Re: tracker tx 17 not for rough water!
You must measure chop of lot differently than we do down here. I would not dream of taking a bass boat with freeboard measured in inches out in a 2-foot chop. Once we get to 3’, a lot of the 40-45' charter boat are not leaving the dock and you sure as heck would not get me out there.
I am not a fan of bass boats in the rough stuff either. But as you may recall from the past and my signature will remind you I only have a 14' boat, closed bow. I trolled 2-to-3s on Feb 17 (Champlain) with a couple taller ones mixed in to keep us honest. Although it wasn't easy fishing out in the open we were able to get behind the lee of a few miles of shoreline and as predicted it laid down after a bit. If we didn't accept some waves there would be way too many days we couldn't fish.
Those waves perhaps ARE measured differently; when I was a kid when someone referred to a 3-foot-sea they meant 6' from bottom of low point to the top of the swell. At least up here at Champlain a 3' sea means 3-feet from the bottom to the top of the wave which makes sense and keeps people from having to constantly translate and explain themselves since NOAA uses the top-to-bottom for wave height predictions as well:
Lake Champlain Wave Height Forecasting Model And 3' on Champlain might be rollers with one wind direction and speed while being nasty breakers. 3-footers with 5-15mph winds from any direction are usually safe and fishable, while 3-footers in 15-30mph winds are dangerous. Steady north or south winds can build for 30 miles and make it downright dangerous.
I guess I would not be interested at all in a TX17. And I do remember a story from a big tourney on Erie a few years ago where a bunch of bass boats had been swamped in six-footers.
As far as my little boat, I try to avoid bigger seas- not fun to fish in- with 2-3s the margin of safety shrinks a lot. But I have safely navigated 3-4s (unplanned) without worry and without water in the boat although my attention factor was pretty high. Last summer at Oneida (NY) I started a 6-mile W-SW run with 2-3s a W wind. Being experienced with seas in this range I was not concerned. The predictions were for it to calm down as the morning progressed, and I left
after the worst wind of the morning was predicted. I ran easy- about 8mph- keeping the bow up running about 15 degrees S of the W wind. Then the wind started howling about 3-4 miles out. I found myself in steady 3-4s with more than a few 5-footers, some back to back. Concluded one more time I would never own an open-bowed small boat! I did snap a couple pictures with my phone:
I wasn't going to troll in that nor was I going to put my stern to the wind to head back to the dock, either. The south shore was only about a mile to my port at that point. There was quite a fleet of boats getting pounded out near the popular mid-lake shoals. Nothing as small as my boat! I ran past them planning to keep my heading to a marina on the south west shore if needed. Then it suddenly calmed so I got my fishing in- 6" little waves the rest of the morning. Not something I would have planned and I wouldn't recommend that in any 14'. And although I had/have a lot of confidence in the little boat (had if for almost 20 years) it sure did change my confidence level more than anything has since I have owned the boat.
The point is: that day I was scared a little- not so much for my life (water temps were high 70s) but for losing all my tackle! It was awe inspiring for sure! The boat did it- if TX17 doesn't inspire that confidence I would get rid of it so fast. That's how I bought this boat- a bad blow came up with 2-3s and the boat I had then (14' aluminum, open, not much freeboard) didn't impress me. I sold it by tuesday and owned the Niagara on Saturday of the same week. It has passed every test you could ever give a 14'-er which is why I still have it. (I am, however, slowly working on a second boat: a 19' project- closed bow, of course.)
or get a deep vee.
