Glasstream Catalog 1985

Yesterday we announced this week’s feature posts would be dedicated to old bass boat catalogs. To get the week rolling, we posted a piece on the 1975 MonArk Boat catalog. Today in Glasstream Catalog 1985, we continue on that front. Although 1985 may seem really retro and old-school to some, I bet there are many out there who feel a little disrespected by that term. I know I do.

In the decade between 1975 and 1985, bass boats grew of age. Casting decks were raised higher in the boat, hulls went from back-jarring tri-hulls to modified v-hulls with running pads, and the length of the boats increased, allowing for all sorts of additional options. By 1985, the bass boat had been well defined in its layout and had morphed from boat resembling a bathtub to high-performance and efficient fishing platform.

Let’s move onto the catalog.

The catalog has

On page 3 of this catalog, Glasstream president A. L. Kirkland Jr. says that the company had been in business since 1976. Based out of Nashville, GA, Kirkland says that his boat company has provided high-quality, cost-conscious boats for serious anglers and boaters. Having never been in one let alone seen one, I wouldn’t be able to vouch for that claim.

The hulls of the boats look like they’d been modeled off a Skeeter Wrangler hull, which was a Hydrostream hull. This makes me wonder if that’s how Kirkland came up with the name Glasstream. Did he flat out copy a Hydrostream or a Wrangler? Who knows, but at the time it was a fast hull.

Pages 4, 5, and 6 start the main catalog of boat models with the 176 Angler, Angler Fish & Ski, and Angler Elite. As you’d expect from the model number the 176 was 17-feet 6-inches in length, had an 84-inch beam and was rated for a 150-horse motor. There is no data on the hull weight or their capacity. The Angler and Angler Fish & Ski were sleek looking boats and packed with standard features. The Angler Elite, on the other hand, would do if there were no other options. Its configuration was just too limited with respect to storage and efficiency when you talk about serious bass fishing.

Although there is no deck layout image for either the Angler or Angler Fish & Ski models, I assume that the fishing model had an open deck in front of the driver’s console and the rod locker on the port side of the boat. The Fish & Ski was said to have bench seats in front of each console, providing more storage. Again, this is a couple years prior to the advent of the flipping deck and full decks offered on today’s bass boats.

Next in the lineup were the Hydra Bass 15V, 17V, and Hydra Bass Fish & Ski. Again, these boats have hulls similar to the Wrangler. The 15V was 15-feet long, had an 84-inch beam and was rated for a 115-horse motor. The 17V was 16-feet, 10-inches long with an 84-inch beam and rated for a 150-horsepower motor. Again, no data on hull weight or capacities.

Each boat came loaded with standard features but lacked a deck layout image. Again, I assume the area in front of the console was open for the fishing model and had padded seats port and starboard on the Fish & Ski model.

Pages 9 and 10 feature the 1550 Pro Bass and Pro Bass Fish & Ski models. This boat was designed with a tri-hull, reminiscent of the mid- to late-1970s. Glasstream states this hull was their original high-performance hull, maybe borrowed from Allison. Each model was built off the same hull, which was 15-feet, 1-inch in length with a 71-inch beam and rated for a 75-horse motor.

Looking at the deck layout for the 1550 Pro Bass (Regular and Deluxe), there appears to be no rod locker, unless it’s tucked into the starboard side like Hydra-Sports and others had done in the 1970s. Also notice there is no visible storage on the front deck. The regular had only a single livewell where the Deluxe had two. The deluxe also had a built-in fuel tank.

The next boat we’re going to get into what most would consider a Tiny Boat these days. Coming in at 13-feet, 9-inches in length, the 1440 Bass Chief had a 62-inch beam and was rated for up to a 55-horsepower motor. I imagine this boat would have scooted with a 55 on it.

But let’s look at the boat in general. It came in three versions, the Regular, Deluxe and Pro models. The standard features offered with these three models is a bit confusing. For example, the boat shown in the catalog must be the Pro model because it has a bench seat as explained in the description. But if the Pro model had a bench seat, what did the Regular and Deluxe versions have? Also, it’s reported that the Pro model had front and rear casting platform. Does that mean the Regular and Deluxe models didn’t? It would have been nice to see an image of the Regular against the Pro model.

The last couple pages in the catalog featured the options offered with Glasstream boat as well as the Glasstream bass fishing team. Every boat manufacturer had a team back in the days, probably the most well-known being the Skeeter Team. Looking at the image of the Glasstream Team brought back memories of Team Skeeter with the white pants with logo down the leg. Seems to me that Kirkland was modeling his boat company after Skeeter in more ways than just the hull design.

One thing about this catalog is that I really think it was a 1984 catalog and the reason I say that is due to the inserts that came with it. The first insert had two versions of a new 18-foot hull and then updates for the Hydra Bass 17V and 1550 Pro Bass. Let’s look at the 18-footers first.

The 180 BOSS T.E. is touted as the top of the line for Glasstream. It’s not quite an 18-foot boat at 17-feet, 8-inches. It had an 87-inch beam and was rated for a 165-horse motor. The boat was a tournament ready boat with rod lockers that could accommodate flipping sticks, livewells with timers, and a 30-gallon gas tank.

Next the 1800 Striper was a center console boat designed for striper anglers. You’d think it would be built off the same hull as the 180 BOSS but the overall length is one inch longer. It has the same beam but is rated for a 150 H.P., instead of the 165, which is due most likely the fact the boat will be operated while standing.

As stated earlier, the back this page are the updated versions of two boats shown in the main catalog. I won’t get into those but from scanning the specs, they had done some serious upgrades.

The next insert worthy of talking about is the new 140 Stinger, a 13-foot, 9-inch bass boat, with a 72-inch beam, and rated for a 70-horsepower motor. That’s an insane motor rating for a boat of this size.

The last insert worth mentioning is the 1984 Off-Season Price List. Now this is an eye opener. I assume this is a dealer price list. Back in this time you could buy a tournament worthy boat for less than $10,000. Imagine that.

As I stated at the beginning of this article, I’ve never seen this boat company’s products so if there are any of you out there familiar with it, please leave a comment below and fill us in on how they fished.

Tomorrow we’ll continue with old bass boat catalogs.

To see the entire catalog and all the inserts, check out the gallery below. Click on the first image and use the arrows to scroll.