How many of us have boats or like fishing?

[Matt76]

After seeing Superiorcruisers thread, It got me thinking as to how many of us have a boat or like fishing.

I currently have a little 395 Allycraft Avalon with a 25 Yammy which I reckon is a great little tiny, and I am in the process of getting a plate boat built that will be around 5.5m. Still small enough to fish the rivers but big enough to scoot over to moreton or some of the reefs on a nice day.

What do you guys have or what sort of fishing do you do?

 

[ants_oz]

I got out of boat ownership a few years ago.....gradually downsized, the most recent two boats being a 520 Signature, then a 400 Hornet Trophy.

I found however that I was spending a lot of time away from my family - so now my land based fishing is more inclusive of my family, particularly my son.

Our impending move to Tassie will be great, as it comes with a boat at the other end. Our destination has a new boat attached My father-in-law has a lovely little Haines Hunter that my son enjoys going out on, so and there will be ample opportunity for various family trips as we will all be living together.

My recommendation to you all, after years spent around them and in the industry is don't shy away from the maintenance budget - what it costs is what it costs and those who try to penny pinch were the ones who ended up in the biggest strife when it came to repair bills. By all means do things yourself - it is great to know how things work - I'm not saying everything needs to be done by a "pro" - what I am saying is, when something needs to be replaced, replace it, when something needs to be serviced, service it... A siezed bearing on your trailer hub for example is a pain in the ass in your driveway.....it's a fight with your Mrs when you're half way into a family holiday and you're 500km from home without the right spares and not enough tools... Imagine a similar scenario....for example, problematic steering when the weather blows up and you're 30km offshore....still having to face a brown water bar crossing when you get home. Anyway, enough horror stories, I've got TRUCKLOADS of them - some hardly credible (like a 34 Randell getting rolled over within sight of the MSB boat on the Yamba bar, after the MSB guys were showing the owners of the Randell what the wave sets were doing that day!)...

But boats.....Kenneth Grahame summed it up perfectly in Wind in the Willows when he wrote "There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats".

 

[Eug]

i've just recently bought a 4.2m tinny with a 40HP to do some fishing, part of the reason why i got a fourbie. always done outdoor activities and only going to keep adding!

 

[tagMan]

5.4 m Tupperware Yalta Odessa for the outside reef fishin and a 4.2 m sea jay that lives at burrum heads for the river.

they are not mine - they are my dads, but as an only son they are mine as well.

also like beach fishin at double Island.(thanks navara)

 

[reel-sensation]

Gotta 4.2 Quinny with a 40hp Merc

Alan

 

[KraftyPg]

4.0 Stacer with a 35Hp Johnston sitting in the old mans shed (until I get a bigger place) for small stuff and my Uncle lets us use his Bertram which is permanently moored at the Sandy yacht club for the bigger stuff but in general we are more beach fishermen because it's easier to get the gear together and less hassle to organise.

 

[shane75]

i own a 3.7m makocraft(stessl)with 18 hp toey.it's a fun little boat and suits my needs of estuary or dam fishing perfectly.i also love fishing the beaches for tailor with mates over at moreton.

 

[Jon]

Yeah a fe months ago purchased the Barcrusher 620C with a 150 Evinrude e-tec and all the bells and whistles. Upgraded from a 4.5m savage with a 60hp mercury. If you don't fish in Townsville then you are missing out. Unfortunately the reef is about 70km offshore from here, hence the need for a bigger boat.

 

[superiorcruiser]

i have a 5mtr plate ally with a 75 hp honda.

 

[Matt76]

You got any pics of your platey superiorcruiser? I'm still after ideas.

That bar crusher is nice Jon, does the 150 push it along nicely? What do you think of the Etec?

 

[Krankin]

No, I dont have one as 95% of my fishing is land based and i like it that way,
also my two fishing buddy's have a boat each that covers all sorts of fishing senario's so no point at the moment to get one as then we probably would never fish together.

Though am thinking about a small tinny that would sit on top of the Nav for Crayin up the Murray.

 

[Jon]

You got any pics of your platey superiorcruiser? I'm still after ideas.

That bar crusher is nice Jon, does the 150 push it along nicely? What do you think of the Etec?

Mate the 150 is more than enough in my opinion. It gets up and goes thats for sure. I wasn't sure on the etec at first but I'm loving it now. Its almost as quiet as the 4 strokes, is just as good on fuel but has heaps more power to the equivalent size 4 and is lighter. The Barcrusher has a cavity in the transom under the hull that fills with water for stability at rest. When you take off the water comes out and the hull becomes a lot lighter which is probably one of the reasons it doesn't need more hp. The maximum is 175 and the recommended is 150 so I guess its spot on.

