Which glass boat?

[chrislocke]

Hi everyone, I'm just after a few brand names of glass boats in the 4-4.5m mark and what your experiences with them are like. I know there is crossxcountry boats but I dont want to rush into something without fully understanding what's out there.
Any advice would be appreciated, Cheers Chris

[Bobby Bass]

Hi mate,

You might want to look at Scout boats, they make some smaller glass boats that are fitted out nice and are fairly versatile.

Check it out with SFBA or Bass Angler, I think they have a few models in stock and they are not really too much $$

Cheers
Chris

[chrislocke]

Originally Posted by Bobby Bass

Hi mate,

You might want to look at Scout boats, they make some smaller glass boats that are fitted out nice and are fairly versatile.

Check it out with SFBA or Bass Angler, I think they have a few models in stock and they are not really too much $$

Cheers
Chris

Thanks for the quick reply! I'll suss them out, Cheers

[Sinbad]

Originally Posted by chrislocke

Hi everyone, I'm just after a few brand names of glass boats in the 4-4.5m mark and what your experiences with them are like. I know there is crossxcountry boats but I dont want to rush into something without fully understanding what's out there.
Any advice would be appreciated, Cheers Chris

mayb if u look at a xcountry boat i could tell my mate todo a good deal for u, hes a mad fishaholic geoff hall owner bluilder and brother john hall, mabe u could get some discounts on some rods reels! haha

[woronora]

What about Boston Whaler's. Not sure if there is any Australian dealers though. Quite a few little fishing units. Check out the super short. Check under tenders.

[todd88]

Id recommend steering clear of the light weight infused fibreglass hulls unless you plan on having minimal hp on the transom and only fishing calm water. The main reason most glass boats ride better is weight.

[zaneofishing]

iv always had aluminum boats. im curious to know how these glass boats go when fishing rocky areas bumping the odd rock covered in cockals and barnacles is the norm? i get my tinny into some pretty scarey places how does the glass boats go?

[Chamelion]

Originally Posted by zaneofishing

iv always had aluminum boats. im curious to know how these glass boats go when fishing rocky areas bumping the odd rock covered in cockals and barnacles is the norm? i get my tinny into some pretty scarey places how does the glass boats go?

Walk away.. Sounds almost like you're better off with a polycraft.

[Stephen Wilson]

Originally Posted by todd88

Id recommend steering clear of the light weight infused fibreglass hulls unless you plan on having minimal hp on the transom and only fishing calm water. The main reason most glass boats ride better is weight.

Whats wrong with infused hulls they can be stronger than traditional fiberglass hulls that is why so many of the best fiberglass boat manufacturers of the world use infused hulls.
we are talking about 4m to4.5m hulls here, so when you put a live well electric motor and batterys and all the stuff we need to fish well weight does come into it infused are lighter so when you load them up they are not too heavy.

zaneofishing if you are worried about rocks and barnacles put a keel guard on.
so when you dint the bottom of your tinny or put a hole in it how do you fix it
i know what i would raather repair. Climb under any tinny and have a look at the bottom lots of rolling hills which effects preformance


so lets get back on track here as chrislocke was asking about smaller fiberglass boats.
there arent a lot of smaller fiberglass boat builders if you step up a little there are more options
there is the attack boats the galeforce 4.8m
the haines
just to name a few

chrislocke do you want second hand or new??

[zaneofishing]

Originally Posted by Chamelion

Walk away.. Sounds almost like you're better off with a polycraft.

haha yea my thoughts exactly. i like my tinny iv never been compeletey sold on the polys only due to the very nose being utilized as a the anchor well. cast deck right to the nose would of maked alot better fishing model imo (410 challenger) that is

[zaneofishing]

i havent actually ever dinted or put a hole in my tinny yet. "touch wood" i think my next boat will be a angler pro outlaw id say just due to be worried about fibreglass boats i guess. and i suppose the main reason for that would be not havein much knowlege about them and being in the dark a little also a lot of sticking to what i know. i fish the creeks and easturies local to me and some of the places can get quiet hairy. anyways sorry to high jack a thread !

[Stephen Wilson]

zaneofishing
no worries mate tinnies are good for copping a beating
you should take a glass boat for a ride

[todd88]

Im not against infused at all, I'm a qualified boat builder an have done infusion before. It's when certain company make a product super light by cutting back on the laminate thickness and not putting any woven glass etc in for structual strength it becomes a problem. Yes these boats are great for a car topper etc but when you only have 1 - 1.5mm of chopstrand glass then a foam core it won't take much to puncture the hull. The main idea of infusion is to cut back on resin by compressing the layers of glass together under vacuum and letting only the required amount of resin in. A fibreglass boat will scratch if you bump a rock / jetty etc these minor damages are very easy to repair.

[zaneofishing]

Originally Posted by Stephen Wilson

zaneofishing
no worries mate tinnies are good for copping a beating
you should take a glass boat for a ride

i will for sure mate.

[todd88]

If your going to be fishing rocky country oyster racks etc by all means an alloy boat is ideal. If your after an all round glass boat have a look at bonito boats they're out of the same mould as gale force (so I've been told) look identical.