Took the new Tracker out this evening.

[66KingFisher]

We had limited time but decided to hit a small lake near the house. We didn't do any fishing this trip, but we just had to put the boat in the water and log and hour or so on the new motor since it looks like its gonna rain all weekend. We were both very pleased with the performance of the little 4stroke 30hp Merc.....it pushed us up on plane without much trouble, and with a bit of fiddling with the trim buttons we could get it to scoot across the water fairly quick and smooth. Not quite fast enough to make your eyes water, but fast enough to rip your hat right off....Don't ask how I know.

Since our classic old boat only had a hand operated trolling motor, we were new to the foot controlled unit, and quickly found out its gonna take us both a bit of a learning curve to get the hang of it....lol. But the 45# thrust pushed us around nicely, even when the wind came up.....I do think i'd like one of those recessed trays to set the foot pedal into....and I gotta get a stand up casting seat for sure.

As for the boat itself, I never felt unsafe or uncomfortable in it....even when both of us was moving around. Although I will say that two full sized guys moving about can really rock a 16ft aluminum boat around.....lol.....It never felt like we could swamp it even if we both stood on the same corner....I'm 6ft 200lbs and Ron is 5.8 and 170, but I could see where it might be easy to rock the boat at the wrong time and cause the other guy to fall off the deck should he be standing and not ready for a sudden movement. I'm gonna have to watch those monster hooksets...lol.

All in all, Ron and I came off the water very happy with our little bass rig.....Ron had concerns after our testdrive the other day that it might be underpowered, but without having the extra guy(salesman)in the boat it performed fine......even with 95% of our gear onboard, and a livewell full of water....lol. We don't fish tournaments, so getting to a fishing spot really fast is not an issue.....we both just fish for fun, and we're both pretty sure we can have plenty of that fishing from this little Tracker boat.