Setting up a Small Boat for Fishing

Tackle representative Shane Hartstone gets to see a fair bit of the country as he does his rounds of the various retailers, many of which are located close to prime fishing waters – both salt and fresh. Shane has in the past foregone many chances to get out for a fish outside of business hours for the lack of a boat, so it set him thinking how he could maximise his opportunities…

Owning a boat is most Kiwi fisho’s dream. Some succeed at an early age; others never buy at all, and some buy many boats. And, of course, there are those who buy boats and don’t use them much at all.

In 40 years of fishing, I have never owned a boat for various reasons. I have fished all over New Zealand in mates’ boats, charter boats and from the rocks and sand. I have also been lucky enough to work in the fishing tackle trade for the last 20 years, travelling the North Island selling high-quality goods to your local fishing stores. One of the biggest reasons I’ve never owned a boat is that it’d make it near impossible to park around town while working. However, with most of my fishing opportunities being mid-week for a few hours here and there, not having a boat handy has always been frustrating. I thought about kayaks but having one strapped to the roof all week for only a two-hour fishing opportunity is not worth the security risk. I thought about a jet ski, but they are like a boat, but smaller, and still have a trailer. Then there is the issue of storing a boat/jet ski/kayak at home. They all take up valuable section or garage room.

In early spring, I was driving back down the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula mid-afternoon after finishing my work for the day, looking out my window at the “flat as” Firth of Thames. There were hordes of boats around the mussel farms, harassing the waiting snapper below. I thought to myself, “Why don’t I have a boat? I would be out there slaying it for a few hours and be home in time for tea.” So somewhere under the pohutukawas, the proverbial big bright lightbulb above my head sprung into life... inflatable boats!

Portability – will it fit in the back of my ute? Tick!

Affordability – it’s got to be cheaper than a six-metre tinny. Tick!

Storage – it’s not going to take up much room in the shed. Tick!

Crew – will I be able to take the family out? Not far, but it’s a start. Tick!

I don’t know why I didn’t think of this idea earlier (especially considering my best mate has got one). The boat and outboard will fit comfortably in the back of my ute when I’m travelling around the country for work. If I get somewhere (let’s say, Coopers Beach in the Far North) and work is finished and the sea is flat, I can pump up the boat and head out!

For the rest of the drive back home that afternoon, I couldn’t get the idea out of my head. I spent hours researching available options and how they were going to suit what I wanted to do. This is what I came up with…

The Boat

Rod Dawson, the founder of True Kit Boats, was my first port of call. Rod has been around sailboats all his life, even doing design work with America’s Cup yachts. He saw a gap in the market for inflatable boats and used his skills to design, test and trial a range of practical watercraft. I explained to Rod what I wanted from a boat, and all the criteria it had to fit (where/when/how/what/who). We both decided the best option was the True Kit Discovery – it ticked all the boxes and then some. The Discovery is an inflatable catamaran featuring five separate air compartments (including the floor) made from German Valmex fabric and thermo-welded seams. The open bow on the 3.3-metre pontoons will give me great access to the water for free diving, and an easy re-entry point for swimming kids. The tubes are 500mm in diameter, and the beam is 1.65 metres, which together provide an extremely stable platform to fish from. Weighing in at 35kg, I’m not going to pop an o-ring putting it in the back of the ute. The addition of fold-away wheels will make launching a breeze from anywhere with access to the water. The Discovery comes with Railblaza ports, so pimping the boat out with accessories will be easy and fun.

The full kit fits comfortably in the back of Shane's ute.

Powering Up

After deciding on my very first boat (it had only taken 40 years!), I had the same exciting question that every boat owner has: what motor to put on the back? Again, Rod Dawson had all the answers. In his showroom, he has at least five different outboards that he uses for testing his boats, so he knows the pros and cons of each. I also did my own research and decided that the Mercury 9.9HP, a tried and tested workhorse, fitted my needs with a balance of weight, size and horsepower. At a lightweight 26kg, lifting her in and out of the ute should be a breeze, and the 15” shaft will allow shallow water manoeuvrability.

