Mad Weapon Tinny "pics included"
After too many flat batteries in my patrol I ended up swapping my engel car fridge for a dinghy about a month ago and have been having a ball with it ever since. Main reason I wanted a dinghy was for solo fishing missions when my mates are all at work and i'm on break. It's an 11ft gull with a 9.9hp johnson hanging off the back. Thing I like about it is how cheap and easy this thing is to take out and you can get really close to tight/shallow/rocky spots that i would be too scared to take my other f/glass boat near. Since getting it off my mate i've...
-put carpet on the seats to stop rods/reels getting scratched
-taken the old metal fuel can out and put new 20L plastic one in with new fuel lines
-installed a lowrance hds elite-4 sounder/chart combo
-added some rod holders into seats
-installed a led anchor light and a led deck light.
-strengthened the transome with marine ply (painted with dulux)
So far i've had her out as far as horseshoe reef and also little island (today) and on my last break i took it out off wedge island. I'm plannig on taking it for a road trip up north sometime over the christmas break, still undecided where to go
She's pretty rough looking but i'm not too worried about how it looks. The motor runs sweet, starts easy as and the hull doesn't leak water at all. For a whole days fishing (aprox 8hrs) it chews through a whopping 4 litres of juice 
future plans are to rewire the trailer with submersable led lights, find some new wheels for it and also build a water proof box somehow for the small motorbike battery/switches for the sounder/lights.
If you see me out on the water in it come say hi if you want, i'm not worried about pingers because i have no decent spots anyway haha
I still haven't caught anything awsum in it yet so no fishy photos but here are some pics i've taken so far...
Symes Plumbing & Gas. No job too small, servicing all northern suburbs
Redbucket
Posts: 160
Date Joined: 10/03/10
nice one mate, i got a tinny
nice one mate, i got a tinny for 500 bucks late last year and its been awesome. shes not pretty but if it gets you out for a fish then its a winner in my book. see you on the water.
jc the toon
Posts: 8
Date Joined: 21/11/10
tinny
hey looks just about the same as a tinny my bro n me used for about 2 years, had great times in it! enjoy!
Bruce
Posts: 527
Date Joined: 11/04/12
Nice dinghy steve. How do
Nice dinghy steve. How do you find the lowrance elite 4 GPS/Sounder? I was thinking about getting one myself
stevebw23
Posts: 155
Date Joined: 12/11/11
yeah the sounder works pretty
yeah the sounder works pretty sweet, i've only just put it in so still getting used to it. because the tinny moves around so much with the waves its hard to determine if theres a lump underneath the boat or if it's just the boat moving up/down/rocking etc, it is easy to determine what the bottom is though (reef,sand,weed). i'm going to try it in the river soon to see how it goes in calm water. i shopped around for it and found it cheapest at the boat shop down the road (allboats wangarra $380). was really simple to install, came with ok instructions, it doesnt chew much power either, i'm powering it with a 9 amp hour sealed lead acid battery and i think it only draws 200 milliamps. i havent found any info on settings though so i think i'll have to just work it out when i take it in the river
Symes Plumbing & Gas. No job too small, servicing all northern suburbs
hooty
Posts: 198
Date Joined: 25/05/10
A lot of $100000 boats
A lot of $100000 boats sitting on front lawns just looking good mate. The best boat is the one that gives you the most enjoyment and has the most fish in it.
Fossil
Posts: 215
Date Joined: 10/06/12
Good score mate. I love my
Good score mate. I love my tinny. For your battery a 6 pack esky with holes drilled in the sides to allow the leads to pass through will protect the battery from most spray etc. You could go one step furter & put a seat high platform between the bow & the top of the front seat & then put the battery in a box under there. You can stash the life jackets etc under there as well then so they are out of the way & it will also act as a small casting platform for you. Shouldn't cost anymore than about $80 to do but it depends on what materials you use. I'd grab a length of PVC pipe to make a tiller extension up as well so you can sit in the middle seat. That will allow you to move the fuel tank down the back but still get on the plane nice & easy.
