Pros and Cons on aluminum/fiberglass?

[NJfishinGuy]

yeah im almost sure im gonna go with aluminum now, i love the pretty sparkles but i can live without lol.

i did for a while plan on a john boat and converting it to a bass boat. my other uncle has a 15' lowe john w/9.9 merc on it he put front and back custom decks and some other goodies. i wanted to buy it off him but he wont sell it even tho its been sitting for like 10 years. my only issue with that is he told me its stable but not the greatest for standing and its really weighed down with the custom decks.he also was over taken and sunk on round valley one of our larger lakes in NJ when the wind picked up,

i reallly like the water and id like to have the steering wheel for comfortable cruiseing. in NJ theres not much to do around me and i think me and my friends would have alot of time spent just goin and cruiseing and tube/sking and stuff with it when were not fishing.  i dont want a fish/ski boat but i know i could do some with a bass boat.  

i would be rarely fishing alone. i have a good buddy ive gotton into fishing now and he has the itch to go quite a bit. my gf also likes it but is very uncomfortable on my 12' john boat and her back problems put her in alot of pain most of the day. a nice deck would allow me to fish and she can just sunbathe or take a nap when shes bored or hurting. yes she naps on my 12' also lol. my dad has been sick for years and cant really take me fishing but now that im 20 and getting my own boat its my turn to be taking him fishing so hes kinda excited for me to get a boat.  he and my uncle fished for years on his tracker.  if all else fails i can call a couple other friends but i would go alone if i need to.

im really planning on spending around 3-5k my buddy got his 1998 tracker for 3 w/ 40hp like i said tho if i have to i may get a small loan and spend around 8 for somethin nice,

[Brian_Reeves]

http://www.xpressboats.com/series/jon/rec.html

Those are the recreational xpress jon boats brand new.  Even though you don't want a new boat, those should give you a reference as to what is on the market by those guys.  Those would run great with a low horsepower engine and/or a trolling motor.  You can always get a drift sock from cabelas to help control wind problems incase a breeze comes through and starts spinning you.  The larger outboards and deeper V shaped hulls of bass boats help control spinning.  Flatbottems with small engines lack that, but there are things you can do to limit that.

http://www.trackerboats.com/segment/index.cfm?segment=15

Those in that link are the Trackers.  I didn't do any comparisons because of current time constraints, but once again, it will give you an idea what is on the market from those guys.  

Whatever you do, make sure you get an ALL WELDED boat.  Rivets sucks.  They have a tendecy to come loose after awhile and then you get water in the boat.  No one likes that feeling when you're sitting in 50ft of water :-?

As far as comfort goes, most of them come with holes for added seats.  As long as the boat is relatively wide, you shouldn't have a problem with too much instability from sitting up high like that.  You can get pedastal seats with backrests.  That should help out as far as comfort goes and you can always just use them without the pole.  That would keep you from getting too top-heavy and rocking around when you cast.  Hope that helps

[Alpster]

I said I would post a few pictures of my NJ boat because I had not described it very well. As far as being seaworthy, my buddy & I took it to Canada and rented an out board and got caught about 3 miles out on the lake in a little wind storm and the waves came up 2 & 3 feet. I freaked out a little at first but soon realized it would handle the waves very well. Anyway, here it is....

Ronnie

[NJfishinGuy]

alp, thats certainly a nice setup with your deck and all. ive thought of goin that route like i said but i just dont like that style looking boat, no offense ofcourse yours is REALLY nicely done just not my style, i love the fibers and the aluminum seems to be the best bet to getting the closest to what i want and workin best for our NJ conditions.   thanks alot for posting the pics much appreciated. when im ready to buy hopefully someone will buy my car soon i will post up the boats im lookin at for advice and hopefully i find somehtin nice

[BassnJoe]

I have an '89 Bass Tracker TX17 with a 50 hp Johnson and it handles the 2-4 ft. waves on Toho pretty well!  

Joe