Freshwater fishing from Bowrider

[dnardy]

Hi all, I am considering a second hand bow rider to cover dual duties as my bigger fishing boat and a family fun boat for towing tubes etc..

I'm looking at Quintrex Freedoms and Stacer Easy Riders primarily but happy to hear other suggestions. 

I want to use mainly for Murray cod and yellowbelly fishing in rivers and lakes, but have some concerns, and hoping some of you may have experience with this:

* I plan to build a flat, removable casting deck for the front seating area. Looks like it should work but these boats have considerably higher sides than your usual cod fishing boat. Will this be an issue?

* A lot of the Quintrex Freedoms don't have very big motors, and don't seem to be rated for very high HP motors. Will say a 60-75HP tow a tube on one of these boats?

* Are they ok in shallow water encountered when cod and yella fishing? They seem to have a deeper draft.

Any info would be appreciated, I have access to small tinny's so thinking something more multi - purpose might be the go. Just don't want to shoot myself in the foot by trying to do too much with one boat.

 

[ellicat]

What size are you looking at ?

[dnardy]

Pros and cons to bigger and smaller, it might come down a bit to the individual boats for sale (inclusions, condition etc) I'm leaning towards bigger as I have access to small tinny's already. I might go and look at a 475 and find my wife and 2 kids fit fine and I'd be happy with that.

A 475 I feel would be better in rivers etc while a bigger boat would be more comfortable for the family on a lake and might be better to fish from if I have a few kids with me (I already occasionly take some of the kids friends fishing and yabbying). I only have the old Isuzu powered RC Colorado so I might have to see how the bigger ones tow too.

At the moment thinking bigger is better, but keen to hear the opinion of more experienced boaters.

 

[ellicat]

Yeah, if you have a smaller rig, go the bigger model for the family activities. The family members will grow so more room is important. For towing tubes and bodies around, go the biggest motor you can, but don't discount the effect the prop can make to the hole shot even on a smaller motor. For towing, the hole shot is more important than the top end speed. Maybe two props would be an option. Definitely go an ally one. Stainless steel on rivers and dams is a recipe for disaster.

I have a 470 Escape with a draft around 40 cm. I can't imagine a bow rider would be more than 50cm. You can always ask the seller.

[dnardy]

11 hours ago, ellicat said:

Definitely go an ally one. Stainless steel on rivers and dams is a recipe for disaster.

Why is this?

[ellicat]

If you hit a submerged object, a stainless has no give and will likely not break or give, so all the forces will be transferred to your gear box and cause severe and expensive damage. An ally prop will absorb the energy and break a fin etc.

[dnardy]

Yeah I understand, thanks Ellicat. Cheaper to carry a spare too.

[Bretto77]

On 21/03/2023 at 2:05 PM, dnardy said:

I only have the old Isuzu powered RC Colorado so I might have to see how the bigger ones tow too.

@Kat has a 4.8 Formosa with an 80 zuki on it. Tows well behind a 14 d-max.

[dnardy]

19 minutes ago, Bretto77 said:

@Kat has a 4.8 Formosa with an 80 zuki on it. Tows well behind a 14 d-max.

Yeah other info tells me it should be fine. I dont really plan on taking it over the big hill to Jindabyne or the coast much, but I will be taking it up to Dartmouth Dam.

[Bretto77]

15 minutes ago, dnardy said:

Yeah other info tells me it should be fine. I dont really plan on taking it over the big hill to Jindabyne or the coast much, but I will be taking it up to Dartmouth Dam.

Anything is going to work harder on the hills. We towed Kat's boat a bit over 2000km this time last year. Trip average I think was about 9.4L/100km. My ute has over 250 000km on it.

That said, when you start pulling near (or over) max rated capacity you will definitely know you have a load behind you.

Your vehicle will handle a tinny that size just fine.

[dnardy]

Thanks for all the advice on this topic all, I have since pulled the trigger on a 2010 Stacer Easy Rider 509 with a 100HP Yamaha. Ill post pics when I pick it up - pretty excited.

[ellicat]

Great to hear you have made the decision.

I had a quick google - looks like a great setup for you.

[dnardy]

This is the one I ended up with. Hopefully take it out on Hume this weekend.

[Angry51]

Looks good, it should give you many hours of fun and fish.

Now we need a few pics of you pulling them in over the side.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Nice boat!

[Bretto77]

Looks like a tub that will do the trick for you Nice.

[dnardy]

20 hours ago, Angry51 said:

Looks good, it should give you many hours of fun and fish.

Now we need a few pics of you pulling them in over the side.

Reddies and yellowbelly apparently on the chew, fingers crossed. But yeah I plan to spend a fair bit of time this Spring chasing Yella's on Hume.