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Best crappie fishing boat

fairchaser

fairchaser

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Joined
Sep 13, 2011
Messages
9,104
Location
TN, USA
I've been operating for years fishing out of my bass tracker 165 boat but it's not a good boat for spider rigging especially on those days with a little wind. You sit too high and feel like a sail and the semi v will just beat you to death on rough water. I fish a lot of these open lakes where 10 mph winds feel like 50. I'm finally ready to change to a more suitable rig. Looking for ideas and suggestions without losing an arm and a leg.
 
I like those Lund deep V's but I'm sure they'll pick up the wind even more. I may eventually get a boat like that some day. I like my 13' V hull and want to upgrade to a bigger V hull. But I don't run spider rigs. I troll crankbaits or cast.


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If your gonna stay alum I would go with atleast a 1860,and a front livewell.My boat don't have a front livewell,it drives me crazy when your really catching them.

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bluball":2zhghtgu said:
If your gonna stay alum I would go with atleast a 1860,and a front livewell.My boat don't have a front livewell,it drives me crazy when your really catching them.

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A wide boat especially in the front for two people is a must and yes a front well. Right now I'm fishing one in front and one in the back angled to one side.
 
http://www.eztpoleperch.com/Double-Seat-Pedestals.html

I bought one of these for my fish and ski to add 2 seats up front and it works excellent, very pleased. You want a step down front deck that doesnt sit level with the rail like a bass boat. My neighbor has a 19' camo triton aluminum and its awesome, front deck is about half height between floor and top rail. Its also low profile so it doesnt catch wind. I
 
I was going to say if I was buying a brand new boat it would either be a new V bottom Tracker like I have or a Lund.
I didn't know how you would feel about a V bottom though.
They do catch more wind but big water don't scare them at all.

Lunds are, in my opinion, the best aluminum big water boat there is.
Pricey though.
 
jard":hggglytt said:
http://www.eztpoleperch.com/Double-Seat-Pedestals.html

I bought one of these for my fish and ski to add 2 seats up front and it works excellent, very pleased. You want a step down front deck that doesnt sit level with the rail like a bass boat. My neighbor has a 19' camo triton aluminum and its awesome, front deck is about half height between floor and top rail. Its also low profile so it doesnt catch wind. I
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I've seen those and they seem to work great. Also I hadn't considered a half height deck. Good idea!
 
RUGER":24jefgpr said:
I was going to say if I was buying a brand new boat it would either be a new V bottom Tracker like I have or a Lund.
I didn't know how you would feel about a V bottom though.
They do catch more wind but big water don't scare them at all.

Lunds are, in my opinion, the best aluminum big water boat there is.
Pricey though.
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They are pricey but nicely made and can handle rough water well. How do you like your v bottom tracker?
 
fairchaser":toqsbhtf said:
RUGER":toqsbhtf said:
I was going to say if I was buying a brand new boat it would either be a new V bottom Tracker like I have or a Lund.
I didn't know how you would feel about a V bottom though.
They do catch more wind but big water don't scare them at all.

Lunds are, in my opinion, the best aluminum big water boat there is.
Pricey though.
Click to expand...

They are pricey but nicely made and can handle rough water well. How do you like your v bottom tracker?
Click to expand...
I absolutely love it!
Small enough I can fish small and skinny water but big enough to hit ky lake if I want.

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spottedbass":nhgkwp7z said:
Check out the Crestliner VT 18C and VT 19C. Great boats and aren't near as pricey as Lund.
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I watched a utube video on it and really like it. Nice suggestion.
 
Lund makes a great rough water boat that will handle a chop nicely. I have fished out of lots of different Lund boats and like them all. Never really thought of spider rigging out of one but would think it would be comparable to a tracker v-bottom. If you want a high quality boat to handle the rough open water, Lund is great choice, but I we really don't see the winds that the upper mid-west get nor the open water like the large prairie lakes. You may want to look at the tracker panfish style boats, you sit lower and are more conducive to speck/crappie fishing. Good luck!
 
I have been studying the Crestliners VT18 & VT 19. One buddy has the VT 17 and I have fished out of it.I liked it fine. I looked at some of the Lunds for the same reasons as you give, but I don't think I want another riveted boat. Had considered the Ranger aluminum in 19 ft but I just don't see the difference in price between them and the Crestliners and 19 ft bass trackers. So many choices these days.
 
Grnwing":29s3rrfz said:
Lund makes a great rough water boat that will handle a chop nicely. I have fished out of lots of different Lund boats and like them all. Never really thought of spider rigging out of one but would think it would be comparable to a tracker v-bottom. If you want a high quality boat to handle the rough open water, Lund is great choice, but I we really don't see the winds that the upper mid-west get nor the open water like the large prairie lakes. You may want to look at the tracker panfish style boats, you sit lower and are more conducive to speck/crappie fishing. Good luck!
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I've looked at the tracker panfish but it's not wide enough for two fisherman in front. Also, I've heard they don't handle at all very well especially in rough water. Just what I've heard but if anyone has one, I'm all ears.
 
i have a tracker pro team 175 tf. it is supposedly made for crappie and panfish. it has an 8" lowered front deck so you sit lower. 3 seat posts up front. 2 15 gallon live wells. mine has a 60hp 4 stroke but you can get up to a 75 hp in that boat. i dont do any spider rigging in it yet but i do like the lower deck for dock shooting.

the only difference in it and the PT 190 is the length, an extra 1 ft and a 115 hp 4 stroke. the transom and beam width are the same, but it does have a higher person load rating of 680 lbs vs 580 for the 175.

does fine for me on KY lake. a friend at work just bought a G3 175 and he likes it for spider rigging. it looks about the same as my tracker. he does a lot of tournament fishing all over so i guess it works for him.

as far as wind and aluminum, i dont think the make one that the wind wont blow around. thats were wind socks and dragging chains comes in handy.
 
WTM":ckyittpy said:
i have a tracker pro team 175 tf. it is supposedly made for crappie and panfish. it has an 8" lowered front deck so you sit lower. 3 seat posts up front. 2 15 gallon live wells. mine has a 60hp 4 stroke but you can get up to a 75 hp in that boat. i dont do any spider rigging in it yet but i do like the lower deck for dock shooting.

the only difference in it and the PT 190 is the length, an extra 1 ft and a 115 hp 4 stroke. the transom and beam width are the same, but it does have a higher person load rating of 680 lbs vs 580 for the 175.

does fine for me on KY lake. a friend at work just bought a G3 175 and he likes it for spider rigging. it looks about the same as my tracker. he does a lot of tournament fishing all over so i guess it works for him.

as far as wind and aluminum, i dont think the make one that the wind wont blow around. thats were wind socks and dragging chains comes in handy.
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Sounds like a better setup than those smaller stick steer models with only two seats. I'll have to check them out WTM.
 
i was in bass pro last month and they had one in the showroom setup with a double tbar spider rigging setup installed, so if you are around there it might give you an idea. if you are ever around south KY lake, jville, birdsong or eagle creek, we can take mine out for a spin and see how it rides. they usually have closeouts this time of year and they take a thousand or so off of the ones they didnt sell. i think mine was $14,500 or so.
 
Here's a pic of my rig,pic is a few years old.I have done some updating since this pic.My boats a fisher,only things I don't like are no livewell and wished I would have got a bigger boat.Mines a 17fter,wished I would have went with a 18-20 fter.
4c02f1817b404050bdd2c6a62552181f.jpg


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