hopper
Senior Member
I have a microskiff 16ft Santee with a 20hp. Thought I would fish rivers more in this boat. I end up in Lanier more often and am thinking of a Tracker v16 with 50hp for Lanier. Any experience on this boat?
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Tracker V16
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Coenen
Senior Member
That would make a fine winter time or weekday ride, I think. Depending on how brave you are, you might want to go a size bigger if you think you'll be out in the weather / windier conditions.
For the weekends, I'd say it's way too small unless you are fishing way up North, or planning to be on and off super early in the AM.
For the weekends, I'd say it's way too small unless you are fishing way up North, or planning to be on and off super early in the AM.
littlejon
Senior Member
IMO if you get a 50HP on it and you want to fish most if not all of Lanier you will always wish you had gotten the 90HP. If you plan on staying just in a couple creeks by your ramp then a 50 will do. I would go with the 90 but the 75 HP will do. The decking on these boats are treated wood so if you cant keep it in dry storage I would stay away. Tracker boats all welded haul designs will hold up just fine on Lanier. The rest of the boat is made to hit a certain price point to increase sales. I wouldn't be concerned to fish it year round but mid day on weekends proceed with caution but it wouldn't stop me.
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LittleDrummerBoy
Senior Member
I have an Alumacraft V16 with 20 hp which is similar, but a bit lighter. I never wish for more HP, and the fuel economy is nice - about 6 gallons every four fishing trips.
It has proven safe in all Lanier conditions, up to 15 MPH NW wind. After about 11 AM on the weekends, all the bouncing around gets uncomfortable. I find myself avoiding the S end most of the summer.
I've thought about a bigger aluminum V hull, but at the end of the day, it just increases my costs tremendously (esp if you consider increased towing costs) but doesn't add much fishing time each year. Once the wake boats show up on the weekends, even a 20 ft V hull would not be very comfortable for me.
It has proven safe in all Lanier conditions, up to 15 MPH NW wind. After about 11 AM on the weekends, all the bouncing around gets uncomfortable. I find myself avoiding the S end most of the summer.
I've thought about a bigger aluminum V hull, but at the end of the day, it just increases my costs tremendously (esp if you consider increased towing costs) but doesn't add much fishing time each year. Once the wake boats show up on the weekends, even a 20 ft V hull would not be very comfortable for me.
Doog
Senior Member
I had the opportunity to get a 17 ft Stratos w a 60 or a 17 ft Ranger with a 115. I chose the 115. It seems you rarely regret more HP. Especially with the traffic situation on Lanier, if i need to find less crowded water, I'm willing to trade gas for time to get there. YMMV....literally.
Browning Slayer
Official Voice Of The Dawgs !
^that^ could be done with ANY boat with the minimal distance you travel from the boat ramp. My 90hp 4 stroke would sip gas if I did what you did between Balus and Flat.. You never travel any distance from a boat ramp so you are comparing apples to oranges..
^this^
LittleDrummerBoy
Senior Member
^that^ could be done with ANY boat with the minimal distance you travel from the boat ramp. My 90hp 4 stroke would sip gas if I did what you did between Balus and Flat.. You never travel any distance from a boat ramp so you are comparing apples to oranges..
I don't run all over the lake, but I average about 10 miles on the outboard every trip. I don't think I've ever done a direct comparison with a 4 stroke 90 HP, but I've gone side by side with my brothers 2 stroke 90 HP, and he'll burn 20 gallons before my first 3.5 gallon tank is empty. But how much gas does your 90 HP 4 stroke burn going 10 miles?
Browning Slayer
Official Voice Of The Dawgs !
Out of that 10 miles, how many of those miles are on "plane" and how many are trolling around 2.5mph?
On plane my G3 will run upwards of 50 miles on one day of Flat's fishing. With short bumps here and there. That burns about 9 gallons of fuel running around the 32 to 35mph sweet spot of my boat for most of that 50 miles. I can push 42mph and burn a couple more gallons that day. But there's no need too.
Trolling?? The 90 Yamaha 4 stroke purrs like a kitten. You hear it spitting water over the engine noise. She will troll for days... but, I also have an Ulterra that does most of my trolling.
LittleDrummerBoy
Senior Member
I can run up on plane (18 MPH) at very nearly the same fuel economy I get trolling. Going full throttle (21 MPH) doubles the fuel burn. My boat is very light (400 lbs empty), so being up on plane displaces very little water and makes very little wake.
doomtrpr_z71
Senior Member
I've got bump my numbers up then, my flats fishing miles are rookie numbers, I don't think in 5 trips to St Mark's this year I've went 50 miles. Granted I'm sure that the 6+ miles up the river to Shell island adds up in a hurry.
My two cents on this, I would not go less than a 90hp ever again, my 17ft seapro is underpowered with a 90 but it works. It get about 3 miles to the gallon with an oil burning 2 stroke Johnson. The last time I was on Lanier was in alumacraft with a 60 Yamaha and it wasnt comfortable. There's no way I'd have a boat shorter than 17ft again either.
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