Wood Boat parked for Lunch - Georgian Bay Fishing
We are curious about your feedback. At our Lodge, we have both Aluminum and Wood boats. The Aluminum boats are from Lund, nice wide 16 footers, with floors. The wood boats are from Geisler and they are 18 feet. Interestingly, the Lund 16 foot boats are wider than the 18 foot Geisler.
Last year, our customers drove both … turns out they both go the same speed … so that is not the issue. But, what do you think? Do you like the charm and warmth of the wood boat or the clean feeling Aluminum?
There is no right or wrong … just what you like?
No prizes for winning …
Well, I asked the question, so I will weigh in. After buying the Aluminum boats for the Lodge, we went head to head. Personally, I prefer the wood – even though these Geisler boats are not as wide, they are just awesome – seriously. While they look “beat up”, because all wood boats do, they are actually warmer in the Spring and incredibly comfortable.
If there were not so much maintenance, they would win, hands down over Aluminum. Sorry Lund! But then again, I am a Lund customer so I can say that.
Cheers. Peter
Aluminum wins on two counts, fuel economy and maintenance. I have not personally run a Lund boat, but have had experience with other aluminum makes, Lowe, Starcraft, Crestliner, and Marinette on Lake Erie. I have also owned a wooden 23′ Lyman Islander that I ran on Lake Erie.
There is very little difference between wood and aluminum when riding on a flat lake, but add a good chop and the wooden boat gives a much better ride. There have been times during our trips to Diamond Key that we have fished the Fox Bay area and encountered strong southwest winds and 2 to 4′ waves coming out of Dories Run on the way back. We have never had trouble with the 18′ wooden boats and frankly I don’t think I would want to be in that situation with a 16′ aluminum boat. The aluminum boats I am familiar with bounce around like a tin can in rough water.
What is the difference in weight between the aluminum and wood boats? The Lund boats ride higher in the water and if they are substantially lighter will be much more suseptible to wind drift. When you set up for a drift it’s nice to get in more than one or two casts before you have to start the engine and go back.
Noise is a real problem in an aluminum boat. Drop something in the bottom of the boat and you will spook fish in a radius of a couple of hundred feet.
Years ago there were three of us fishing in one of the wood boats when the guy in the stern hooked into a big pike. By the time we netted it we realized all of us had had one foot on the starboard gunwale and were leaning over looking into the water. There was substantial weight on one side of the boat yet the boat was hardly listing. Try that with one of the aluminum boats.
These are the reasons for my bias against the aluminum boat, but I would be willing to try one. Not this year though.