Freshwater casting from Bowrider

dnardy
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Freshwater casting from Bowrider

Post by dnardy » Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:13 am

Hi all, I am considering a second hand bow rider to cover dual duties as my bigger fishing boat and a family fun boat for towing tubes etc..

I'm looking at Quintrex Freedoms and Stacer Easy Riders primarily but happy to hear other suggestions. 

I want to use mainly for Murray cod and yellowbelly fishing in rivers and lakes, but have some concerns, and hoping some of you may have experience with this:

* I plan to build a flat, removable casting deck for the front seating area. Looks like it should work but these boats have considerably higher sides than your usual cod fishing boat. Will this be an issue?

* A lot of the Quintrex Freedoms don't have very big motors, and don't seem to be rated for very high HP motors. Will say a 60-75HP tow a tube on one of these boats?

* Are they ok in shallow water encountered when cod and yella fishing? They seem to have a deeper draft.

Any info would be appreciated, I have access to small tinny's so thinking something more multi - purpose might be the go. Just don't want to shoot myself in the foot by trying to do too much with one boat.

ben475
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Re: Freshwater casting from Bowrider

Post by ben475 » Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:51 pm

ok, i have a 475 freedom sport, 75 2stk merc on the back, does 60kph going flat stick on flat water with myself the missus and my 9yr old, cruises really easy at about 40kph. tows a tube easy as!

i find the boat to be an awesome all rounder, no its not the best at anything but its been ok at everything i've done with it.
i bought it to fish mainly the big dams and tow a tube a couple of times a year. last few years things have changed and i'm mainly fishing the bays.

ive fished mulwala a bit in it, 80lb motorguide up the front and its been great. blokes seem to fish out of much bigger boats up there these days than in the 90's.
they don't draw much water, i'd say bugger all difference to say a 420 hornet with a bit of gear in them. of course the more weight you add to them, elec motors, batteries, live well'd etc are going to affect that a little bit.

like most things you probably wont know how much you like them until you've spent a bit of time in one.

dnardy
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Re: Freshwater casting from Bowrider

Post by dnardy » Tue Mar 21, 2023 5:40 am

Thanks mate!
You've put your foot in it now, I've got some more questions!
* Is your two stroke fumey - will it affect the kids getting towed?
* Hows the visibility driving around a dam like mulwala with heaps of obstacles?

dnardy
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Re: Freshwater casting from Bowrider

Post by dnardy » Tue Mar 21, 2023 5:49 am

Oh- and what do you tow it with. I'm hoping my 2008 Colorado will do the job (I think it will).

ben475
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Re: Freshwater casting from Bowrider

Post by ben475 » Tue Mar 21, 2023 4:31 pm

dnardy wrote:
Tue Mar 21, 2023 5:40 am
Thanks mate!
You've put your foot in it now, I've got some more questions!
* Is your two stroke fumey - will it affect the kids getting towed?
* Hows the visibility driving around a dam like mulwala with heaps of obstacles?
it is a bit fumey, don't think it will bother anyone being towed, its more on start up and idling once the revs are up i don't notice any fumes.
i grew up with 2 strokes and its never bothered me at all. you will mainly notice it on start up and if your trolling.
its a bit noisier on idle than the 4 strokes too but once you open the throttle it's not that loud and doesn't seem much different.

if you had the choice you'd take a 4 stroke. but my 75 merc has been a good strong motor, no probs, starts first time. i'm not going to shell out $10, 000+ to upgrade unless it starts giving me problems.

visibility? do you mean driving around in the timber, watching out for logs?
normally i'm standing up the front using the bow mount electric and taking it pretty slow so its good.
you'd want to be pretty careful driving around on the main motor in some areas of mulwala but that goes for any boat.
dnardy wrote:
Tue Mar 21, 2023 5:49 am
Oh- and what do you tow it with. I'm hoping my 2008 Colorado will do the job (I think it will).
3L diesel D22 navara, tows it easy as, barely know it's there at all. id say it weighs around 1ton or just under. your colorado will pull it like it's hardly there.

i'm not going to try and sell you the dream and tell you its the perfect boat, it will suit some and some will prefer something else but it sounds like its definitely worth your consideration.

where abouts are you from?

dnardy
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Re: Freshwater casting from Bowrider

Post by dnardy » Wed Mar 22, 2023 5:03 am

Ok cool, doesn't seem like fumes while towing would be a major consideration. Start up fumes don't worry me, my first motorbike was a DT100!

