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I was sent a kind note from Bass-Tracker..


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maybe the internet phantoms heard me talking about a tracker.  I was sent an unsolicited advertisement touting they are here to help me with some inflation pricing.  ironically, I'm old school and think with inflation that last thing to buy is a boat..but I digress.  

 

I do admit, I was shocked.  some 16" bass-tracker with a 50 HP motor (not sure what the Suzuki upgrade will cost - I'm looking at you Glenn! :D) with the very generous discount to help ease my pain with inflation..it was around $14k!!  the heck?  my friend has that in his decked out Hobie ProAngler!!  and he still can't stand up to pee.  

 

$14k is not bad.  wonder how much it will cost to turn my side gate into a double swing gate.  haha...

 

opps.  wife is waking up.  gotta go pretend to do work. 

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20 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

wonder how much it will cost to turn my side gate into a double swing gate.  haha...

The quotes I got to put a 12' gate across my driveway were astounding.  So is your buddy's lack of skill.  Now I know why the floor is always wet in front of all urinals.

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to be clear, my friend can stand up to fish.  he gets imbalanced when he needs to look down..like at his junk or something.  

 

something about his ear, maybe.  whatever, we still make fun of him.  

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Yea, gwtting a 50 hp onto a 16" boat might be a trick...however at todays prices that 14k sounds pretty good....but like everything, it all comes down to the details !!!  Wonder what the cost might be to upgrade to an actual 16' .....lol....

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They often skimp on electronics, trolling motors, etc when they have big sales.  Then they add on prep, and a host of other expenses to get the price back up where it used to be.  Just be carefull and don't let new boat fever cloud your thinking......

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The 4 stroke 50hp Merc is a good engine no reason to up grade it. The 45 lb thrust 12v TM isn’t worth keeping, upgrade that to a 24v spot lock TM with Lithium 24v battery or 2 ea 12v.

You will also need a 12v house lithium battery. Smaller Battery size and lighter weight are premiums with a 16’ Bass boat. If you have the space a 175 pro would a lot better choice for NorCal lakes and the Delta.

Tom

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7 hours ago, airshot said:

They often skimp on electronics, trolling motors, etc when they have big sales.

I considered a Bass Tracker when I bought a Ranger in 2015. One of the items that really turned me off on them was the lack of customizable options. They don’t really let you mix n match bow mounts, outboards, electronics, etc. Everything was very basic and there was no deviation from that at the dealer.

 

They did cost about 4 grand less though. So there’s that.

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4 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I considered a Bass Tracker when I bought a Ranger in 2015. One of the items that really turned me off on them was the lack of customizable options. They don’t really let you mix n match bow mounts, outboards, electronics, etc. Everything was very basic and there was no deviation from that at the dealer.

 

They did cost about 4 grand less though. So there’s that.

It’s cost effective to offer packaged deals, assemble and ship to dozens of dealers across the country.

Not a fan of BPS!

Happy Thanksgiving....

Tom

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7 hours ago, WRB said:

The 4 stroke 50hp Merc is a good engine no reason to up grade it. The 45 lb thrust 12v TM isn’t worth keeping, upgrade that to a 24v spot lock TM with Lithium 24v battery or 2 ea 12v.

You will also need a 12v house lithium battery. Smaller Battery size and lighter weight are premiums with a 16’ Bass boat. If you have the space a 175 pro would a lot better choice for NorCal lakes and the Delta.

Tom

 

I agree 1000%.  and I have the boat in the add.   I've got a 24 volt trolling motor and lithium batteries for everything.   With that said, I have no intention of selling my boat and going to anything else.  However, had I known when I bought my boat what I know now I would have gotten something a little bit wider, like a Pro 175.   Money wasn't a big concern when I got mine.  I hadn't fished in almost 30 years and didn't know what I wanted or how much I would actually fish.   It's small by bass boat standards but it's an aircraft carrier compared to my previous boats.  I bought mine in December 2021.  I've got 294 hours on the motor now.  

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2 hours ago, gimruis said:

I considered a Bass Tracker when I bought a Ranger in 2015. One of the items that really turned me off on them was the lack of customizable options. They don’t really let you mix n match bow mounts, outboards, electronics, etc. Everything was very basic and there was no deviation from that at the dealer.

 

They did cost about 4 grand less though. So there’s that.

I have a BassPro near me, shopped there a couple years back, they made all kinds of offers about changing or up grading items was readily availiable!!  Now, many upgrades were a bit pricey as there inhouse shop had to make the changes, but I could have most anything I wanted !!!  Ended up going used after an almost 4 month search but found a like new used outfit.

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3 hours ago, gimruis said:

I considered a Bass Tracker when I bought a Ranger in 2015. One of the items that really turned me off on them was the lack of customizable options. They don’t really let you mix n match bow mounts, outboards, electronics, etc. Everything was very basic and there was no deviation from that at the dealer.

 

They did cost about 4 grand less though. So there’s that.

Things must have changed since I worked at BPS, we'd let people order boats with whatever they wanted on them. 

 

10 hours ago, WRB said:

The 4 stroke 50hp Merc is a good engine no reason to up grade it. The 45 lb thrust 12v TM isn’t worth keeping, upgrade that to a 24v spot lock TM with Lithium 24v battery or 2 ea 12v.

You will also need a 12v house lithium battery. Smaller Battery size and lighter weight are premiums with a 16’ Bass boat. If you have the space a 175 pro would a lot better choice for NorCal lakes and the Delta.

Tom

I've got a Minn Kota 45 lb on my 16'/ 55" boat with a 100a/h lithium. Love it, does everything I need it to. If I need to hold my spot, just pole down.

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First bass boat was a Tracker Pro Team 17’, and it was good for the first year. Let me get into it to decide whether I wanted to commit, and caught a lot of fish in it.

 

Decided it was time to upgrade when I drug it up to Oroville and was constantly being passed at speed while taking 45 minutes or so to run to the top of the lake :(

 

Traded it back in to the dealer promptly and bought my Ranger Z20 and never looked back.

 

Tracker is a great boat for what it is, and was a great value back then and still seems to be a good value these days. 

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18 hours ago, airshot said:

I have a BassPro near me, shopped there a couple years back, they made all kinds of offers about changing or up grading items was readily availiable!!  Now, many upgrades were a bit pricey as there inhouse shop had to make the changes, but I could have most anything I wanted !!!  Ended up going used after an almost 4 month search but found a like new used outfit.

If you want something other than a base package, it's best order a boat, cheaper too. If a BPS store/dealership does the work, you pay for the new equipment , the labor to remove the old stuff and install the new. If you order a boat, the factory has to install a t/m or the electronics so the labor is a wash, you just pay for the product upgrade. At least that's how it was when I worked for BPS.

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I had a tracker 160. I needed something bigger and a little more suited to what I do. Decent boats. I did end upgrading things as I went. It is very hard to know what you for sure want in a boat if you never owned one. 
 

My style of fishing and where I fish did a 180. So my tracker had to as well. I now have the best boat for what I do in my opinion. 
 

I would never tell anyone to stay away from trackers. Great to learn and start on. Last thing you want to do is ruin a 50k+ boat due to inexperience.  They do have their limitations. As a whole I am willing to bet you can catch just as many fish in that tracker as you can a guy in a skeeter.

 

i do recommend better electronics and a TM with spot lock. You don’t have to go crazy on electronics. I run fairly inexpensive Garmin strikers for the electronic world.

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Nothing at all wrong with that setup. I run a 12v, 55lb TM on an 18’ ‘glass boat and it does just fine.

 

Just do upgrades as budget allows and fit them to your own style - what works for one might be an annoyance to another. 

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