4.2m Tiller In Pittwater/hawkesbury

[paddlecrab]

hi all

im in between boats at the moment, but want something for the summer. am looking at a cheap 4.2m tinny.

how will this go in the open areas, most days are fairly good at the mouth arent they?

i plan mainly on trolling and baitfishing for kings, and the occasional bait fish at night for mulloway.

Edited September 21, 2005 by paddlecrab

[Martin]

My view is that size tinny is a bit small for the bays and river mouths. To chase kings in Broken Bay and Pittwater and you will have to contend with the wash of many boats and chop whipped up by the wind. At 4.2m you will need to pick your days.

Fishinh for jews at night I would assume you have the nav and anchor lights. May not be overly comfortable sitting there through the night in Broken Bay in such places as Juno and flint and Steel.

If the budget can stretch I would go up a size to say 4.5m minimum and look for something with a floor and reasonable freeboard from the waterline.

[paddlecrab]

thanks martin

unfrotunately dont have the room for a 4.5, next boats a marina berth job, and the 4.2 tinny would just fit in the single garage, plus i will be towing with a sierra.

although a sierra witha braked trailer should tow a 4.5 (as long as its not along a motor way with wind gusts). how long is a single garage anyway? has to fit a dunnydore wagon which is 5m, and maybe allow another metre? thats 6metres i would think. a 4.5 on trailer might just scrap in?

to be honest though, i wouldnt go out ina 4.5 where i wouldnt go in a 4.2, like i wouldnt go out in a 6m where i wouldnt go in a 5.5.

been a while since i owned a small boat, but i use to fish the open water in NZ east coast in a 10 foot tinny when i was a kid, now thats mad, i look back now and think i was a bit crazy. still seamanships something u learn i guess.

the key thing you highlight is the other boats, as a cruiser/game boat person, i know its not always possible to produce 0 wake. and when an area is congested, its not possible to throttle back, and lose control. its something i would need to be aware of i think in any boat under 6m in a congested area.

u reckon u can get a used 4.5 tinny for under $4k?

[Martin]

An average garage should be 6m long

To look for a boat for $4K is easy. Do a web search via Trading Post or Boat Point.

My fishing background is game fishing, however once the children came along my wife was not too happy about being away every second weekend often from Friday night to late Sunday evening. Did a lot of shark fishing off the shelf via Broken Bay Game fishing Club and fished most tournaments up and down the coast. So I went out and bought a small boat once the children could go out.

Now I have just up graded from a 4.7 to a 5.5m Aussie Whaler, which my son loves. We will be putting in the water for the first time this weekend. This season we will start to venture outside for some bottom fishing and a we tad of trolling for marlin hopefully

Good luch with your search

Cheers

[paddlecrab]

good one martin ! them be good boats. tad wet though do u find? and a bit of bang bang, but no worse than a tinny? outside that i have been told they super stable and ride nicely.

maybe the 4.5 is the way then. if they $7k new surely i get one under $4k.

tah.

[Martin]

I have only been for one run in the boat and that was a test run just before I bought it. From all reports the ride may not be that of a deep vee but it is a good ride. The day I went out it was blowing a gale and the boat was dry. Has a good set of chines.

I am looking foreword to be out this saturday.

$4K you would think will get you what you want.

Cheers.

[Coach]

i used to have a 4.2 Metre Bluefin tinny with a 40Hp tillersteer on the back and fished in the area you are talking about a lot.

We Used to troll around barrenjoey, down to Whale and back again for salmon, kings etc etc. (Never woudl take her out to the Vallient though)

Used to have no problems so long as I didn't go crasy, (Commonsence always prevails) and did get into some messy water once or twice out there.

(Between lion Island and Barrenjoey can get very very bad if you have the tide running the opposite way to the wind)

Main problem was when the boat was too light.. they used to bounce a bit in a messy chop, but apart form the comfort factor she was pretty good

One word of warning though is if she takes on water in a hurry, then they will go down pretty quick and the normal flotation that comes with a tinny is not much, so make sure you have lifejackets etc etc very handy (Left the bung out at the boat ramp once and noticed that she didn't flot for too long)

I used to tow her behind a jeep wrangler with no hassles, they are pretty light as once i got is stuck in the drive trou at Red Rooster (what was i saying about commonsence!!!) and we could move the whole trailer sideways with just two people pushing it.

The run from Barrenjoey to bayview was always a bad one (too much horsepower and not enough cushioning), so I used to put it in a little sand ramp just behind Palmbeach which was pretty good ( but make sure you have a 4wd or you can get bogged)

We used to catch more kingies and salmon than my current boat. .Still not sure if this is because the engine was smaller or if I am having a bad season.

Good luck.

Edited September 21, 2005 by Coach

[paddlecrab]

i personally think ride comfort is not the be all and end all anyway, i prefer stability at rest. though on a game boat trolling all day its a bit different, but would think most of your fishing will be inshore/near shore with a bit of offshore on the side? a good seat of seats and some rubber/foam mats can do wonders i reckon.

i remember one time coming in from a days fishing in my uncles 13ft glass tiller steer off east coast coast nz, the sea had turned hence why were retreating, whipped up a 3m swell into soup within 30 mins. we were caning along and hit a goody, the boat went down as i was still going up, and ended up about 4ft above the boat, came back down and put my backside through the wooden bench seat.i was scared at the time, but i also managed to laugh, my uncle was not impressed. the sea is a beautfiul thing, but respect i say. very dangerous situation from a fairly calm situation within 30 mins. we all have one of those stories hahaha.

[Guest Target]

Paddlecrab

I dont know about others, but I have a 4.1 tinny, tiller steer and I get outside of broken bay, nelson bay and sydney harbour easy enough. As the guys have said, 4.2 is a light boat and gets thrown about in a bit of chop though. Mine is set up pretty well with lots of underfloor floatation, bilge pumps, side decks and feels safe in a bit of sea, it also has fairly deep sides being around 1.1m deep. Using a boat this size for this type of water is not about how sfe the boat is (but must be in good condition) but more about how safe you are - drive to the conditions. Last sunday I was on my way out to broken bay for example, took one look at the weather and stayed inside Brisbane Water

The one thing I would not do however is fish the front of the Joey like some idiot did all last summer in a 10ft (yes 10ft !! ) tinny. The guy used to dissapear between waves, and half the time he was fishing with his lifejacket on.

Adrian

[paddlecrab]

if i was going to go a 10footer it would be a polycraft tuff tender, they are brilliant and super super stable !

are there areas in the hawkesbury/pittwater area where u could consistently get kingies from a 10ft boat (in relative safety from big boat wake)?

[bombora]

4.2m used sensibly and in the right weather i no sweat to fish outside; plenty of guys (including a mate) run small tinnies out of Brownies ramp to the Long Reef wave ider in summer for the dollies! One thing maybe to consider whih this mate does is to get a tiller extension so you can be centred in the boat. Much better than being at the stern in swell/chop. cheers Bombie (he picked his up from a private sale at narrabeen for $3000 with trailer and 30hp yammie )