I only mention visibility because it's a common criticism of bowriders. We take it easy around timber and people, and yes I will be on the electric in a lot of places it matters.

I might end up with something bigger than a 475, but it doesn't seem like towing will be an issue.

I'm from near Albury, I'm half an hour from Hume and 1hr 15min from Mulwala. Very keen to get this boat up to Dartmouth too.

Thanks for the answers, it's much appreciated.

ben475
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Re: Freshwater casting from Bowrider

Post by ben475 » Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:11 am

You would tow the 6m version no problems.

Visibility isn’t perfect but no worse than a cuddly/half cab. Probably not as good as a run about standing up the front. It’s easy enough to stand up driving the bowrider too, I often do.

Around the 5m size would be nice, I can only just fit mine in my garage so I’m glad I didn’t get any bigger.

When were you looking to buy?
My boats been on all the lakes u mentioned, next time I’m up that way your welcome jump on board and see what you think. I’m not sure when I’ll be up there next though.

dnardy
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Re: Freshwater casting from Bowrider

Post by dnardy » Wed Mar 22, 2023 11:42 am

I'm in no huge hurry, I'm hoping prices might come down in winter.
But I would really like to have one by the spring yellowbelly season in Hume.
That would be great if you do come up this way, I'll send you a pm so you have my contact details.

Persistence
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Re: Freshwater casting from Bowrider

Post by Persistence » Wed Mar 22, 2023 3:03 pm

I've always fished and dived out of open boats and when I was looking to replace my centre console I had a look at Bowriders.
We had a young son at that stage and if I wanted to get out more and get my kid addicted as I was to fishing I needed something with shade, a bit of comfort, fun but still fishable. Had never fished in one however they looked like you could easily access all areas. Most concerns echoed on the web was about the front being to open to a breaking wave.
One day I was fishing for Bluefin out of Portland in a pretty rough blow and swell. We were well out, trolling along when we were passed by a Stacer 525 Easyrider with two blokes on board. They hooked up and ended up with three tuna. Met them later back at the ramp and he was happy to tell me all about the boat, it's limitation and how it handled. I was impressed and started to look but found it hard to get exactly what I wanted.
Two years on and one popped up down the west coast. Arranged to test drive it and was pleasantly surprised to find the same bloke I met at the ramp in Portland. I bought the boat.
It has been an awesome boat. 90HP Optimax with 100ltrs of fuel. Towed it with, a van, Toyota Prado and now a Pajero Sport. No problems. Fantastic for kids and the family. Tows two tubes easily. Has a 80lb electric mounted to the front. Never had a wave over the front and I've been in lots of bad weather in her. Just learn to drive it. Wife is happy sitting in the front while I fish out the back with my son. He's now bigger than me.
Having the platform out the back is great as we scuba dive and spear fish. Shallow draft.
Front converts to a casting deck that's perfect for lures.
Great boat if you can find one; go for it.

dnardy
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Re: Freshwater casting from Bowrider

Post by dnardy » Thu Mar 23, 2023 5:38 am

Persistence wrote:
Wed Mar 22, 2023 3:03 pm
I've always fished and dived out of open boats and when I was looking to replace my centre console I had a look at Bowriders.
We had a young son at that stage and if I wanted to get out more and get my kid addicted as I was to fishing I needed something with shade, a bit of comfort, fun but still fishable. Had never fished in one however they looked like you could easily access all areas. Most concerns echoed on the web was about the front being to open to a breaking wave.
One day I was fishing for Bluefin out of Portland in a pretty rough blow and swell. We were well out, trolling along when we were passed by a Stacer 525 Easyrider with two blokes on board. They hooked up and ended up with three tuna. Met them later back at the ramp and he was happy to tell me all about the boat, it's limitation and how it handled. I was impressed and started to look but found it hard to get exactly what I wanted.
Two years on and one popped up down the west coast. Arranged to test drive it and was pleasantly surprised to find the same bloke I met at the ramp in Portland. I bought the boat.
It has been an awesome boat. 90HP Optimax with 100ltrs of fuel. Towed it with, a van, Toyota Prado and now a Pajero Sport. No problems. Fantastic for kids and the family. Tows two tubes easily. Has a 80lb electric mounted to the front. Never had a wave over the front and I've been in lots of bad weather in her. Just learn to drive it. Wife is happy sitting in the front while I fish out the back with my son. He's now bigger than me.
Having the platform out the back is great as we scuba dive and spear fish. Shallow draft.
Front converts to a casting deck that's perfect for lures.
Great boat if you can find one; go for it.
Great info thanks mate.

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