 

[superiorcruiser]

You got any pics of your platey superiorcruiser? I'm still after ideas.

That bar crusher is nice Jon, does the 150 push it along nicely? What do you think of the Etec?

Yes i have,will try to post in my pics today..

 

[Matt76]

Mate the 150 is more than enough in my opinion. It gets up and goes thats for sure. I wasn't sure on the etec at first but I'm loving it now. Its almost as quiet as the 4 strokes, is just as good on fuel but has heaps more power to the equivalent size 4 and is lighter. The Barcrusher has a cavity in the transom under the hull that fills with water for stability at rest. When you take off the water comes out and the hull becomes a lot lighter which is probably one of the reasons it doesn't need more hp. The maximum is 175 and the recommended is 150 so I guess its spot on.

Thanks for that, I am a bit confused as to what to put on my next one. It will only be 5 or so metres but will weigh a bit. They guy helping me with it says 115 would be ideal. I have spoken to a few engine dealers, all say theirs is the best of course lol. I'm sure anything is good these days. Have you ever worked out how much the 2 stroke oil costs per tank or per Litre of fuel? I have heard horror stories about how much some of the oils cost.

 

[Jon]

Thanks for that, I am a bit confused as to what to put on my next one. It will only be 5 or so metres but will weigh a bit. They guy helping me with it says 115 would be ideal. I have spoken to a few engine dealers, all say theirs is the best of course lol. I'm sure anything is good these days. Have you ever worked out how much the 2 stroke oil costs per tank or per Litre of fuel? I have heard horror stories about how much some of the oils cost.

I haven't had to buy any oil yet as the oil reservoir was full when I bought it there is also a spare 4L bottle in the boat. I think around $80 or so for the oil but I don't really know yet. I haven't got any oil consumption figures either but I can clearly see that this first full reservoir is going to last quite some time. The barcrusher dealer in Cairns that I went to sold both evinrude and suzuki outboards. He said either were excellent motors but would recommend the next higher size suzuki to get similar performance. eg. He would recommend the 115etec on the 560c or the 135 zook. Also if you ever planned on going for a ski behind it then the evinrude would be the better choice. They both have pros and cons but as long as you keep the servicing up to em I think they are all as good as each other. Also keep in mind the 4 strokes need to be serviced a lot more often than a 2 stroke. I think once you take this into consideration against the high cost of oil and only servicing every three years it would probably work out the same running costs as a 4 anyway. These are all the things that were going through my mind when I purchased. What hull are you looking at anyway?

 

[STR MUD PIG]

G'day I have a 17.53 stejcraft bowrider with a 150 suzuki 4 stroke to run it. like to go bay fishing on a nice day out to port philip bay and also western port. I also do some water skiing with it and also fishing in fresh water lakes and the murry river.

 

[steve99]

Many years ago I had a 6m Yalta Odessa powered by a 150HP Mariner - did a heap of fishing and caught some good fish over the years.

But the boat has long since gone. These day I just fish out of another blokes boat about half a dozen times a year. As a matter of fact we went last night - didn't catch anything though.

Here's a couple I bagged a few years back.

 

[will]

I got a 15ft fiberglass Dealtry Gannet, transom is stuffed so its going to go to a new home soon. recently sold a 14ft Sportscraft that was fun but a bit small. i took the gannet to a boat builder over the weekend and quoted me $2500 for a new transom, not very good news. bet considering i only paid $200 for it i'm not too upset, has motor (old Mercury hp) and a good galvanized trailer. next boat will hopefully be something like a pride pathfinder.

 

[FISHOLOT]

Got a Quintrex 420 Explorer Trophy with a 40hp 4 stroke Mercury, great little freshwater boat and easy enough to beach launch when conditions permit and no weight to tow.

 

[Matt76]

What hull are you looking at anyway?

I do a lot of work with Performance Plate Boats at Brendale and he will be helping me build it (actually he will probably do most of it lol, I will do all the easy stuff) so it will be the same as his 6-7m style offshore boats, just shortened up a bit for my purposes, will be built as a side console, step through transom onto pods, underfloor tank, kill tank, live bait tank etc etc. Hopefully it will be a pretty good setup. I would love to make it a metre longer and put a centre cab in it for longer trips but I still do lots of local creek stuff so don't want to go too big, and with my 4th kid on the way I need all the deck space I can get!

BTW, bloody nice catches there Steve!