Baitboats for Fishing

coolwings

I recently checked up the price of a baitboat for getting pike deadbaits out where I want them. (Not intersted in carp at the moment, but maybe use it for tench next summer also)

Sterling 600 - 1000 :eek:
They look cool, but no way I'm paying that kind of dosh I would want a full size boat for that much!

So I decided to make up my own bait boat from plans instead with wood and parts instead. It's coming along nicely.

Anyone else made a baitboat here?

keen

Have never made one but was considering buying for the lake fishing I do.

£600-£1000 is mad money to spend on one though.

Upload a pic once it's done!

coolwings

keen wrote:

... but was considering buying for the lake fishing I do.
£600-£1000 is mad money to spend on one though.
Upload a pic once it's done!

Of course I agree totaly that's far too much ! That's really "a designer carp gear" cost.
I reckon I can have a very good one finished for about Eur 350-400.
And that is IF it goes to that figure.

Construction is from very thin plywood, as flexible as card, and very easy to cut to size. So the making is simplified with a scalpel being the main cutting tool. I will give it a coat of fibreglass over, after it's made to give it the necessary bullettproof type toughness!

I will post the pics (as it progresses) at Baitboat_dude webpages.

The hull construction of the already begun smaller prototype is photographed, and I put them online this morning, if you want to take a look.:)

keen

Checked your site there, fairplay looks good so far.

Would the motor on it be quite enough?

coolwings

... I can have a very good one finished for about Eur 350-400.... that is IF it goes to that figure.
I will post the pics ... at Baitboat_dude - Make a Baitboat.

keen wrote:

Checked your site there, fairplay looks good so far.
Would the motor on it be quite enough?

Oh, yes. I actually considered using a smaller motor at first. This motor I am using could push this size boat at speedboat type speeds, a lot more power than I should need for normal use. But spare capacity is what makes things reliable, say you are dragging a (caught-up) bundle of weed along with the boat, so 50% overpowered seems just about right.

keen

Good point about getting caught in weeds and stuff, bound to happen at some point.

adonis

where do you want to put your pike baits?

coolwings

Not sure what you mean .... where in the boat? where in the lake?
.... In the lake .... within 10 (preferably 5) feet of a dropoff, right beside a snag, or right above good cover for the fish.
Distance is less of a problem, pinpoint accuracy at distance is. A tiny miss at 70 metres = casting into the cover and a lost bait, hooks & trace which is to be avoided.

But for me ... an accurate fishing map has always been the key to catching big pike from the so called "fished-out" waters which are located nearby. Blessington for example, requires exact bait location in many places.
It is easy to prove most swims have a hot zone ... of rods located 10 feet apart .. one rod catches 50-60% of all fish caught in that swim, and the rods either side share the rest, with other rods blanking.

So the other use for a baitboat is as a sonar boat for mapping. Find the feature and fish it, and the fish never take long to appear.

adonis

that all seems very technical to me..
i always preferred to more natural approach to fishing..sure check the depth look for the drop off etc..but id never be into putting a deadbait 70 metres out..most of the lakes i fish 70 metres would be on the far bank..
anyway each to their own..and good luck!

coolwings

To a point you are right there.
It is technical until after you know model boats, then it's simple .. just another item of equipment.
Like flycasting, or multiplier reels, they are also complicated at first, but they provide certain advantages once you get used to them.

I consider the main use of a boat is for mapping, and hotspot location in a big water. Dropping off a bait exactly on the location is an added bonus! Placing free feed in a precise area seems to appeal to other anglers a lot.
For myself I reckon if I have the location spot on, the fish will come to my single bait along their daily migration-foraging route. This makes free feed less necessary.

But I am using them in big waters for pike, carp anglers on the other hand seem to use them on much smaller waters. So your point is a valid one. You can often simplify, leave the boat, bite alarms, pods and gear behind, and travel light stalking or spinning. Very good when fish are feeding hard. These extra items are most useful when fish are half feeding, and don't chase it half way across the lake!

There is one particular use for a baitboat which is deadly ... putting a bait beside, or under a fallen tree, or otherwise inaccessible spot, in a big pike river. There are many places impossible to cast to, and good fish tend to rest up in those secure places.

keen

When you think about it all the baitboat is is a fancy slingshot, just another way of getting your baits out there.

coolwings

Casting a frozen hard mackerel tail a long way is quite possible with conventional equipment..
But you need a baitboat to place a juicy soft and fragile sardine at the same range. (It would just rip apart under a strong cast)
And if you have non-stretch braid line ... a soft bait placed 300 metres out at a "known feature" becomes a very simple thing to achieve. The strike will be plenty well transmitted down the line for hook setting purposes.

So as I see it :
baitboat + braid + underwater map = extra fishing zone.

It is not about just dropping it off further out. Your personal map, prepared either with sonar, or by prior visual inspection during low water, is vital. The bait is most effective when within ten feet of the fishes lie, or path.

My other rod will still fish the important marginal shelves, after all, the shoreline is the biggest feature of any lake.
Refuge and cover from disturbance or bright sunshine is usually out in deeper water however..

It is common for a rod nearer to the deeps to always get the first take in the evening, then later the rod nearer the shallows gets the take.
In the morning it is common to see a reversal in this pattern.
Conclusion, many large fish leave shallow water during the bright day.

Such patterns emerge over time (in some locations) and are noticed if you keed a fishing diary over several seasons.

coolwings

Here is an example of pike moving in and out of the shallow bays during a daily migration.



This was the 2nd half of one session, with a total of 12 pike to my rods, and the pattern was the same for the week.
Not big fish this session, but there are enough to show the pattern clearly.
We could actually follow the pike as they moved. Or maybe some smaller fish went off the take in the shallows and other bigger fish came on the take in deeper water, who cares. The "taking area" moved as time passed.
The best technique was leapfrogging thr rods to follow the most recent take.
Letting the pike decide, the rods would move into a bay evening, stay in shallows overnight, and move out to the point at the end of the bay in the morning.
That day, in that lake, the bigger fish never came more than halfway in a bay, or into shallow water, whichever way you look at it.
Look at the weights rise as the rods moved down the bay towards the main lakebody.
If we did not take account of this, our catches would have been much reduced.

After the map, the diary is the next most effective piece of equipment.

The diary shows the migration exists, the map tells you what route they follow, the diary then reveals over time where they feed the most along the route...

Location, location, location ... with a little timing thrown in!

adonis

what lake is this by the way?
and how big are your reels?? 300 metres is a long way

coolwings

adonis wrote:

what lake is this by the way?

The diary entry above is from a trip to Ballyquirke ...
Gently curving natural lakes usually don't need much in the way of absolute accuracy, but reservoirs seem to show a greater benefit in results if you're right beside a feature.

adonis wrote:

and how big are your reels?? 300 metres is a long way

I feel 300 yds is a kind of practical limit. For that particular job .... I use either ABU 6500C or Daiwa SS300. Usually the SS3000. it has enormous line capacity.
Usually 80 -150 yrds is "long range", very long range if using a "soft" pilchard or the like, like I said, but that looks like miles! On occasions though, I 've put it way out .

There was a time we all used drift floats for that.