Boat recommendation

What would y’all recommend either a new aluminum rig or a used fiberglass rig. Then from there what would you recommend for the aluminum, if you think that is the way I should go. Thanks in advance.

It would be helpful to know what bodies or types of water you expect to be fishing. Wind is also a big consideration.

Mostly fish on Rayburn and Somerville but fish a lot of different lakes, I just bass fish and fish offshore just as much as I fish the bank.

My opinion, which is worth what you paid for it...

If I were you I'd lean towards a used glass rig. Unfortunately, its a sellers market. Generally, the benefits of aluminum are that it is lighter and thus requires less fuel to push and pull it. However, the loss of weight impacts how it rides and performs in windy conditions. I know they make some very nice, large, fast aluminum boats but I've never fished from those. I've been fishing out of a 17' aluminum rig for years, and am currently looking at 2008-2013 Rangers because I tired of constantly fighting the wind, and finding an even older used bass boat in good condition is tough out here right now.

List your Budget will help too!

35-50 ish

For that kind of money you should be able to find a really nice 20-21ft fiberglass boat that will be able to handle Rayburn quite well and that you’ll be comfortable in and have a pretty low hour motor as well.

I have owned two Bass Cat Pantera 11's, a Bullet 21XD and a Ranger 520 Commanche and I personally would own each of these boats again. I have fished with buddies that own Nitro, Legend, Triton and Skeeter that were all great boats also. Just about every boat these days are good but you just have to check out a lot of boats and weigh in your likes and dislikes to come up with the one that works for you. Been on a search with my son in law for a used boat for us to fish tournaments out of and checked out quite a few and finally taking in everything he was wanting out of his first boat he is buying a 2001 Bass Cat Cougar which will be a great boat for now and give him a good idea of exactly what he might look for when time to upgrade to a newer boat.

There is a nice Vexus AVX on here for sale. If I would not have lost my rear selling my Skeeter center console I might have bought it.

35-50 "ish" lol For that budget just go get what you want. You can buy a loaded out boat that's only 4-5 years old for that money.

Definately fiberglass!!

Some things to consider

You can easily spend 10k in electronics, trolling motors, and other electronics these days
How fast do you like to drive?
Do you enjoy fishing deep into stump fields?
Towing capacity of your vehicle?
Is it usually windy on the lakes you like to fish?
Do you like low maintenance, or do you enjoy keeping things shiny and spotless?

For 35-50ish you can probably get into a new 19ft. model boat. If you are not tournament fishing this would be plenty adequate. If you are tournament fishing then you might want to look at a bigger model. Either way on those two lakes I would recommend a fiberglass boat.

2017 Legend Alpha with a 225 Merc PROXS for $45,500 listed here on TFF under classified ads. Loaded. Ultrex 112lb, 2 8' poles, 4 bank charger, 4 batteries, point 1 antenna, LSS2 transducer, 2 - HDS9's and an HDS12. Motor has warranty until 3.16.2023. Boats in excellent condition. Good tires and batteries. 25 pitch Fury. Break away tongue on trailer. Boat runs high 60's loaded down. Hole shot like a rocket. pm if you need more info.

This^^^

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I’ve had both and would go fiberglass - you’ll enjoy the ride and fishing much more.

For that kinda money I'd get a loaded out used 21ft fiberglass. I know guys that recently sold their z21 nitros for about 48-52k that were 2019 models. You should be able to find a loaded out with warranty for 45k