"Sergio Ramirez" wrote in message
...
Hello all:

I'm considering buying my first boat, and wonder if any of you folks have
any advice/opinion on the following:

- Lund boats or Alumacraft boats. I want a light 16' deep-V boat that I
can
trailer in my small Toyota pickup, which is rated for 3500 lbs trailering.
Around here there are a lot of Tracker boats, but I've heard complaints on
Tracker customer service and problem with leakage through the welds. They
tell me Alumacraft is a good quality boat, and Lund is top of the line.

I went through this same thought process back in 2002. I ended up with a G3
brand of boat. (Division of Skeeter/Division of Yamaha). Solid welds, no
leaks yet, and I am an average, but not easy user, of this boat. Nice layout
(for the money). Basically a "Bass Tracker" that doesn't leak, and was a few
bucks cheaper too. I'm also a fan of Yamaha engines, so the Yamaha/Skeeter
owned-G3 brand was an easy choice for me.


- The jet propulsion engines from Honda (BF35 or BF65). They really look
interesting because it allows access to shallow areas and it's quieter,
but
I wonder if this new technology (or perhaps not new, I don't know) is not
that well developed that it's best not to get into it at this moment.

I'm gonna go with the other advice you already got on this and say proceed
with caution, and only if you truly need extreme shallow water performance.
Jet propulsion is extremely ineffecient IMO. In addition to my G3 (Pro 175,
17' Mod-V model) I also have a Kawasaki Jet Ski (900 STX/100HP). That 100 or
so HP should make that little 3 seater fly, but I have only ever seen 56-57
on my GPS on flatout runs with it. Using it in really shallow water
regularly, will suck sediment/sand/debris through the grate and can
prematurely wear out the moving parts near the impellor, as well as the
blades of the impellor itself. The owner's manual even tells you to shutoff
the engine when coasting in to shore, in water "deeper than 2ft", to prevent
this sediment and sand problem from wearing the stuff out too soon.

If you're to mainly fish coastal/back waters and lakes of typical "boat"
size, then I'd go with a normal outboard. I think in the long run, a jet
pump would wear on your nerves. Especially the first time you have to hop
into the water to clean out the intake grate, and remove moss, alge, and
other stuff that LOVES to hang up in there on a regular basis. If you run in
crystal clear water, with little floating/loose debris if any, then this may
not concern you. If shallow draft isn't really what you're after, and
quieter sound output is, consider a 4 stroke. More money, but quieter and
arguably lower emissions (than *typical* 2 strokers) are their selling
points.


I'm in central Texas and I'm looking to do mainly bass fishing around the
Hill Country lakes (some of them pretty large bodies), and perhaps once in
a
while go to the Gulf coast to do bay fishing or close-to-shore fishing.

Thanks in advance for your help
Sergio


Good luck with your search and purchase. You're doing the right things,
you'll find something that totally flips your lid by doing all this
research, and you'll likely be happy with it once you decide on a
model/engine type as a result.