D.I.Y. Baby Skiff for Dams and Estuaries

[E.T.]

Guys


After thinking and some more thinking and also being inspired by Mike's D.I.Y. Baby Bass Boat, I am seriously considering a Baby Skiff. I am in the market for an old Ski Boat of lets say 13-17ft.


I want to strip the deck off and get something like this going....








Other Samples of a Skiff




















I am not fond of this blue colour of the deck, it's too squishy mooshy and it reminds me of the Blue Bulls this season.


I would like to use a boat like this mainly for Fly Fishing dams and later Estuaries.


If you know of someone wanting to sell a boat on trailer, it would be great if you could let me know. If it has an engine thats fine, if not then its not the end of the world. I however do not want to pay R20 000 for something that I am going to cut apart.


I would say R5000 - R10 000 tops.


I look forward to your replies.


Thanks for looking.

[Homie]

http://www.africanskiff.co.za/

[deepblu]

lol ET we don't have red fish here . awesome idea tho 

[E.T.]

http://www.africanskiff.co.za/

I have seen these, but it's not what I have in mind.
Thanks for sharing though.

[E.T.]

lol ET we don't have red fish here . awesome idea tho 

I want to use it for Bass and stalking those 20lb Carp in the Shallows. Do you have any idea how sick I am driving up and down on Renosterkop with my Mini Duck with Electric Trolling Motor? The Bass idiots shoot past me like crazy and the wake they leave behind has me Seasick even before I get time to hit my spot.

I would also love to fish the lakes at St. Lucia on something like this.

[E.T.]

The whole reason behind getting a boat and building it up myself is the fact that I had a boat on trailer and then I took it to a "friend" for some mods and long story short, I do not have a boat anymore and I haven't seen this "friend" for quite some time now. Seems like he poured some Vanish in his bath water

[Homie]

how about this one ?
this does look similar to what you posted

[Homie]

shew... thats not lekker ET !!!

[E.T.]

how about this one ?
this does look similar to what you posted

You are correct, but that boat is too big. If I could get away with a 13 or 14ft it would be ideal. 15 Would do too, but 17 and 18ft is going to be too heavy to maneuver on my own i.e. launching and getting it back on the trailer again. This would mean that I would have to get a bigger vehicle and take the whole neighborhood along when I decide to go fish. And this I am trying to avoid.

[E.T.]

how about this one ?
this does look similar to what you posted

Look closely at that first skiff I posted, there is no stool. You sit on that rear deck/compartments. You will also see that the first snap has a bigger compartment than the Skiff you posted. They shortened that section to accommodate the stool/chair behind the centre console.

The wider rear compartment accommodates that raised platform really well. And you could really fix that proper. So that is basically what the whole thing boils down to for me. Yes I want to get up high on that platform and scout for those Big Carp whilst poling may way through the grass and if I spot them from that platform I would not hesitate putting a cast out to them from that platform.

Guess the same applies for cruising GT's and Snapper along the Coastal Estuaries.

[SAfish]

I have been checking this one out and their workmanship is impeccable. You can customize the deck layout and they have one in 17ft as well.

 http://fluidyachts.co.za/portfolio_item/f15/

[E.T.]

I have been checking this one out and their workmanship is impeccable. You can customize the deck layout and they have one in 17ft as well.

 http://fluidyachts.co.za/portfolio_item/f15/

Lekker boat, but not what I am after. It's too high above the water. For Sterkies, Knysna Lagoon and even the Ocean that is perfect. I want something that sits lower as I want to fish the shallows mostly. So I will be drifting water of 300-1200mm most of the time. So I would lift the motor and just pole through those weeds in search of those 20lbers that gives such a great fight on the 6wt.

[dodger]

I would look at a TUG 20, cathedral hull  so very stable and you can push it with a small motor, but depends how fast you want to go, this one with a 40hp will fly

http://outdoormarine.co.za/?p=1066

you should be able to pick one up quite cheap if you want to rebuild it

[dodger]

There is also a TUG 10, I'm not sure who makes them though

[Ziggy]

There is also a TUG 10, I'm not sure who makes them though

I looked at the tug 10 when I bought my boat - but found that it is a very flimsy build. I have "St Lucia bass elite" which is perfect for estuaries - see the pic. It has two "bar stools" - one front and one back - inc livewell




 I was at Pitt marine (Pmb) yesterday and I saw a 2nd hand one with a different configuration...it had a centre stand up console. see the one here http://pittsmarine.co.za/used-boats/ called a St Lucia Estuary.

[dodger]

There is also a TUG 10, I'm not sure who makes them though

I looked at the tug 10 when I bought my boat - but found that it is a very flimsy build. I have "St Lucia bass elite" which is perfect for estuaries - see the pic. I was at Pitt marine (Pmb) yesterday and I saw a 2nd hand one with a different configuration...it had a centre console.

that looks like a nice little unit

[Rory mundy]

rather look for a water skiing boat than a ski  boat will be much easier to convert with what you want to do

[E.T.]

rather look for a water skiing boat than a ski  boat will be much easier to convert with what you want to do

Eish Rory, a Ski Boat is something we refer to as a speed boat that you dart up and down with on a dam whilst people are hanging on for dear life on a string.

In my books a Deepsea boat is a Deepsea Boat. I sure dont know who decided to call a Deepsea Boat a Ski Boat?

I am indeed after a Ski Boat/ Speed Boat and not a Deepsea Boat.

[E.T.]

@ Dodger and Ziggy I had a boat very similar to that sample pic you supplied Ziggy. It was on a brand new trailer, but thats water under the bridge now.

I woud love to get something like that again. Because that Cathedral Hull is very steady on the water. A boat like that would work perfectly for my project. I do not want to make the top deck level with the boat trim, I would prefer to have it recessed a bit. I just like that type of design better as most Bass boats also have their deck a little recessed.  I think it rounds the boat off really well.

Thanks for sharing the links and snap.

The other bonus is that you don't need the whole neighbourhood to get the boat in and out of the water as they are very light and handles brilliantly even with something like a 25hp motor.

[Ziggy]

with two average sized people - mine does fine with a 15hp - not too fast though. 25 would be better