Captain's Report

By Captain Dan Armitage--

Mission

The Tracker Pro Guide V-16 WT is built to accommodate anglers and their families who need to remain comfortable when boating in snotty weather and choppy, cold water conditions while employing a variety of fishing tactics. The boat also must be rugged, economical to operate, and affordable to buy.

Construction Features

The Tracker Pro Guide V-16 WT’s hull is built with two pieces of .100 marine-grade 5052 aluminum alloy, each forming half of the hull and welded together along the centerline of the boat. The hull is braced by a longitudinal stringer system that is welded into position to support the full length of the boat’s running surface from the bow to the boat’s extruded aluminum, corner-braced, box-beam transom.

A deep-V hull such as that found on the 16' (4.87 m) Tracker Pro Guide V-16 WT contributes to a boat’s more comfortable ride in a chop. The exaggerated V forward helps part waves for a smoother ride while at the same time offering a deeper, roomier cockpit.

The cockpit sole of the Tracker are built of pressure-treated marine-grade plywood and carry a limited lifetime warranty. They support six bases for three standard, adjustable pedestal seats with all-composite frames for added resistance to the elements. The lids on all compartments are flush-mounted, made of reinforced aluminum and wrapped in carpet with a tight fit.

Fishing Features

Anglers who rate fishing boats by the quality of their livewell systems will give high marks to the hybrid found on the Tracker Pro Guide V-16 WT. The tank is a one-piece, molded well with rounded corners to protect its occupants. The bait and the fish they catch are accommodated in water that is pumped, aerated, recirculated and drained with two 500 gph pumps with separate timers.

Comfort Features

The helm console offers legroom limited by the compartment that extends forward from the aft fishing deck. The basic dash has a tachometer, speedometer and a fuel gauge with toggle switch controls for lights, pumps and accessories.

Trolling, whether with downriggers, planer boards, flat lining or even back-trolling, is a popular tactic for taking fish from northern waters. That’s why many of the most popular fishing boats – such as Tracker’s Pro Guide models, offer so much space aft of the consoles to make room for rigging, angling, fighting and landing fish.

Power Options

Although rated to handle up to 90-hp, Tracker offers the 1,210-lb. (550 kg.) Pro Guide V-16 WT hull with a 50 ELPT 4-stroke Mercury outboard as an option. With this engine a Tracker spokesman told me that the boat will reach a top speed of between 26 to 28 mph. We have not tested the boat with this configuration, so we can not vouch for that speed range. But we did test it with the standard 60-hp Mercury 4-stroke engine and on test day we reached an average top speed of 30.1 mph. At the other end of the speed spectrum, a 25-hp 4-stroke Mercury is also an option.

Weight Considerations

At the aluminum boat’s relatively light weight and with the reverse-chine hull, I think the boat should perform well with the optional 50 horses, if reasonably loaded. The issue is that the walleye, muskie, pike, and salmon anglers who will be interested in the model often take along a lot of extra gear to employ the varied techniques that are popular for tempting those gamefish. Boats loaded with bottom bouncers, downrigger balls, lead core rigs, drift socks, planer boards and huskie-sized fishing partners might require horsepower on the upper end of the scale to gain the desired performance. Please note that while the boat is rated for 5 persons, it's maximum people weight capacity is 620 lbs. (218.8 kgs). That makes the boat ideal for most couples with kids, but more likely to be limited to two or three fishing buddies.

Warranty

The following items are part of the Tracker Warranty --

Recommendation

The MSRP of the Tracker Pro Guide V-16 WT with 60-hp ELPT Mercury 4-stroke and a single axle trailer is $17,595 plus freight, prep and taxes.If one agrees with the angling masses that aluminum is the way to go when boating on rock-and-obstruction-ridden fishing waters, and wants a fishing-friendly model that will protect them from the elements and is reasonably priced to purchase, tow and operate, the Tracker Pro Guide V-16 WT may be the way to go.

Standard and Optional Features