder? I could not find one in either post.

Thanks

SB

[welder]

Guys lets get this straight right now ....................Does the boat in my sig look like a bass boat ?

I don't own any bass gear and don't want any . I will try for striped bass on lake Texoma with my Salt water gear but I live for Salt water.

I don't know why anyone would want to go 80MPH in a ping pong boat but that is just me on the lakes around here with the stuff I have seen floating and the stumps sticking up but that is just me .

[bassboy1]

Welder,

It is just a sickness that some of us get. Not really sure why, as our fish aren't that big, and our catch rates are very small, but there is something about tournament bass fishing that just gets you. You don't really understand until you do it, and then you don't understand why, but the need to keep bass fishing is just there.

Now, that being said, I still love to chase stripers/hybrids on inshore lakes when I get the chance to, as well as yank in a mess o' crappie.

But, if I had the chance to give up all my freshwater tackle permantly, and fish the coastal areas, particularly for reds, flounder and seatrout for the rest of my life, I would do it in a heartbeat. However, there are still redfish tourney's that are very similar to bass tourney's, which would satisfy that urge.....

[Justindfish]

Justinfish: Do you have a link to your builder? I could not find one in either post.

Thanks

SB

No site he is just a small one man operation all hand built by him. He did tell me he was thinking about having a site built but for him word of mouth works fairly well.

He did tell me he had an 18' bass boat that he built and it was running in the 80 mph range.

[welder]

BassBoy1, I'm just messing with y'all , I'll fish for anything . I just prefer offshore.

Wish I could catch a 25 lb large mouth . That would be ONE MILLION clams BEFORE I GOT BACK to the house .