New Boat Choice

[Cobbo1]

Hi Ausfishers,

With plans to move to Perth for work, I plan to leave the current boat (Quintrex 570) in QLD with dad, which leaves me with no other choice but to buy another boat. I've been looking for a while and I'm fairly sure I've decided on a small side console (happy to take opinions on this) about 4.5m long, a bow mount electric motor and front casting platform so I've got plenty of room for crabbing and estuary fishing with the option for close inshore fishing on good days and once I move home I'd like to be able to do a bit of fishing in Moreton Bay on a good day as well.

Currently I like the look of the Stessco 459 Fisherman with a 60hp four stroke, I just can't find a whole lot of feedback on these at this stage, I'd love to hear of anyone else's opinion in choice of boats.

Another question I have, is the style of transom that these boats have the option of, for example the Stessco Fisherman 459 comes in another layout (Fisherman 459P) which has what I would call a Euro-Transom, I have pictured both of these layouts below, my question is, is there any benefit going with the 459P, the website tells me they are the same length overall, and the transom step may be useful for boarding from the bank, but for fishing (which is my main objective with this boat) this seems a massive waste of space, the only benefit I can see for myself would be coming off the plane or facing the wrong way in rougher weather the 459P would handle the wave or swell hitting the transom better and would allow less or no water to enter inside the hull. I would love to hear peoples opinions on this.

Fisherman 459

Fisherman_459_58bcbe57dc05f.jpg

Fisherman 459P

Fisherman_459P_58bcbf791f9f7.jpg

Thanks in advance for all and any opinions.

Cheers.

[scottar]

Estuary fishing in Perth is what anyone from SEQ could describe as limited at best. I took my 4.5 centre console and pretty much spent most of my time over there wishing I had sold it and bought something bigger over there. That said, at the time (nearly 15 years ago) the crabbing around Mandurah and the sqidding in Cockburn Sound were some of the best I have ever experienced. Since then W.A. has not only introduced a fishing license but massively clamped down on bag limits. If you are a catch and release fisho - all good, If you fish for a feed - suggest looking at the regs for your zone before you shell out for a new boat. The wind over there is bloody incessant and sheltered water is not something there is an over abundance of. The distances required for offshore combined with the usual sea conditions realistically set a minimum size boat at about 5.5 metres in my mind unless you are happy catching bream and blowies and blowies and blowies. Did I mention the blowies - bloody toadfish in the river are as incessant as the wind. Soft plastics are almost financially unviable. Point being - if you haven't spent time fishing there already, it may be worth holding off until you have spent a bit of time there. Do a few charters and a heap of research on the actual fishing as your requirements as you see them now may well change.

[Cobbo1]

Thanks Scottar, awesome info, the new boat wasn't going to happen straight away (I'm the sort of person that researches for a long time before I buy) so I'm certain I'll be changing my mind a lot between now and then.

Cheers, Corey

[Berger4]

Agree with everything Scottar has said, having lived in Perth for 5 year about 5 years ago the boating is very much subject to the winds. I had a quintrex 455 topender whilst living there and in hindsight should have upgraded to a glass boat in nothing shorter then 5m. Having said that i still managed to fish outside quite a bit all with a nervous eye on the wind because once the Doctor starts blowing it can go from dead calm to howling winds in a very short time. Still I must say I quite enjoyed my time fishing in Perth especially the KG whiting and crays(lobster) and I must say that the boat ramps around Perth where far better than what is on offer here in Brisbane even now. As for the transom I had the euro style and it didn't effect my fishing, this was also very handy for getting in and out of the boat while diving and was extra insurance going home in a following sea which is just about every time you go outside. Anyway good luck and did I say I miss the Kg's.

[BM]

WA not for the faint hearted. There are some excellent manufacturers of glassies over there that are well built to take the punishing conditions regularly on offer. I would think tinnies are a non event unless you are in the 6m+ plate variety!

[scottar]

WA not for the faint hearted. There are some excellent manufacturers of glassies over there that are well built to take the punishing conditions regularly on offer. I would think tinnies are a non event unless you are in the 6m+ plate variety!

They are there but certainly not in the numbers you would see around SE Qld or anywhere else with extensive protected waterways. Some very good plate boat manufacturers - worked on some absolute crackers for Stagg Boats while over there, Coraline and now Chivers (who made some really good glass boats but went over to plate manufacture). Would also be interesting to look at Legend Boat Builders as well if in the market for a bigger rig. Their cray boats were absolute beasts but they now do smaller boats as well.

[Cobbo1]

Had some time to kill so I had a look at a few Coraline's while I was over there last week they seemed like a solid boat but the finish left a lot to be desired, what are your thoughts on them Scottar?

[juggernaut]

Live in Perth and have my cruiser penned in Mandurah. Agree with the above comments and would be looking in the 5 to 6 metre range. Have a look at Razerline boats too.

