As some of you may already know, I'm building a fishing ski for production. This design is nothing like any of the other makes already out there. This is a new take on the original paddle powered fishing platform. My design background is not in watercraft although I have done and fitted some serious mods to jetskis more for racing than anything else. My idea is to produce a limited number of examples every month at an affordable price. The only input I'll ever get on what's right or wrong at this stage comes from all of you. I want to know what you want from a fishing ski?. Cover all the aspects from loading the craft, comfort, storage to stability and anything else that comes to mind. You don't have to knock or praise your current choice. This is not what this is about. If I can build a ski that satisfies a select few guys I'll consider it Mission Accomplished. I have no intention of becoming a a huge retailer with branches in every major shopping centre. This is more a custom application that will retain the highest build quality and keep my hands busy because work is my passion.
As some of you may already know, I'm building a fi
- Thread starter tauruck
- Start date
Hey Mikey
I want a ski that
~bears a load (me and equipent)
~Stable
~Strong
~Well thought out storage(plano style boxes etc)
~Facility for fish finder mount
~Place for secure, dry battery storage
~Atleast 3 rod holders, 2 trolling, one batiting up etc.
~Comfortable seating position
~Rod hatch at least 6foot
~Place for anchor storage, like a small recess with clip..
~Paddle holder for when fishing
~An inspection port into the hull
~30%+ bouyancy
~Back rest would be nice but those can be aftermarket etc.
~Place for the gaff to be on deck within reach
~eyelets on deck for rod leashes
~cutting/bait board on deck, be it on the hatch lid or wherever design allows.
~Place for tranducer cable to be able to run into the rear
~Or a section where transducer can be siliconed in place within the hull, directly under the seated position.
~rod holder directly in the middle behind the seated position for a third trolling rod.
~A flush mounted small storage box in the hatch lid. only about 5 cm deep and however wide, for small lures or dropshot jigs, bait knife whatever. I have a section of velcro on my hatch lid, with a small plano tackle box with all the dividers removed with a section of velcro on the bottom. that way i can have a small place to put the jigs whatever im using at the moment in the little box, so im not having to constantly open the hatch lid and dig around.
another idea iv always liked is a heb type cooler box mounted flush into the deck and glassed in and sealed behind you with batten down type lid. only like a 5-6 litre size one for bait. that way you can keep the hatch infront of you clear of a bait bag/cooler etc. you just reach back and get out whatever you need, be it sards or a coke. just big enough for a six pack or a box of sards.
I suppose i want a small skiboat that uses no fuel!
I want a ski that
~bears a load (me and equipent)
~Stable
~Strong
~Well thought out storage(plano style boxes etc)
~Facility for fish finder mount
~Place for secure, dry battery storage
~Atleast 3 rod holders, 2 trolling, one batiting up etc.
~Comfortable seating position
~Rod hatch at least 6foot
~Place for anchor storage, like a small recess with clip..
~Paddle holder for when fishing
~An inspection port into the hull
~30%+ bouyancy
~Back rest would be nice but those can be aftermarket etc.
~Place for the gaff to be on deck within reach
~eyelets on deck for rod leashes
~cutting/bait board on deck, be it on the hatch lid or wherever design allows.
~Place for tranducer cable to be able to run into the rear
~Or a section where transducer can be siliconed in place within the hull, directly under the seated position.
~rod holder directly in the middle behind the seated position for a third trolling rod.
~A flush mounted small storage box in the hatch lid. only about 5 cm deep and however wide, for small lures or dropshot jigs, bait knife whatever. I have a section of velcro on my hatch lid, with a small plano tackle box with all the dividers removed with a section of velcro on the bottom. that way i can have a small place to put the jigs whatever im using at the moment in the little box, so im not having to constantly open the hatch lid and dig around.
another idea iv always liked is a heb type cooler box mounted flush into the deck and glassed in and sealed behind you with batten down type lid. only like a 5-6 litre size one for bait. that way you can keep the hatch infront of you clear of a bait bag/cooler etc. you just reach back and get out whatever you need, be it sards or a coke. just big enough for a six pack or a box of sards.
I suppose i want a small skiboat that uses no fuel!
I've just bought a ski so I'm still trying to get used to the seating, rod placing, hatch opening etc.. The first thing I noticed is that opening and closing the hatch is quite difficult while seated on the ski. ( The lid is too far forward to reach whilst in the normal seated position). Is there a reason for the hatch opening forward? I'm thinking of changing mine to open to the side (left).
BigMatt wrote:
Would you have a problem with a two man version of the above with a gland running from the hull (purpose built mounting area for transducer) to the finder that sits in a recess on the hinged hatch lid. The only thing I haven't made provision for is the heb cooler. Maybe because I don't drink beer!!! I've got the rest covered. No jokes.
The colour you saw is grey spray filler. The finished product will be white with some bright accents in dayglo type colours, lime green, hot orange etc. Not what you'd expect from a custom bike builder though. I wish I was already at the stage where I had to choose colours but that's wayoff right now. The gland I'm going to use is 12mm ID. but will be similar to yours.
