Considering moving to a glass boat and going through scenarios in my head why it would or wouldn’t work . One thing that keeps coming to my mind is solo launching when there’s no dock , late and early season . Not all these launches have nice sandy beaches or mud . What do you guys do in this situation ? Just slowly pull them up and nestle them by hand ? Keel guard would be a must for sure . Maybe I’m over thinking it .
The boat I had before this one was glass and the scenarios you described definitely hampered early and late season fishing for me. I didn’t have them but I see lots of the bass guys pull up close to the dock and put their 2 talons down so their boat doesn’t touch anything. I don’t see why this same process wouldn’t work with getting close to shore and hopping out to get the truck etc. looks like it works great. One other thing o think about is if you fish early or really late is breaking ice, glass boats don’t like that. I know the next boat I get will be glass and it will be treated much differently than the last one. A boat is a tool meant to be used to me now. Bumps and bruises come along the way.
I’ve got a keel guard on my boat and will pull it straight up on the concrete ramp in the very rare occasion that I can’t find a soft spot on either side. I’ve also used spotlock a time or two. A lot of people think fiberglass is fragile….it’s really not. I’ve seen a fiberglass boat slip off rollers straight onto the ramp and not leave so much as a tiny scratch
Problems breaking ice ? Can anyone else confirm or deny that ? Skim ice can’t be that bad on them can it ?
Problems breaking ice ? Can anyone else confirm or deny that ? Skim ice can’t be that bad on them can it ?
Oh they will break ice but it’s not the best for gel coat. It’s not like it’s going to wreck the boat but it will leave a mark.
I run my glass boat through skim ice all of the time, super common on Superior in the winter and spring.
Never a problem unless it’s thick enough to walk on. I put two small chips in my gelcoat breaking up the ice in the pics, skim ice is nothing lol
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Overthinking it. I launch mine every week at launches without a dock. I tend not to use docks anymore cuz I’m more worried about scratching the sides on janky docks then I am about scratching the bottom.
I run through skim ice on the river and it hasn’t left a mark…yet.
I’ve ran an 18′ bassboat since the dinosaurs roamed. A lot of places I drop in at are very much unimproved and no docks. Best item I found so far is the Z-LAUNCH Launch Cord a guy gave me a prototype of at ICAST many years ago. Basically a giant bungy cord. Back up and let boat slide back. Cord loads up and the boat starts coming back to trailer. I edge trailer out and the boat rides gently behind. Beached, I disconnect and park.
Keel guard is great.
As for skim ice, never worry about it. I have a ’91 rig that has seen more ice than the ice ages. so far, no issues
Nice to see your still around Randy! Sorry no help to the OP I run a tin boat for now.
I run a fiberglass Tuffy. Get a keel guard, and use it the same as you would any aluminum boat. It’s broken plenty of ice and as long as you aren’t beating on things…there’s no issue.
I am also with Matt in that tying up to docks at launches is probably more likely to leave a lasting mark on your boat than beaching it gently. Docks move, docks are hit by other boaters, docks have missing parts, screws hanging off, damaged edges, and so on.
Nice to see your still around Randy! Sorry no help to the OP I run a tin boat for now.
I still hop on here and browse a few things. mostly just the recent active stuff.
I run my glass boat through skim ice all of the time, super common on Superior in the winter and spring.
Never a problem unless it’s thick enough to walk on. I put two small chips in my gelcoat breaking up the ice in the pics, skim ice is nothing lol
My boat has some nasty scars from the ice on Lake Superior. It was at that point I gave up on what that boat looked like and have just been going for it ever since. It makes things way more enjoyable to me when I’m not constantly worried about rubbing on a dock or worrying about beaching it and stuff. Been there done that and to me it took lots of fun out of every outing. Next boat will be fiberglass and will be treated the same way. The way we use it it’s more of a tool than a pleasure craft. That harbor ice can be brutal but when it’s been a long winter or gets warm on a winter day sometimes you just have to go for it.
I don’t deal with ice like Lake Superior but skim ice on the river is no problem.
The chips I’ve gotten in my gel coat is from a piece of concrete on 35W. Last boat I took out a windshield from a rock on the interstate (the one time I trailered without the cover,too). The road will do more damage to the boat than the water, shore, and ice in my experience.
Do you have to have one of them giant mud flap deals on your truck for normal road use ? I never ran one on my tin boat and never recognized a lot of rock chips . Admittedly she was a little seasoned though .
Do you have to have one of them giant mud flap deals on your truck for normal road use ? I never ran one on my tin boat and never recognized a lot of rock chips . Admittedly she was a little seasoned though .
Nope, but I’d consider one or one of those lower bow covers you can get. I never really drive on gravel so decided against one. My buddy has the brush guard and swears by it. I just can’t get over how stupid they look when guys drive around not pulling a trailer.
Do you have to have one of them giant mud flap deals on your truck for normal road use ? I never ran one on my tin boat and never recognized a lot of rock chips . Admittedly she was a little seasoned though .
if you are going to tow it to someplace in Canada and its glass I’d have the big flaps + the Big shield in front of the trailer. I’ve witnessed some real beat up front ends of glass boats in Canada done while trailing to the location. If scratches and dings bother you a lot a Glass boat may be a issue. Some simply don’t care and think of the boat as a tool and not s show piece. Others their boat is a status thing and show piece.
Never an issue launching mine.
I use a towtector and will never own a glass boat without one.
I do not drive around much with it on without the boat because I don’t want to look stupid. 
With a towtector I haven’t noticed any paint chips in my aluminum boat and drive on gravel quite often. I do get rocks on top of the cover somehow though, don’t know exactly how that happens but it doesn’t hurt anything.
Can’t say I have ever had rocks on my cover.
Can’t say I have ever had rocks on my cover.
I don’t have mudflaps so I think it must be my tires sticking out a little bit on truck and throwing them over/around towtector. Doesn’t hit the bow anyways as far as I can tell.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>isu22andy wrote:</div>
Do you have to have one of them giant mud flap deals on your truck for normal road use ? I never ran one on my tin boat and never recognized a lot of rock chips . Admittedly she was a little seasoned though .if you are going to tow it to someplace in Canada and its glass I’d have the big flaps + the Big shield in front of the trailer. I’ve witnessed some real beat up front ends of glass boats in Canada done while trailing to the location. If scratches and dings bother you a lot a Glass boat may be a issue. Some simply don’t care and think of the boat as a tool and not s show piece. Others their boat is a status thing and show piece.
This is exactly what it all boils down to. Very well put. Nothing makes me smile more than seeing a big expensive glass boat and you can’t even tell what color the stripes On the sides are because they are rubbed and smeared together. Those guys are on the same page as me.
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