See if you can get hold of a off-cut of thick canvas, or ripstop nylon to use as a drape over the side of the inflatable that you're fishing off, will dissuade most hooks and more-so spines from whatever species you're hauling in.

your'e far more likely to get a puncture from a fish spine than a hook. snapper, tarakihi are deadly, as are trevally including the anal vent spine. use a landing net if you have the room, or make sure its well hooked before lifting over. drape over extra pvc or a door matt if you can be bothered. pvc is very easy to repair and lighter, but not as tough as hyperlon. if a slow leak is found underneath in a spot which hard to patch like right next to a skid pad (PVC), then you can unscrew the valve and pour in acrylic latex available from Incept. get advice first though. patching is preferable of course. thats my  2 cents on PVC.

like_to_strike wrote: Recurve hook or no offset would solve it wouldn't it? Also been looking into inflatables.

Think of it this way, if the hook has a pointy end, it can puncture the boat...

Obviously dont let fish onto any soft pontoon or soft bottom. Bring fish aboard and straight into a bin. I had an inflated floor and I think a Kahawai spine punctured it. Another thing to worry about - your knife.

Hi and thanks for all the advice.Material is duratex. thinking something to drap over the outside would be the go with landing net and straight into bin. old rubber car mats sounds bloody brilliant too.

had 2 inflatables, hypalon is tough, other materials no so tough ans quite easy to rupture, get a repair kit as others have said already. i got a stingray barb through mine, mistake with a longline trying to get a photo of it. dive gear weighs heaps, especially when wet, get a 30hp if possible.