trawler for sport fishing

[Karl-FL]

Mikesacs,

I too was looking for a trawler fisherman for a long time and found, what has been perfect for me, the 43' Californian cockpit motor yacht. I have a 5' long spacious cockpit on the stern from which I fish, but all the amenities and features of a tralwer, including longer range because of good diesel fuel mileage.

I'm not suggesting the 43 Californian is the only boat for that purpose, I would say anything that has a spacious cockpit (no less than 5' long and not seriously obstructed) as a motor yacht. Before you make your final decision on a boat to search for, I would highly recommend you look at the Californian; there are bigger models also. These boats were built in California and intended for the kind of waters you boat in. She won't take you to Hawaii on a tank of fuel, but you can easily get 300 miles out of her without sucking out the bottom of the fuel tank and still have over a 100 gallons left.

For some reason, on Yachtworld, the asking prices for this boat in California are higher than here on the east coast. I have idea why. If you would like pictures of my vessel for reference purposes, let me know and I can email some to you. Good luck with your search.

Karl

[Karl-FL]

Here's a picture of my 43' Californian's cockpit.

[mikesacs]

Thanks for the Californian advice. I've been using Danison Yacht Sales's web site to research trawler floorplans and styles. They have tons of trawlers to look at.

Is the aft deck the same as a cockpit?

[Karl-FL]

No, on a CPMY the cockpit is referred to as the cockpit. The aft deck is the raised deck over the aft stateroom or also called the sundeck. A trawler that only has an aft deck, does not have a cockpit. Some may disagree with my definition, but this is what I've come to understand over time.

I may be treading on dangerous ground here, but I once owned a 34'Californian LRC, which is really an sedan trawler; I considered the deck in the rear as an aft deck, but not as a cockpit.

I hope this helps.

[Pau Hana]

Take a look at my avatar- it's the 40' Bayliner 4087 we're in the process of selling. Like Karl's Californian, it also has the rear cockpit. We've fished 4 rods off the boat many times, crabbed, and had a blast with it.

We lived onboard it for 2 years. 3 cabin, 2 heads, twin Cummins diesels that can putt at 8kts or plane at 24 if desired, and plenty of room for a cruising couple.

Yup, it's a Bayliner, and a great boat.

[Fighterpilot]

I have a 34LRC and I consider the aft deck a cockpit, since it is just like the "cockpit" I had on my Chric Craft Commander, Aquasport Torunament master , and Hydrasport WA. Not sure what the definition of a "cockpit" is but it may be in the eyes of the beholder. Anyway the area aft, with the bilge below and nothing above makes a good fishing area.

Just noticed Pau's post. Great combination of room, functionallity, and performance. Some "cockpits" also had a transom door in them which really added to the fishing capability and access to the swim platform for the kids to use.

[Marin]

Originally Posted by mikesacs

Can you mount an electric downrigger to any railing type?

Depends on the railing configuration. Most of the cruising boats I've seen with downrigger mounts have had custom mounting plates--- wood or metal--- fabricated to fit the handrails. Often in the corners at the transom. Some have been very slick, some have been very amateurish.

But because of the weight and leverage exerted on the downrigger they are generally designed to be mounted to a flat surface with four substantial bolts and backing plates. The gunwales of purpose-built fishing boats like our Arima are made wide to accommodate this. The typical handrail on a cruising boat won't, hence the mounting plates attached to the rail.

Scotty makes a very small manual downrigger that is designed to be clamped to the gunwale of a dinghy or small open boat. It may have some sort of rail adapter available. But full-size downrigggers, manual or electric, need a solid mounting system.

[Pau Hana]

Originally Posted by Fighterpilot

I have a 34LRC and I consider the aft deck a cockpit, since it is just like the "cockpit" I had on my Chric Craft Commander, Aquasport Torunament master , and Hydrasport WA. Not sure what the definition of a "cockpit" is but it may be in the eyes of the beholder. Anyway the area aft, with the bilge below and nothing above makes a good fishing area.

Just noticed Pau's post. Great combination of room, functionallity, and performance. Some "cockpits" also had a transom door in them which really added to the fishing capability and access to the swim platform for the kids to use.