Fitout

The first modifications were done at True Kit, with Rod adding a couple of stern-mounted Railblaza starports for rod holders. My first addition was adding a depth sounder. I picked myself up a Garmin Striker 5. Garmin makes excellent electronics, and the Striker 5 fits the bill for small craft use. Mounting the bracket for the screen was straight forward. I picked the side of the front seat to locate it as this would still leave the seat useable for a second person. After a bit of drilling and bolting, we had the mount secure, and I even added a starport on the opposite side for a forward rod holder or GoPro mount. Fitting the transducer proved to be far more challenging. I connected a series of Railblaza accessories together to form an arm, which would be fitted to the factory-installed starport on top of the starboard tube. But that was the easy part; getting the Garmin transducer mount to talk to the Railblaza mount was the hard bit. After some head-scratching, hacksawing, bolting, glueing and a bit of sticky tape, I had it all set up. Initial testing proved the creation worked, albeit at low speed. Time will tell if future adjustments need to be made, but that’s the fun of a little project boat like this – there’s always something to tinker with.

The next addition was the battery to power the depth sounder. I hard wired some connections onto the terminals of a standard one-volt battery and glued the battery into a small watertight tackle box. I then drilled a small hole in the box for the power cable and fitted a gland, so hopefully, the box will remain watertight. The box was then attached to the underside of the front seat very close to the sounder, so I can keep the cable as short as possible to avoid tangles.

Accessories

First up was a chilly bin. The size of this was important as it had to fit in between where the oars are stored inside the boat. After lots of looking and measuring, I eventually found one with a length of 600mm which fit perfectly and was also solid enough to use as a seat. The 50L internal capacity would hold a decent feed of fish and suit my needs. I cut a base out of camping foam mat and glued it to the bottom of the bin to prevent sliding and give extra grip on the floor of the boat. I then did the same to a small plastic tub that perfectly fits under the 12L fuel tank.

The tub will hopefully catch any fuel leakages while in the boat, and while travelling in the back of the ute. I have registered the boat with Coastguard New Zealand and attached a call sign for my small handheld floating five-watt VHF. Safety is essential, especially as lots of the areas I intend to fish will be new to me. A sea anchor from True Kit, as well as a grapnel anchor kit, sounder cover and rod straps from Rob Fort had me pretty much set up. Rob Fort produces an excellent range of kayak accessories which are great for small boat users also. I’ve also splashed out on a couple of new GoPro Hero 8’s to capture the special moments. These will be either placed on me or attached to the starports around the boat – I will be adding more mounts when I know where they are needed. The cool thing about the Hero 8 is that it can be voice-activated, so if I’ve got my hands full on a fish, I can yell at it to take a nice photo! Small things like a dry bag for phones and keys have already been purchased. After a bit more use, it will become apparent where more accessories need to be added. I have an almost endless list of ideas on what cool toys to add. The boat is rated to carry 500kg, so I’ve got a bit of room for my gear!

The Nuts Duck is large enough to carry all of Shane's gear, but compact enough to be handled solo. 

Maiden Voyage

It seemed fitting to choose the Raglan Harbour for the initial launch and test of my pride and joy. I grew up on the Raglan Harbour, spending thousands of hours catching everything from sprats to stingrays. The initial “blow up” actually happened in the lounge at home. How many of you can actually say you had your boat on the lounge floor? On a fine Saturday in early December, we packed up the family and headed to Raglan. After assembly, a small bottle of champagne was cracked (well twist top removed and poured) over both bows, and the boat was officially christened The Nuts Duck. A special day for the family’s first boat. We all donned our life jackets, folded down the wheels and launched our beautiful red craft. The Merc fired into life first pull. I followed the advice from the boys at Fish City Albany, running the first tank of fuel (12 litres) at a stronger mix of 25:1 to lubricate and “run in” the motor. This meant we didn’t have the power that will come with a full-strength mix, but the family got the buzz I was hoping for. We circled our way around the moored boats in the harbour for a few hours, paying close attention to weight distribution, and where additional equipment was going to be located. The day was a success, and I will remember the smiles on the kids’ faces for a long time.