I fished lake Fork in the remnants of a tropical storm several years ago with winds steady @ 20 to 25 and gusting well beyond that in a 1993 Tracker TX-17 with a 60 horsepower Johnson. We even got out on the main lake for a little while and it was a dry ride. Pulled up in Birch and trolled out to the main lake into the wind fishing the end of a point and has zero issues. You need a strong TM to hold one still though.....

So do you all think a 17.5 foot fiberglass boat (ex: nitro z6) would be better than a 17.5 foot aluminum boat (ex: tracker 175) ?

I have a tracker 195 with a 115 and an 80 lb Fortex. I have also added a talon. I have been seriously rough water on Amistad and also in a howling north wind on Falcon and had no issues. With all of the west Texas lakes so low, I can unload mine in many places that you can't get a glass boat in the water. I can also get in many places that are difficult to in and not worry about scratching my boat. There are many positives as those I have mentioned but major disadvantage is the size of the livewell. I have fished many tournaments but you really have to be careful to keep fish alive once the weather warms up. I use several frozen water bottles and additive and this works but it can be a pain. I am happy with my rig but if the live wells were much larger and insulated I would be completely satisfied!

Not sure what I've given up as far as storage is concerned and I put my deck up there with any glass 19'. I do have a 24V TM and definitely have to ride it more but still find the ride to be not so bad. A lot of your ride comes with length and at 18'8" I stay pretty dry. Since you won't find me fishing deep structure in the middle of the lake I bought something that fishes skinny.

Texasangler....buy a used fiberglass boat. Rockwall marine has a used 97 model (no it's not mine and I know nothing about it) bass cat 19 foot boat with less than 200 hours on it for $7500. Was on their website last week....You can use this boat, drive it for 4 years and sell it for the same price. You'll never look back.........Unless you never plan on fishing tournaments, fish in the wind, never have to worry about weather.

Oops forgot, those used boats for the price of new aluminum don't have one thing.....a warranty, Make sure if you go that route you know the buyer or can at least verify hours. My last glass rig a Skeeter with a Johnson 150 quickly became an Evinrude 140 because the "new impeller" wasn't new!

I say 7 cash and tommy let that kitty follow you home.

Had a Triton 186 magnum with 150 yam. Pros: Super holeshot.Price. Good starter boat. Decent storage.

Cons: Too Light to hold a point in wind. Expensive to fix. Aluminum dents and tears easily. Small livewells.
Don't misunderstand, I had a lot of good days out of this boat. I wish I would have waited to get what I really wanted. 20+ft Glass boat. You gotta think about the years ahead. Kids? Tournaments? Or just fun.
Either way. If you just take good care of them, they will all feed the need!

Aluminun dents and tears easliy???? I have to say thats a false statment. My Xpress X19 has been to heck and back and has yet to dent or tear. Maybe triton builds theres super thin. I did have 4 welds in the splashwell crack and it only cost me $85 to get fixed. I wonder how much a fiberglass guy would charge for some cracks to fix on a glass rig?

Only if you are wanting to fish out of an airboat.