so...whats the neatest best thing you have on your boat?

[inveratta]

Ok ..Im a week away from getting back into the time machine...an early 80s Haines.....been a bit bumpy on Boating in Ausfish I reckon ..so just a hopefully fun topic....I know its been done but hey....rust never sleeps...

So as a Vic Bass strait fisherman ........small flathead ..I hate them...waste of time and effort.....best thing is a bit of wire (tobin bronze) bent so you can flick the little off without fuss..simple but so effective.....

I dont buy ice anymore ..just fill plastic bottles with seawater and freeze....

and ramps in Vic mostly awful fish cleaning tables not flat.......they are designed by numpties with a large budget and not a clue...so have a permanent teflon board on the stern at hand height for easy filleting..

anyway a chance for everyone to tell us about their really neat little improvement....trailer washing for instance...

[Dignity]

Ok ..Im a week away from getting back into the time machine...an early 80s Haines.....been a bit bumpy on Boating in Ausfish I reckon ..so just a hopefully fun topic....I know its been done but hey....rust never sleeps...

So as a Vic Bass strait fisherman ........small flathead ..I hate them...waste of time and effort.....best thing is a bit of wire (tobin bronze) bent so you can flick the little off without fuss..simple but so effective.....

I dont buy ice anymore ..just fill plastic bottles with seawater and freeze....

and ramps in Vic mostly awful fish cleaning tables not flat.......they are designed by numpties with a large budget and not a clue...so have a permanent teflon board on the stern at hand height for easy filleting..

anyway a chance for everyone to tell us about their really neat little improvement....trailer washing for instance...

Have a dehooker on board for reef fish, while mates struggle I just grab it, swing the fish under and over straight into the water, gives them a good start in the water.

I found some plastic boxes similar to the old hobby box that fits straight into my eskies. Bait goes into one so it doesn't contaminate the rest of the ice. Food goes into the other box in the other esky, I also make my own block ice and they are the right size to fit between the boxes and the esky sides. With rhe boxes I don't have any issues with water leaking into food.

[bobfromblacky]

Ive had a powered jockey wheel for yonks and yes this one works great!, but when I welded a big bolt on top of the handle it just got better, cordless drill and 17mm socket, boat goes up boat goes down, I can be so lazy at times but it gives me a giggle every time I use it.

[NAGG]

When it comes to boat mods - I'll say swapping over my old Brcrusher cutting board to their mini bait station

Bait station 2.jpg

The other things were - The Dometic 22lt esky for bait only ..... 1 4kg box of IQF pilchards + another half box will fit in there ........ & even towards the end of the day you are still using partially frozen pillies ...... Nice & handy too .

One final thing was the 75lt split lid IcyTek that drops into my never used kill tank - it 's not in the way ... you can easily step over it or on it ....... that where drink & food is kept ( uncontaminated)
Love it
Split lid Icey Tek (2).jpg

[stevej]

Live scope sounder setup

most amazing thing I’ve ever bought fishing wise

[andoland]

When it comes to boat mods - I'll say swapping over my old Brcrusher cutting board to their mini bait station

Bait station 2.jpg

Nagg, what is it about the bait station that you find is so much better than the standard bait board? I’ve got a bar crusher on order for delivery in April and haven’t included the bait station in build at this point. It looks great but it’s +$900 option, on top of all the other options, so haven’t yet convinced myself I need it.

I’m also curious about what it cost to buy stand-alone.

[NAGG]

one thing I did with my rigging made a hell of a difference

I have a penchant for shallow water snapper fishing with floating / lightly weighted baits ........ which means a lot of lost rigs & re rigging.
Over the past couple of years I would tie a heavier leader (40lb) with an FG knot - with a glow bead & small swivel ..... I would then use 30 & 20lb pretied rigs with a running ball sinker (or not) - it lets you adjust the weight as required .

