PERSONAL Water Craft (PWCs) have become incredibly popular in Australia over the past few years. It makes sense. They’re affordable, easy to tow, easy to clean and useful for solo boaters.
With the popularity of PWCs, it’s little wonder we’re seeing more and more people also using them for fishing. At first, fishos were taking the larger, more stable models, and making some minor modifications to make them suitable for fishing.
These days there are dedicated fishing models on the market and they’re getting better and better with each new generation. No longer are these fishing PWCs simply a standard model with a rod holder and ice box. The latest models feature so much more and make a highly effective fishing boat.
Before we go any further, let’s address the elephant in the room. Yes, fishos and PWC owners have long been at odds. We share the same ramps and waterways and it’s not uncommon to see and hear about altercations between the two parties. For this reason alone, for some, the idea of a fishing PWC hurts their ego… Personally, after using several Sea-Doos over the years and recently having a long term loan of a Sea-Doo, I firmly believe dedicated fishing PWCs have their place and would make an ideal fishing craft.
Sea-Doo is one of the more well-known manufacturers of PWCs and its FishPro range has been incredibly popular. Sea-Doo recently got in touch with Fishing World and one of its biggest dealers Lake & Valley Powersports on the NSW Central Coast, was kind enough to lend us a Fish Pro to take fishing.
What’s onboard
The Fish Pro Sport is one of three FishPro models. The other two are the Scout and the Trophy. The Sport sits in the middle and offers a good assortment of fishing features and performance. Features at a glance include capacity for three passengers, large swim platform with LinQ attachment points, five rod holders, Garmin fishfinder and GPS, bench seat, trolling mode and gunwale footrests.
The LinQ attachment points mentioned above are a Sea-Doo product that allows easy attachment of accessories between any vessel with them attached. For example, on this particular model, there was an ice box attached to the rear swim platform via the LinQ system. It was easy enough to disconnect and wash it out after fishing. The ice box also had knife holders and a flat area on top for cutting bait or filleting fish (although you would add a cutting board on top).
In addition, like any Sea-Doo of this size, it features a dry storage area for phone and keys immediately in front of the driver, plus a larger storage area under the dash. This could still be accessed while on the water and I found it useful for storing extra fishing gear. On that note, storage is something you would need to work out for fishing. I brought along a fully waterproof YETI SideKick with some lures, leader and pliers. If I owned a Sea-Doo, I would come up with a more permeant waterproof solution, perhaps at the rear behind the seat.
It’s incredibly stable and moving around the Sea-Doo to access storage under the dash or at the transom is too easy.
Fishability
I’ve owned and fished from many boats, but I admit, fishing from a Sea-Doo can take some adjusting. Driving a PWC is different to a normal boat. They’re powerful and not as forgiving as some boats. The FishPro, however, is built for the average fisho and I found it didn’t take too long to adjust and feel fully confident driving.
Fishing was much the same. As mentioned above, I found it stable to sit or stand and cast. Once I hooked a fish, moving around and even driving the Sea-Doo while hooked up was a breeze. Then, finally, netting the fish was a simple task because you’re so close to the water.
I took this FishPro on several trips on my local river in Western Sydney (the Nepean is no stranger to PWCs) and also took it to Pittwater along Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Local fishing guide Justin Duggan was kind enough to share some knowledge and we soon found schools of some extra big salmon with a few kingfish mixed in. The kingfish were fussy, but the salmon obliged and it take long before I landed several of these big winter fish.
This type of fishing involves following schools of fish around. The schools are either on the surface or working bait below. The Garmin fishfinder came in handy fishing the sub surface schools and once the schools surfaced and the actions appeared, it was a simple case of accelerating (gently) towards the schools and casting. The rod holders were easy to reach and the whole process was quite easy. I was finding it necessary to switch off the engine on this calm water. Depending on the type of fishing you’re doing, you might find sitting in idle and drifting is fine.
The FishPro would make a perfect boat for anyone living on the North Coast of NSW or South East Queensland. Being able to access inshore waters quickly and safely through bars or beaches and reach snapper or mackerel grounds would put you at a real advantage.
In a way, it’s an evolution of offshore kayak fishing. I can imagine the same solo anglers that took advantage of easy-to-launch kayaks would find the same advantages with a PWC.
Power
The FishPro comes with a Rotax 1630 ACE – 170. The 170hp engine is the most powerful naturally aspirated Rotax engine ever on a Sea-Doo watercraft. While I was more interested in the fishability, having a powerful and reliable engine is obviously an important factor and this FishPro wasn’t lacking in power!
The wrap up
Overall I was impressed with the Sea-Doo FishPro. I’m no expert when it comes to PWCs, yet the stability and ease of use on this FishPro allowed me to get out there and safely and very effectively catch a heap of fish.
Washing it down after the fishing, not to mention towing it with a smaller car, and storing it in a smaller garage, makes the FishPro a good alternative when a big boat cumbersome boat isn’t an option.
As a final note, Sea-Doo has just released an updated FishPro with even more fishing features and clever additions to this purpose built fishing PWC.
Check the full range out at sea-doo.brp.com and if you’re anywhere near Sydney, go and talk to the team at Lake & Valley Powersports at Lake Macquarie at lakeandvalleypowersports.com.au.