The 4087 has a transom door starboard side, Ray. Our boat also has downrigger pads on the port and starboard gunnels, and a large lazarette below the cockpit for storage. The boat is an extension of the 3587, which has no cockpit.

[Moonstruck]

I think if I were going to do much single handed trolling, I would be looking at a sedan or Europa style trawler. Other styles are doable, but not as handy from the helm to the cockpit. With the helm at deck level it's a snap to move back and forth. With a remote for the auto pilot, it is very easy, and you can see through the windshield. Oh yeah, the cockpit is low to the water.

[markpierce]

George Buehler designed a fishing version of the Coot with a sizable cockpit and dual helmsman positions: pilothouse and cockpit.

Coot

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Originally Posted by Dougcole

For any kind of serious fishing (not salmon, ling cod and those other wet socks they call fish in CERTAIN areas of the world ;-)) you will need a cockpit, not an aft cabin style boat.

Hey wait a minute! I have had some pretty good battles with those wet socks type of fish!

[motion30]

my chung wha has both a nice aft cabin and a lower copit Fishes just fine for us no problem trolling

[Marin]

Originally Posted by Alaskan Sea-Duction

Hey wait a minute! I have had some pretty good battles with those wet socks type of fish!

When I fished a lot in Hawaii the fish we most wanted were mahi mahi and ahi (yellowfin tuna) because they brought the highest prices at the fish auction. I've reeled in a fair number of ahi, a fish that can get up over 200 pounds although most of the ones we caught were in the 100-200 pound range.

After moving here and starting to fish for halibut up the north end of Vancouver Island I found that catching a big halibut is not unlike catching an ahi. Halibut don't fight in the sense of making fast dashes but, like ahi, they are amazingly strong. Ahi don't fight on the surface but go deep, thus forcing you to winch them up. And nine times out of ten, when they get near the surface and perhaps see the boat, they go back down and take all that hard-won line back down with them.

A big halibut will do the same thing. It's like winching up a dead weight until they decide to make a run at which point they take all the line you just retrieved, and sometimes more, back out again. When you get them up to the surface the smaller ones are usually pretty pooped but a big one can do the same thing as the ahi and head for the bottom again and you have to start all over.

[Adelaide]

Take it from a master fisherman...... see pic.

Go with a 'sedan' style trawler.

[Edelweiss]

Trawlers are great fishing boats with the walk around decks, but it depends on the type of fishing. If your mouching, spincasting, fishing for Lingcod, cabazon, halibut, crabbing they are very stable all weather platforms.

I would love to have downriggers for salmon fishing, but to date I haven't found an acceptable mount that would fit on my boat and not look like s#*'!. So that duty falls to the 14 foot Smokercraft. There are just some types of fishing that require a slightly different approach.
LB

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by Edelweiss

Trawlers are great fishing boats with the walk around decks, but it depends on the type of fishing. If your mouching, spincasting, fishing for Lingcod, cabazon, halibut, crabbing they are very stable all weather platforms.

Too bad I don't fish.

[Dougcole]

Originally Posted by Alaskan Sea-Duction

Hey wait a minute! I have had some pretty good battles with those wet socks type of fish!

See how good a fisherman I am? I figured I would catch Marin first, but being the wise, grizzled, lunker he is, he didn't bite. But I did catch Alaskan!

[Larry M]

With the exception of Karl-FL, it seems that you have to live in the PNW to fish.

[Karl-FL]

Larry,

Thanks for helping out a fellow Floridian. Wet socks, ahi, cabazon...never heard of them. I had no idea we were still talking about fishing. Now, catchiing King Mackeral, Wahoo, Grouper, Yellow Tail Snapper (yum), Dolphin (ok, Mahi-Mahi), now that's fishin'.

By the way, the picture of me with a Dolphin was caught on my 34' Californian LRC. Now,...is that an aft deck or a cockpit? Hmmmmm...... Oh well, enough room to bag that Dolphin.

Karl

[Karl-FL]

Larry, my mistake, for some reason I thought you were in SE Florida until I checked out your profile. You're in the reals tropics compared to the sub-tropics where I am. Karl