Re: aluminum or fiberglass?
Anyone have an opinion on fiberglass hull or aluminum hull boats as far as longevity, maintenance, weight, and ride? mostly for fishing.
First let me say I have owned both aluminum and fiberglass boats. I currently have a fiberglass boat and previously had a 35+ year old Starcraft Supersport. As far as your specific questions:
Longevity - Any boat that is taken care of will outlast the owner. My riveted starcraft was a 1972 and had scrapes and scars, but didn't leak one bit. On vacations with the boat docked for days in the water the bilge would not collect water unless we were tubing, skiing, etc. The 1988 Sea Ray I have now doesn't leak either. If taken care of either glass or aluminum will last
Maintenance - I replaced the deck in the Starcraft and also in the Sea Ray. In the Starcraft it took a long weekend and it was done. On the Sea Ray it took months of spare time work to complete the deck replacement. Other than that, Neither the fiberglass or the aluminum will require any more maintenance than the other (Both are outboards)
Weight - Comparing same size boats, the aluminum boat will generally be lighter in weight than the fiberglass boat. There are exceptions, but in general the aluminum weighs less.
Ride - Ride is dependent on hull design and weight. Two similar hull designs, one in glass and the other in aluminum would ride the same at the same weight. Since the aluminum boats are usually lighter in weight, they will ride rougher in rough water. However, as I said, hull design is a big player. A tri-hull will ride rougher than a vee. Also a mod-vee of jon will ride rougher than a vee.
You mentioned fishing as the main purpose. It depends what kind of fishing too. If casting, you may want casting decks which leads to bass boats or fish and ski boats. Other considerations are how freely you want to move around the boat while fishing. Single console or dual. Are you going to troll, etc. A lighter boat with less draft can get into skinnier water. Kind of depends on what you really want to do with it.
Hope this helps