Danie Burger
Senior Member
Hi Tauruck
I think you have got the right recipe here.
I might even trade my Stealth in for one of your models in the future.
Something that I would suggest (don't know if it was mentioned before)is the following:
1.) Let the Fish-hatch open to the side and not flap open like the normal ones
2.) The hebcooler spot is a nice idea, but I reckon it does not take that much space and I have a collapsible cooler (bought from Macro) which takes 2kg pillies and is still nice and small.
Remember guys it's still a Fishing-Ski and space is very limited, the more extras, the heavier it will be.
And I am sure that if Tauruk makes them to order you will be able to ask for certain "extras" according to your fishing style.
Tauruk I know this is still in the baby phase, the real tuning will start after the demo has been tested, but roughly how much will one of your babies set a person back? I need to know as I think I must start saving so long
PS - I think the fishfinder battery box is a definite winner.
I think you have got the right recipe here.
I might even trade my Stealth in for one of your models in the future.
Something that I would suggest (don't know if it was mentioned before)is the following:
1.) Let the Fish-hatch open to the side and not flap open like the normal ones
2.) The hebcooler spot is a nice idea, but I reckon it does not take that much space and I have a collapsible cooler (bought from Macro) which takes 2kg pillies and is still nice and small.
Remember guys it's still a Fishing-Ski and space is very limited, the more extras, the heavier it will be.
And I am sure that if Tauruk makes them to order you will be able to ask for certain "extras" according to your fishing style.
Tauruk I know this is still in the baby phase, the real tuning will start after the demo has been tested, but roughly how much will one of your babies set a person back? I need to know as I think I must start saving so long
PS - I think the fishfinder battery box is a definite winner.
Danie Burger wrote:
My wish list for a ski is that it is as light as possible, and therefore easy to handle on land, and must be able to cut through the water. Most probably a combination between a stealth supalite and kaskazi dorado.
Another feature that works quite well is to have a rod holder between your legs, which makes baiting a lot easier.
Good luck with your project and hope to see the final ski soon.
This has saved me from having a very wet boat when a wave caught me on the bow, was on anchor, and the water forced the hatch closed so might be that way for a reason even though it can be in the way sometimes.
My wish list for a ski is that it is as light as possible, and therefore easy to handle on land, and must be able to cut through the water. Most probably a combination between a stealth supalite and kaskazi dorado.
Another feature that works quite well is to have a rod holder between your legs, which makes baiting a lot easier.
Good luck with your project and hope to see the final ski soon.
ThefishinMagician
Sealiner
I think the 3rd rod holder in front of a foot pedal is the way to go.
woerman wrote:
Thanks man, One thing I can say is that this baby will carry a load. Finishing it for production is the problem. I've taken on some biiig projects in the past like building a Porsche body in Carbon for a rich speed freak. That was easy compared to this. With this ski, the idea for the design was on my mind for a while and has turned out exactly as I imagined it. The problem comes from what I made the pattern/plug from. This is a wood rib type skeleton covered with masonite board. The board will only bend one way (2D) and it is stretched over the ribs which are say 500mm apart. There they are bonded with cold glue with the aid of screws with nice size washers. Every panel looks great until you run a straight edge over it.The masonite sags between the ribs so you have to fill the low spots. Automotive body filler works great. Now you come to the areas that the board can't conform to so I use Polystyrene and bond the blocks to the ribs. After that the polystyrene needs to be shaped. No problem. Use the air tool (Palm Sander), easy work and you try to get the left looking as close to the right as possible. Now you have to cover the polystyrene with fibreglass (cloth) and use epoxy resin because Polyester resin and body filler chow the styrene. You then have to use body filler to correct the low spots. Now this filler comes in two grades, expensive and very hard or F$#@%ng expensive and soft so I try to use the hard to build up as close to perfect as possible and use the very expensive stuff on the surface. What you end up with is four or five different surfaces of varying hardness. Masonite, wood, epoxy/glass, hard filler and soft. To sand this down is a huge problem. You get waves that just won't lay down. Where the epoxy/polystyrene sections are you work them and due to the spongy nature of this the area dents in ever so slightly when the sander passes over and then pops back up. You think you've got it just right and put on three coats of polyester spray filler that normally cuts down well with water paper. No Way, the stuff underneath walks around. I resorted to the American solution my fellow bike builders use. Cover the whole damn thing with a thick layer of very expensive body filler and sand that to shape. The difference between them and me is that they sell all that filler as part of the bike but I dump the pattern the day after it comes out of the moulds. I'm now busy painting the pattern black so that when the sanding is complete all the low spots will show up as black indentations which are easily filled, respayed and sanded again. When I'm happy with the surface I give it a final coat of Gloss black and that should be as near as perfect I'll get it. A day in the life of a ski builder and my rant for the month. To use unskilled labour would complicate this project even more and probably see me doing "Time". These are the hard yards and producing the moulds and final project will be a breeze. I'm hoping to get the first one wet in early September.