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
the best boat is..
the one that takes you out to your fishing spots and brings you home without a drama and that looks the goods
crezz
Posts: 695
Date Joined: 12/03/12
nice score mate! im looking
nice score mate! im looking for a but of steel under my bum too. all these shark sightings make it a worry taking the yak out into the sound.
ironpirate
Posts: 47
Date Joined: 20/09/12
sweet tinny
sweet tinny
wet lines
Pob
Posts: 356
Date Joined: 13/10/10
Nice little tinny mate, my
Nice little tinny mate, my father in law has one almost identical, we take the kids on fishing trips after bream almost every weekend, if you dont mind me asking, where did you get the cutting board/storage box, looks bloody handy?
stevebw23
Posts: 155
Date Joined: 12/11/11
got the cutting board from
got the cutting board from bcf in balcatta, definitely handy, i use the cup holder in it to hold my camera and pliers and keep the bait in the box section on a block of ice.
Symes Plumbing & Gas. No job too small, servicing all northern suburbs
Pob
Posts: 356
Date Joined: 13/10/10
Cheers mate, thats the
Cheers mate, thats the father in laws chrissy present sorted, just never seen one before!
tim-o
Posts: 4657
Date Joined: 24/05/11
Mate getn on the water will
Mate getn on the water will mean more fish. I was hit and miss landbased, now I always bring back a feed. So many species you can target. Iv had my 15ft tinny for less than a year and have caught Dhus, pinkies, KGs, normal whiting, flathead, skippy, herring, sambos, tarwine, gummy shark, tailor, leatherjacket, bream, squid, crabs, missed a few mack hook ups, all within 3 mile offshore and 1 launch location apart from river and all in fishable, less than 10kn winds
I am, as I've said, merely competent. But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.
opsrey
Posts: 1200
Date Joined: 05/10/07
I like it ...
Looks like some great ideas going into the tinny. I put a small hydro foil on my Mercury blue band 10hp and what a difference that made. Can't remember the brand, but it was an Aluminum one with 10mm of the leading and trailing edge bent at about 25deg.
glastronomic
Posts: 892
Date Joined: 16/02/11
A tiller extention is the way
A tiller extention is the way to go and a very simple bit of aly from the forward/neutral/reverse handle to the front of the tiller makes it fully operational from the middle seat.
This will make it ride/plane much easier.
I think I have seen you out and about from Hillaries not so long ago as the colour of your tinny is very distinctive
There is a topic on here somwhere from last year regarding improving fishing tinnies with some good ideas!
stevebw23
Posts: 155
Date Joined: 12/11/11
thanks for the tip on the
thanks for the tip on the tiller extension, i might rig up some pvc pipe to the handle and see how it goes.
Symes Plumbing & Gas. No job too small, servicing all northern suburbs
sstevee
Posts: 472
Date Joined: 15/11/11
Hey mate. Not sure if your
Hey mate.
Not sure if your interested but I've got the same sounder/plotter and lowrance has a software update for it available.... I don't know if yours would already have it installed but worth a check.... Haven't had my tinny out with the update yet so can't say if its had much of an impact....
Steve
Bourby
Posts: 3
Date Joined: 08/08/12
I put a small $25 BCF
I put a small $25 BCF hydrofoil on my tinnie, made it safe to use alone!
catchalittle
Posts: 1875
Date Joined: 04/09/08
Mate consider it a project in
Mate consider it a project in motion,and as the guys said as long as it gets you on the water and safely home cosmetics don't matter
Nathan
fishabloke
Posts: 31
Date Joined: 24/12/10
As long a she does the job
As long a she does the job you're laughing!
I want to get some of the Kapten collars when I downsize from my current boat.Makes them handle so much better, and much safer - I like the idea of coming back alive.A good score.
Darren