What usually happens is if you snag up & bust off ... you usually get the leader back & simply tie on the pre made rigs - (< 1m & you are fishing again)

Chris

[NAGG]

Nagg, what is it about the bait station that you find is so much better than the standard bait board? I’ve got a bar crusher on order for delivery in April and haven’t included the bait station in build at this point. It looks great but it’s +$900 option, on top of all the other options, so haven’t yet convinced myself I need it.

I’m also curious about what it cost to buy stand-alone.

It cost me $1K

OK for me .... & my style of fishing - it's outstanding
Those two drawers hold ( top drawer) all my tools (spare sharp knife) & probably 20 + pre made rigs in zip lock bags . Finally a couple of spools of leader.
The bottom drawer - holds two tackle boxes ..... one with mixed sinkers (typical of what I am using) & the other with my normal hook selections plus some swivels / lumo tube & beads) .
No diving into tackle boxes / bags or whatever ...... most of what I need is in those two drawers .

If I go north & jig - I can swap out the tackle box holding hooks & sinkers ... replace it with jigs .

the cutting board is slightly wider too.

The down side it is permanent & so if you wanted to have a lure session ..... it can be in the way.

I absolutely love it ...... the question for you is would your fishing style benefit from having this convenience ...... or would it get in the way ?


Chris

Bait station drawers.jpg

[The Mad Cat]

The best thing on my (our) boat is "the wife" and I'm not joking, she is as mad about fishing if not more so than me. The down side, she does expects me to have our boats at their best so I have a an open cheque book with all the toys MK, Auto pilots, trim tabs, fridges, custom made split lid fibreglass eskies, electric reels, electric anchor winches, electric down riggers and the list goes on. Any rod or reel I want she wants one as well. How good is that. I buy her fishing gear for Xmas and birthdays. That makes life simple for me.

TMC

[NAGG]

Shit .......

Chris

[Patfink]

The best thing on my (our) boat is "the wife" and I'm not joking, she is as mad about fishing if not more so than me. The down side, she does expects me to have our boats at their best so I have a an open cheque book with all the toys MK, Auto pilots, trim tabs, fridges, custom made split lid fibreglass eskies, electric reels, electric anchor winches, electric down riggers and the list goes on. Any rod or reel I want she wants one as well. How good is that. I buy her fishing gear for Xmas and birthdays. That makes life simple for me.

TMC

Pic of wife ?

[Volvo]

The best thing on my (our) boat is "the wife" and I'm not joking, she is as mad about fishing if not more so than me. The down side, she does expects me to have our boats at their best so I have a an open cheque book with all the toys MK, Auto pilots, trim tabs, fridges, custom made split lid fibreglass eskies, electric reels, electric anchor winches, electric down riggers and the list goes on. Any rod or reel I want she wants one as well. How good is that. I buy her fishing gear for Xmas and birthdays. That makes life simple for me.

TMC

To a certain extent except for the free spending .. Does an excellent job with pulling the anchor up though my next big spendup will be an anchor wench i mean winch..
As for the best thing ive added towards the boat would be the Boat winch although its attatched to the Trailer and not the boat but Boy does it make life easy getting the Boat on the Trailer..
Could drive it on n off but on my own means i have ta get on and off the Boat to do so and at my age i cant affort ta go ace over in the process..
Otherwise too numerouse toys to add to the above ..Oh fergot the solar panel for the batterries ..

[Giveitacrack]

One of these.A great idea and excellent

https://scwonline.com.au/home/34-6-rod-removable-coaming-rack-suit-all-boats.html

[ranmar850]

Pic of wife ?

You've been on THT, haven't you...

[ranmar850]

My trailer washdown setup is still in operation, it will be incorporated once the driveway is concreted. Tap water with saltaway washing from top down, big bore-driven stainless sprinklers deluging the underside of the boat/trailer. Everything always looks clean and salt-free. I also hit the brakes through the trailer wheels with saltaway. So, clean, well- washed trailer with no bending or kneeling. For those haven't seen it, here is the original video. I've speeded it up a bit for brevity, normally back in very slowly, everything gets a good dousing.