What Do You Think Of The Brand 'brooker'

[locodave]

I know they are cheap, but is the quality still good?

I know you get what you pay for, but to me the quality still looks good, just a more basic hull in my eyes!

[KingsRule]

I love mine! - brooker 410 safari , although it is my 1st boat, its great for harbour fishing and outside if you pick your times.

Dan & Greg have a brooker , the amount of time the boat gets used is alot!, im talking pretty much 3 days a week , 52 weeks a year. And thats heaps! Seems to be coping well from what ive seen

[locodave]

Well a friend of mine will sell me his for 6k. Its a 2000 model with a 40HP Yamaha on the back.

It's a 4.1 Sportsman.

Is that a good price? Although the trailer doesn't seem in a really good condition!

So a 4.1 is good enough to catch Kings round Sydney harbour and go past the heads on perfect conditions?

Actually for a first boat its probably a good idea so I can get used to towing and launching!

Probably bang into a few wharfs too!

[CiViC]

Well a friend of mine will sell me his for 6k. Its a 2000 model with a 40HP Yamaha on the back.

It's a 4.1 Sportsman.

Is that a good price? Although the trailer doesn't seem in a really good condition!

So a 4.1 is good enough to catch Kings round Sydney harbour and go past the heads on perfect conditions?

Actually for a first boat its probably a good idea so I can get used to towing and launching!

Probably bang into a few wharfs too!

theyre about 14k new with a 40. ive got one with a 40 merc, had it for 3 years now, as you say very basic fitouts, some welds can be a little dodgy but has held up pretty well. only fishes 2 comfortably.

in the harbour proper can get tricky with all the wash around the channels, but otherwise usually ok.

easy to tow/launch/handle.

one good thing, they dont paint the top/outer edges of the gunwales.

all i can think of atm.

[jewgaffer]

I know they are cheap, but is the quality still good?

I know you get what you pay for, but to me the quality still looks good, just a more basic hull in my eyes!

Hi locodave.

My reply should have come two seconds after your topic hit coz I already had it typed up for a friend so I didnt have to change much to post a reply.

A Brooker is a budget price no frills boat but I reckon Brooker have had everything right for years and they stuck to it. They make one of the best small alloy boats around for proper balance and performance on water in comparison to some of the same size tinnies I've fished in over the years.

I one told my own sons when they were saving up to buy a boat, that all they need to do these days is get hold of a Brooker, make a safari floor for it and give it a bit of a deluxe and polished look and they'll save quite a few hard earned dollars. What they would pay for names and styles sounds like a lot of nonsence to me, though some are entitled to luxury and many have money to burn.

We fish Qld a lot and visit old fisho mates in Ballina quite a few times a year,

and they use an old late 70's or early 80's model, I'm not sure if it is a Brooker V14 or V17. It's wide bodied and only about 13'6". The bow bench seats three and there are two seats at the stern and still has heaps of room for a boat of that size.

They took the centre bench seat out and use two big plastic garbage tins with manual pumps on them as bait tanks for the bull mullet when they go out to get jew at the entrance to a place called the gap across the Richmond almost opposite the Ballina RSL.

I must say a Brooker is one of the most solid small tinnies on the water I've ever fished in and only needs a 30hp to run it. Still that is only my opinion and my fishing mates up north.

cheers

jewgaffer

[On Edge]

I have A Brooker 5.25 Discovery Plate boat with a Cuddy whilst it's my first boat I am happy with it, I have been caught about 20km out when the weather took A change for the worst, the boat seemed to handle it OK at an appropriate speed.