OPINION | ARKANSAS SPORTSMAN: Hot Springs boat helps Lowen win first Elite title

After 14 years toiling in the scullery, Bill Lowen of Brookville, Ind., finally arrived at the ball wearing not a glass slipper, but one made of metal.

Lowen, one of the most successful anglers on the Bassmaster Elite Series Tour, has chiseled a comfortable and highly profitable fishing career, but he never won a tournament until Tuesday. That's when he conquered formidable conditions to win the Elite Series event on Pickwick Lake at Florence, Ala., with a four-day total weight of 83 pounds, 5 ounces to win $102,000.

One thing that sets Lowen apart from most other professional anglers is his boat choice. Most anglers run fiberglass bass boats. Lowen runs an XPress aluminum boat made in Hot Springs. Anglers running aluminum boats have won two of the past three Elite Series tournaments. John Cox is another highly successful angler who started the trend.

Lowen said an aluminum boat suits him personally, and also his fishing style.

"This is my fourth year full time running an XPress," Lowen said. "I'm known as a shallow water angler who goes as far back in the junk as I can."

An aluminum boat, which is at least 500 pounds lighter than a comparable size fiberglass boat, enables Lowen to reach fishing spots where a "glass" boat can't go, he said. Aluminum also tolerates the abuse of those environments better than fiberglass, he said.

"I used to have to do $2,000 or $3,000 worth of fiberglass repair every year before selling a boat to whoever was buying it," Lowen said. "I always reached a point where I went as far as I could go without tearing something up. Now I go as far as I used to go, but now I go further. It lets me fish exactly how I want to fish and not worry about tearing up my equipment."

In years past, aluminum boats were not sturdy enough to handle the massive outboard motors that bass anglers use. XPress configured a transom that can accommodate a motor up to 350 horsepower. Reinforcements run longitudinally through the hull instead of latitudinally, which strengthens the hull and makes it more rigid. XPress hulls are also padded, making them more hydrodynamic, more aerodynamic and also faster.

When the hull and decking are mated, foam pumped into the hull fills all of the voids, reinforcing the hull and making it more rigid. This also muffles noise, eliminating the bone-jarring vibrations and hull flex that characterize conventional aluminum hulls.

"I haven't sacrificed any speed or sacrificed any ride quality running an aluminum boat," Lowen said. "There is no way you can tell any difference between this aluminum boat and a fiberglass boat. If you say you do, I'd have to call you a liar."

For recreational anglers and lower level tournament anglers, aluminum is an economical choice, Lowen said, because a high-end metal boat is much more affordable than a mid-level glass boat.

"There are fiberglass boats that cost $100,000," Lowen said. "My first fiberglass boat cost $28,000. With aluminum you get the same performance, if not better, and better prices. A glass boat is $20,000 to $30,000 more. It's easy for a fisherman to say, 'Why should I buy this when I can buy this?' "

A pro angler's boat is an office, a business space that requires efficiency, aesthetics and ergonomics. Lowen said he appreciates the fact that Rory Herndon, vice-president of XPress Boats, respects Lowen's input and acts upon his recommendations to improve the boats.

"I came in for a meeting, and Rory said, 'Let's go sit in your boat and have this meeting,' " Lowen said. "While we were sitting there talking, all kinds of people came by. It didn't matter who it was or what that person's job was, Rory greeted them by name, from the person who screws in a bump rail to the guy pushing the trash can to the back door. That made a big impression on me."

Comfort with the platform certainly helped Lowen decipher one of the most challenging puzzles in Elite Series history at Pickwick. It looked like a lost cause going into the last round, but Lowen said the deteriorating conditions were identical to what he's faced his entire life on the Ohio River, his home water.

Instead of panicking, he said he adjusted to what he would do if he were in the same circumstances back home. A couple of quick bites and a couple of good decisions were all it took for him to finally claim his first Elite Series "Blue Trophy."

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