Cockburn sound is reasonably protected for a small boat by Garden Island and is where Pink Snapper breed. Although better fishing is on the exposed side of the Island. The are a few reef systems that run from Rotto to past Mandurah and artificial reefs have been installed in recent times further out. I've seen plenty of tinnies out there during my coastal travels - but it's not for me as the below link shows of recent fatalities.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/west...5c95e3f789f890

Don't expect less than 1.5 metre swells and I find 1.7 to 2.5 typical with larger swells in winter. In summer you will have fresh offshore easterlies followed by an hours grace then fresh onshore Sou westerlies. As a general rule if the temp is less than 30 degrees you are going to have reasonably fresh sou westerlies by 11.00 am which I don't think you would want to find yourself in in a tinnie - so get out early and back in by 11.00. In hotter weather the easterly dies off and a week sea breeze or no seabreeze may follow depending on temps. I went to Rotto in January and the wind was pretty much 40 to 50 Klms for the week but good weather for the 2.5 hour trips there and back from Mandurah in the cruiser.

On the other hand, the Mandurah estuary system up to Port Bouvard and the Dawsville Cut offers great protection for small boats and is crabbing heaven for Blue Manna crabs but because of its popularity it can be busy on the water in nicer weather. I love Mandurah for boating as the place was built around the estuary system with boat ramps close to the ocean for a short 2 minute trip to the ocean or up the estuary from Mary Street Jetty. Port Bouvard also has a boat ramp.

Probably best to check out boat ramps and what the locals are using for estuary and offshore boating but I would suggest most would be in the 5 to 6 metre range and larger for offshore work.

[ranmar850]

I'd suggest following the Fishwrecked forum, largest in WA and full of useful information. Some excellent snapper fishing very close and accessible to Perth, 70-90 cm fish from 4 m tinnies not uncommon. http://fishwrecked.com/forum Travel distances are generally nothing like what blokes are doing in FNQ to fish the Reef, go that far off Perth and you'd be in 1000m of water. And yes, the WA coast is windy, without much in the way of protected waters.

[scottar]

Had some time to kill so I had a look at a few Coraline's while I was over there last week they seemed like a solid boat but the finish left a lot to be desired, what are your thoughts on them Scottar?

Never had a huge amount to do with them but the couple I did seemed ok - some time ago though - I was there 15 years ago. I came across one at my local ramp a couple of months back and the owner was very happy - once again though - 5 year old boat.

[BigE]

Cobbo

Shameless Plug!!!

Have you considered a long boat? Can do the creeks and can run offshore in reasonable weather and will eat up the bay chop when you come home.

I have one ( Goodwin 5950) for sale and need to move it ( new boat has arrived and i need the shed space) will cut you a deal if your serious look on boat sales or the AusFish classifieds.

BigE

[scottar]

I'd suggest following the Fishwrecked forum, largest in WA and full of useful information. Some excellent snapper fishing very close and accessible to Perth, 70-90 cm fish from 4 m tinnies not uncommon. http://fishwrecked.com/forum Travel distances are generally nothing like what blokes are doing in FNQ to fish the Reef, go that far off Perth and you'd be in 1000m of water. And yes, the WA coast is windy, without much in the way of protected waters.

The distance might not be far but I just found it to be a whole next level of rough water once you got past the 5 fathom bank on most days. Every so often you would crack a glamour day and get to a bit wider but you spent most of your time looking over your shoulder waiting for the wind to come out of nowhere as it does over there. We got flogged on the way home on many occasions. Rockingham is the first place I have ever had to contend with half a meter of surge while putting the boat on the trailer - inside a marina. Freo was the first place I heard wind and rain coming from across a harbour before it got to me - heard a roar gradually getting louder and was thinking "what's that noise" until it literally went from a light breeze to 50 knots in the blink of an eye in so much so that as it hit, I felt the yacht I was working on at the time lean as the wind caught the mast and rigging. I had spent quite a bit of time in what I thought was pretty shit conditions in my tinny off Brisbane and was pretty cocky as to it's capabilities. Fishing out of Perth certainly bought me back to earth in that regard. I ended up doing very little fishing compared to what was "normal" back then (oh for those days again) and started predominantly chasing crays around Stragglers reef. Even there we had the odd misadventure. Survived a potential swamping by mere milliseconds one day - motoring around the reef on a glamour day with excellent vis looking for a spot to drop in when out of nowhere a swell came through and broke behind the boat - motor could not be seen from the console due to froth and bubble as we pulled away. Definitely better luck than management and a good way to get the heart rate up. I never managed to crack a Cockburn Sound snapper though - wasn't for lack of trying initially.

[Cobbo1]

Thanks again for all the info guys, exactly the sort of response I was after!

BigE - nothing wrong with a shameless plug when you can admit it haha! Thankyou very much for the offer but I'm probably a bit far off buying at this stage, good luck with the sale!

[Cobbo1]

Never had a huge amount to do with them but the couple I did seemed ok - some time ago though - I was there 15 years ago. I came across one at my local ramp a couple of months back and the owner was very happy - once again though - 5 year old boat.

Like I said they seemed like a solid, well laid out boat, lacking in a few features makes me think the owner/designer is living in the 90's a bit, I was just curious to see what your thoughts were, thank's for shariing!

[BigE]

No problem Cobbo , good luck remember looking is half the fun.

BigE