Jet Ski fishing

[jonny_s]

Although I would love to own my own boat I do not have the time available to get my moneys worth out of ownership. Because of this I tend to book the odd trip out of the Tyne or Amble but often struggle to find space on the few flat days when the weather is behaving itself. I bought a Kayak but just don't feel comfortable trying to fish from it, been tipped into the water a few times and for me its not practical. I was wondering if anyone has used or knows someone who fishes from a jet ski ? Relatively cheap to buy, easy to store, easier to launch, bigger 3 seater units are quite stable and have storage. Any thoughts / recommendations ? What do you think ?

[My Alibi]

Hi Jonny,

It's a original idea, but I've never seen anyone ever use one for fishing. I guess there's a couple of reasons for that.

Personally, I would have thought it an impractical craft. The ones I have used for leisure have all been ones where you sit astride it. That's okay for fairly short periods of time, but I suspect gets uncomfortable after a while. If there is a bit of chop, and you get snagged, you don't have much leverage to put your back into it to clear yourself, or break free. Because they have no beam, they will not be very stable at rest.

It also gets cold out there, and even with a neoprene suit there is not much shelter from the wind, and there are very few days when it's not windy.

Storage is limited. Where do you put your rods, and tackle? food & drink? And your catch?

They are planing craft, and are probably quite thirsty at speed. But they'll be even thirstier if you're only chugging along at 10 knots

Keeping a small boat of say 14 foot long, with a small cuddy and an outboard of say 20-30hp would seem preferable to me. Keep it on a trailer, as you would with a jetski. Cheap to maintain, cheap to fuel, easy to launch, relatively stable, and you can at least stand up and move around, and you have the benefit of the cuddy to keep your gear safe and dry, and somewhere to get out of the elements. You'll be able to have some electronics too that you will be able to read, and there's room on the transom for a 2hp outboard as a safety measure to get you home in an emergency. Probably cheaper to insure than a jetski too. You might baulk at the initial outlay, but chances are that you will get it all back if you look after it. A small boat of that size can handle a couple of anglers, and you could have a mate to help share the cost of ownership.

I would have thought you could pick a decent one up for £5,000. I saw a Warrior up for sale this week at £7,000. It might need work though, at that price. You can go lower and pick up on older Shetland or Microplus that might be a bit cosmetically tatty, but so long as the engine is good it could give you what you seek. Just be careful though. The last time I was out, there was a lad in a rubber dinghy of no more than 10 feet long, with a tiny outboard, fishing off Craster. And he was standing up! I admired him as it got him onto the fish, but I'd be very careful about copying him. It might be okay on a few days during summer, but the sea needs respect and you need to keep safe.

Hope to see you out and about on the water at some point!

[jonny_s]

Really appreciate the feedback, I only considered it as an option because Seadoo actually market jetski models adapted for fishing ( rod holders, storage, cool box, navigation and fish finder etc ) It would only be for summer flat days but as well as the other points you raise I have also discovered that a jetski with 300 hours use on it is potentially trouble. They do not seem to be very durable for quite an expensive bit of kit.

Anyway I made some enquires at Amble marina the other day to get an idea of berthing costs and it looks like proper boat ownership is the way forward. I am in no hurry and will take some time to find the perfect one for me. I have a caravan at Warkworth and spend most of my spare time up there so would hopefully be able to take advantage of good weather at short notice and get out after a better stamp of fish.

tight lines

Jonny