Lots of good aluminum boat builders in Louisiana that will custom build you a bass boat or any other boat you can imagine. Aluminum is far better than fiberglass.

I would go with Xpress my first boat was a Tracker Pro Team 190 it was ok but the Express rides better all tin can boats trying to fish in the wind sucks their to light.

In 1995, I bought a new Tracker Pro17 with a 40...power t&t, and replaced the trolling motor with a 24V hand control...fished the old Honey Hole circuit and did well.
The pluses:
Much more agile, turned on a dime with the t/motor down...superior over glass for pitching docks and, of course, shallow water.
You get to roll your eyes at guys wiping down their shiny boats at the ramp.
You can concentrate on fishing and not boating.
The minuses:
Underpowered, of course.
Harder to stay out in high wind but not as bad as you would think.
Bottom line:
They certainly have their place and are superior in several areas.
The absence of them in tournaments probably just shows how much we play follow-the-leader.

I had a 1989 Tracker TV17 with a 50 hp Johnson which I bought used in 1993. It had a 12volt I think 48 lb MotorGuide trolling motor. Max speed was maybe 35 on a good day. It was a good boat! I had no problems with hull leakage but in a cross wind you would get wet and it did not handle waves over maybe 3 feet very well. The �V� stood for V-hull which handles the water much better than their �TX� hull which was they said a modified �V� hull. It looked more like a flat bottom boat to me.

The 50hp motor was adequate but it would have been better with max. hp which I think was 75hp. The trolling motor was way too weak. I moved up to a 55 lb thrust (the highest thrust in a 12v at the time) when the 48 bit the dust and it was still weak.

I got caught out in some really bad south wind on Roberts back in 1997. I was fishing way in the back of Indian on Ray Roberts. As I made my way back out, I got to Wolf Island I thought I was on the Great Lakes during one of their legendary gales. The wind was something like 30 MPH from the south and I had to get to Isle Du Bois State Park. Waves were maybe 3-5 foot It was a very slow and very wet ride back with the bilge pump working overtime all the way back in. I sold the boat a few weeks later.

I moved up to a 1993 19� BassCat Pantera II with a 200 HP Merc. Felt much safer in big waves until I was on Same Rayburn in again 30-40 MPH winds and I was up in Coleman with about a six mile ride back down to Powell. Waves were an easy 6 foot. Stuck two waves on the rough trip back in. We were sitting in water up to our waists until the bilge pumps could get caught up. We were really never in any danger but since I was fishing these really big waters I decided to move up bigger. So I sold that a bought a 20+ foot BassCat Cougar.

There are times when I miss my Tracker. It was very economical to use and was real good in �skinny� water.

Almost purchased an aluminum boat a year ago. After thorough research I had it narrowed down to the following:
Xpress vs Sea Ark vs Alweld vs Lund vs G3

I remember reading that Xpress is actually a subsidiary of Alweld.

I have a 2070 Triton aluminum, no more time than I get on the water it was my choice over a overpriced bass boat holy cow how do you guys do it ?! The only complaint I have about it is its rough on rough days, but fishes great, has as much deck space,or more, as a nice bass boat, plenty of storage and easy to clean. Get the boat that you can afford and fits your style of fishing.

I've got a Triton SP185 with a 115 Merc. On smaller lakes I can handle some pretty stiff winds, but don't like going out on large lakes when it's really rough. Best thing I have bought for open water fishing is a Minnkota Terrova with ipilot. It helps staying on brush in open water when it's windy...without it, you are constantly on the trolling motor due to the light hull.

Not true, two different company's xpress was
alumaweld changed name because of a lawsuit with a company in the northwest. on the coast guard plate on my xpress x19 says alumaweld it's family owned in hot springs Arkansas.

I just bought a Ranger RT178 after 40 years of fiberglass boats. My most recent fiberglass was a Ranger 518 with a 200 Merc. There is no question that the aluminum is lighter and will not handle the rough water as good as a bigger glass boat. However, that is not what I am trying to do anymore (handle big water). I gave the new boat a christening on Cypress Springs last weekend and we caught 36 bass. We talked to some of the guys at the ramp who had fished a tournament, and most of them had a hard time catching 5. If fishing is what you are after, the aluminum will be fine. If you want to run around the lake in big water, that might be a mistake.

I ran Aluminum boats for about 12 years. Xpress is bar far the best I owned and rode in, IF it has the Hyper Lift hull. Without it, it ride just like the rest. I ran an X-19 for a couple years on Lake Fork ( my bosses boat) and owned an H-51 for about 6 years. Both great boats, but neither are comparable to a same size class glass rig, as far as ride, storage, platform, or fishing in the wind.

They do have strong points though. If you hit a stump running on pad, odds are you will only dent the hull, vs cracking fiberglass. Don't ask me how I know. Also, as mentioned, they are much more nimble in tight spaces. Also, they have extremely shallow water draft. I could push pole my H-51 in less than 4" of water to get into some tight spaces that no one else could reach.

For me though, I will take all the amenities of the glass over the aluminum.

I had a 93 Tourney TX 17 for nearly 20 years. I upgraded most of the electronics and trolling motor as the original equipment needed replaced. It served me very well. I do 90% of my fishing on small lakes with no wake restrictions or electric motor only restrictions. Today's versions are in my opinion "under rigged." I would not buy a current model Tracker. That said, I think there are some great aluminum boats on the market. The two critical things for me would be putting the largest HP motor allowed on it and getting a trolling motor with more power than one would think is needed.

It depends on what you plan to do. I have a 2004 Tracker 165 with a 50HP Mariner engine. It's great for someone like me who is retired and can pick my days (and weather)to go fishing. Runs great, goes shallow, low gas usage, and good ride in light wind. But I can't recommend it for someone who wants to fish in any and all weather conditions. It's just too light. Wind at 15+ mph is a very rough ride, will get you wet, and will make maintaining boat position very difficult(although you can now get power poles for small boats).

Like I said before I ran my X19 Xpress for ten years. I tournament fished out of it all ten years on some pretty rough lakes (Palestine, Livingston, Conroe). It handled them all fairly well. I have also been on some of those lakes while in an equal sized Bass Cat. I can assure you the Xpress handled the rough water just as good and fished the rough water just as good with the exception of having to stay on the trolling motor a little bit more in the wind. I do not agree that you have to have a glass boat to have a tournament boat. I would say that you need a quality and heavier tin boat to tournament fish out of. Look up the hull weight of your Pantera and then compare it to the hull weight of a X19.

My buddy tournament fished out of an express a 21 ft one with 225 merc .... we were on ceder creek with 30 mph north wind and that thing got the nose up and would just fly across the swells....really impressed me .... but the down side was he had too keep a guy on standby with a welder to keep it togeather....and it was like sail in the wind you had to be on trolling motor constantly..

I love my Xpress X17. Great boat! Has a Yamaha 90 on it, will run low 40s.

The only thing that I think is worse than a glass boat is the wind. Every thing else is a toss up in my opinion. Great storage, handling in rough water, fishibility, etc.

Plus, no need to worry about wiping the gelcoat down and I can fish in the thick of the stump and not worry about scratches!