Tested By Capt. Bob Smith

Since the last time I tested Crestliner, they have taken on several changes in corporate structure and continued to develop and enhance their lineup of aluminum boats. Aluminum boats have come a long way from the basic John boat or duck boats I was used to seeing when I was growing up. Crestliner debuted the art of a Uni-weld system to the industry in 1964 driving the changes we see today.

Features at the Bow

The wide Extruded Gunnel System (X.G.S.)gives you plenty of footing when crossing the gunnels as well as a large footprint to attach trolling rigging. Up front you have room for adding a trolling motor with a compartment in the peak to stash the foot control as well as a plug for powering your trolling motor. If you want to have a little more light to bait the hooks at night, the bow light has a task light on the bottom of the back side of the navigation light.

There are three compartments in the bow which allow opportunity to carry lots of tackle to tease the fish. The bow casting deck is enormous for a sixteen footer. There is a base for putting a chair up front. When you catch the big one, you can keep it fresh and lively in the 27 gallon aerated live well up front.

Behind the Wheel

The tall, Euro style wraparound windshield offers a great deal of protection from the elements. The elevated helm system gives you lots of under-console storage. The glove box on the companion side has a divided and drained box. Rather than a dull featureless plastic or the standard burlwood look accents, Crestliner has added a brushed aluminum look to the accent pieces that really looks nice.

The helm has the instruments clustered for easy view in front of the wheel with room for the fishfinder to rest on top next to the instruments. Circuit breakers are on the left in the turn of the helm with rocker switch controls next to them.

When it comes to seating two Concept DX chairs can be placed in the cockpit. Besides the location up front you may also choose to put one on the port or starboard locations on the stern fish deck. An 82” rod locker is along the port side of the cockpit for storage.

Specs

Crestliner’s 1650 Sport Angler measures in at 16’3” overall with an 87” beam width. She carries the beam width all the way to the transom. Maximum hull depth is 35” with a cockpit depth of 26”. The 1650 Sport Angler weighs in at 1,000lbs. and can carry up to 17 gallons of fuel. She can handle outboard engines up to 90-hp on her 20” high transom.

Performance

The 1650 handled smoothly and seemed to enjoy the higher speeds. With the 90 Optimax strapped to the stern we achieved a top speed of over 43mph at 5400rpms. At 3000rpms she was cruising along at just under 19mph and burning about 2gph. She was quick to plane with a hole shot of only 4.9 seconds, and was easily running at 30mph in only 7.6 seconds.

I was impressed with how Crestliner has dampened the hull noise on these craft. Although they were quiet before, they seem to be getting quieter as they adopt more and better technology. Sound levels on the 1650 Sport Angler started at 67 dBa and were only reading 80 dBa at cruise speed.

If you’re looking for a boat that has a lot of room for fishing yet has the capability to take the family along for a day of fun on the water, the 1650 Sport Angler is a great boat to have at the top of your list to test this weekend.

• Top speed for the Crestliner Sport Angler 1650 is 43.8 mph (70.5 kph), burning 7.6 gallons per hour (gph) or 28.77 liters per hour (lph).


• Best cruise for the Crestliner Sport Angler 1650 is 18.8 mph (30.3 kph), and the boat gets 9.64 miles per gallon (mpg) or 4.1 kilometers per liter (kpl), giving the boat a cruising range of 148 miles (238.18 kilometers).


• Tested power is 1 x 90-hp Mercury.