its time to step up, looking for a bream boat.

[Dowelly]

hey guys,
well i guess im sitting pretty at the moment with a few K's in the bank.
so i (think) i have made the desision to step up and get a bream boat.
looking at hornet trophy's mainly just as they seem a good alround boat, but i would like to hear your thoughts. the smaller type of boat will suit me due to the amount of fishing i do where a boat ramp is unhear of
budget around 10k i guess but would rather a little cheaper.

pic... of the things we do for bream

[Hooked]

Are you wanting to fish comp's in it Dowelly? l mean will you want all the decks,livewell and say a 40HP or just something to get you fishing?

Steve...

[phil jagger]

Yo Dowelly,

Check out the Mako Craft (395) if you can get your hands on one, they are wider (stability), dryer and plane easier.

yep yep

[Mim]

Originally Posted by phil jagger

Yo Dowelly,

Check out the Mako Craft (395) if you can get your hands on one, they are wider (stability), dryer and plane easier.

yep yep

I dunno Phil, you managed to get your old hornet up on the plane pretty well. I remember doing the Perth comp in your boat and not being able to see where we were going as the nose was pointing straight to the heavens

Mim

[Brad Y]

Dowelly,

My first real comp boat was a 395 stessco bass tracker (yes i guess the name stuck with the latest one too) It had a 30hp merc lite (jap model) with electric start. I did all the designs up and fitout myself apart from the ally welding- maybe deacs can help you if he knows how to ally weld.

You will want to use something that size as its a great all rounder for going places you want to, and still fishing comps. Who cares if your not the fastest rig out there, you can obviously fish smart and that gives you a big advantage.

If you find a hull, i can send you a rough idea of the sort of things you will want for it. Obvioulsy things like rod lockers and livewells take up alot of space in smaller boats so you need to be smart about designing it and know exactly what you want. I think my stessco and 30hp outboard cost me about 8 grand initailly, with another 3-4 going into getting it comp ready.

At times I wish i still had that boat, it was darn good and I know the bloke who has it now doesnt use it for bream, the livewell is his livey tank and he goes and catches more metre plus barra with it than I can imagine.

Things to think about in a small boat.
- Keep your livewell at or a tiny bit over minimum size. This will mean less weight when its full and more power for you to play with.
- Most boat yards will let you put a bigger engine on it if you can find a light weight version. Look at motors with this feature. You can also ask them if they can upgrade the transom to suit an extra 10hp or so.
- If you want a sounder, maybe look at one with a thru hull feature so you dont have to drill too many holes on the back and you dont have to worry about it hitting shallow snags etc. Maybe look at where you place it too so you can swivel it around for when yor driving the leccy.
- Balancing weight is going to determine how you go on the plane and off the plane. IMO boats with livewells at the rear seem more stable in chop, but then your going to be tail heavy and you dont want to be nose high all the time.
- Run your wires in conduit that is held up off the bottom of the hull. If there is any problems or you want to add new stuff, you can just poke new wires through.
- Small boats are usually pressed hulls with thin ally, ensure all your batteries and what not are properly secure as you dont want cracks forming from things flying all over the place.

Don did alot of setup work on his leccy punts too, he has some great ideas about decking etc so pm him as well

Good luck man

[Dowelly]

cheers for the info brad!
wouldnt mind just getting a boat fully decked (lazy i know) my dad can easily get ahold of the resources, however i can see it sitting in the shed for longer then i want it to be
yeah steve looking at becoming the boater for tounys on my local.. anyway.
keep looking into it i guess
might google a few things tonight

[upr_swan_breamr]

im in the same boat as you dowelly. reel keen on 'decked out' bream boat but the old man doesnt like the idea as he is more 'offshore or dont bother' even tho its my money
would like something to do abit of offshore 2, on a good day tho.

[Brad Y]

Mate the standard fitouts are ok, but there is something about doing it yourself that really makes you take pride in your boat. And you really pay through the nose for factory fitouts IMO. Its not hard to do, and alot of peoples boats are done like this and they work fine. As i said the only thing you need to get done for you is the ally welding. Other than that you can cut your decks, design it all up so its balanced and has everything you want, carpet it, fit all the stuff you want to it and if your smart about it, more than likely it will be better and more practical than the factory fitouts. Some of them seem real dodgy that I have seen. Corners get cut and you could get some real dodgy components. If you do it yourself and take your time you get quality stuff and know its done properly.

[Bear]

Tidy.

http://boatsonline.com.au/boats-for-...s.php?de=42338

[Bear]

or

http://boatsonline.com.au/boats-for-...s.php?de=28636

[Yardi]

As Bear stated that Hornet looks really tidy Dowelly.
I would be up to Perth Pronto and doing some negotiating on that one mate.
Yardi

[Danmaso]

Yeah Dowelly that quinny look very neat mate almost all done, GPS/SONAR aswell alls youd probably need is a leccie and live well and you away...

[phil jagger]

Hehehe Mim, yes I remember those days aah good times.

Trimmed up and fingers crossed no-one unsuspectingly gets in your way.

hahaha.

Phil

Oh yeah Dowelly,

That Quintrex looks the goods......but it aint a Hornet...should goo pretty good with a 40 though! Get in contact with Richo, he will word you up on that hull... he's been in one many a time.

Word up to the Albany posse!

[Dowelly]

cheers for that bear must have missed it when i scoured that site last night
really like the look of it and gonna talk to the oldies may have to borrow a bit of dosh..
other then that i will consider just buying a hull and talk to my mate who is a boat builder and we could knock it up together.

[Richo]

Same pig as mine Dowelly, except I have a 40 yammy on mine........ actually not really a pig, I quite like my boat a fair bit (even though I hardly use it), it handles fine and cranks out about 28 knots (give or take and has fished a lot of water from Bremer to Exmouth, the explorer is a lot more stable than a hornet but not quite as smooth a ride, but that hasnt worried me at all....

Where you'll be doing most of your fishing it should handle a treat.

Looks like a good buy if you ask me.....