ski pole on bass boat

[arngee]

Ok guys, I know this is gonna hurt to even ask, but here goes.
I have small tiller handle boat that just is not big enough to take family on. If I go bigger, wife wants a boat to ride up and down the river & take kids tubing. I will be dis-satisfied with anything but a traditional bass boat. And a F/S is not what I have in mind. So here's the question:

1. How big a boy do you have to be (lol) before you can drive around the chick with a ski pole attached on your bass boat?
2. Is there any quick attach/release mechanism on the market that allows one to add and remove the pole from your boat?

 

[striperchase]

Years ago when I was younger my dad had 18 foot center console without any kind of ski pole. We would fish all morning and when it got hot I would want to swim and go tubing. He bought a bridal that attatched to the rings on you transum and formed a v out past you motor with like a pully slide on it and you attatched you rope to it so it still had free movement while making turns and didn't interfere with the movement of the outboard. The rope would usually drag the water causing a spray in my face and probably wouldn't be ideal for skiing because it would be low to the water but for an intertube it would work fine.

something like this is what we had.

http://www.jobesports.com/EN/Products/Ropes_and_Handles/Bridles/Rope_Bridle_Stainless_Steel_Hooks/

 

[SpurHunter]

Yes, I have seen removable poles before. I will second the center console over a bass boat. Too limited in use for my taste.

 

[foodsaver]

they make a tripod pole that can be mounted to a bass boat. You would just have to pull the pins to the mount when not using the pole.

 

[reliable]

Arngee - sounds like you need to either teach your wife how to fish, or cave and get a fish/ski to make her happy....still be better than what you got now.

How many times are the wife and kids gonna go out on a fish/ski ? half a doz a summer? you and your boy will be in a real boat 2-3x a week all year long (except deer season) if you get one...

Easy for me to say though - I finally got a real boat, and my wife is always glad to see me gone fishing, makes me a happier person when I am home.

 

[Shankopotamus]

Isn't there anything made that screws in to the rear seat post hole- or is that too weak for that kind of stress?</p>

 

[Guest]

I saw someone usingone this weekend, the only problem I saw is that a bass boat don't like to go as slow as needed to ski, so to stay on plane I figured they were going a little fast, and they had a tube. I've personally talked with a couple other people on this, and they said that its hard to ski, tube (insert fav think to do behind a boat besides fishing) etc... You may want to check and see how safe a speed it would be to actually stay up at a good running speed, and not be a hazard to the person being pulled. I can see it running down the lake pulling someone by the time you see them falling off, your half a mile away...

 

[Jason F-18]

Stratos has a pole that goes in the rear seat post hole on their fish and ski, then has two supports that pin into brackets on the transom. My gues is it would take about 30 sec to pt it up or down. Or just get the bridle as mentioned above. I have skied behind a fish/ ski with this setup and it worked just fine.

I like Skeeter's fish ski, it is definitely much more geared toward fishing.

 

[Guest]

For tubing, just tie off to the the transom eye bolts (using a tow harness) or a cleat. For skiing, you will want a pylon and yes they are removable.

 

[G-MAN]

striperchase - 7/30/2009 2:37 PM

Years ago when I was younger my dad had 18 foot center console without any kind of ski pole. We would fish all morning and when it got hot I would want to swim and go tubing. He bought a bridal that attached to the rings on you transom and formed a v out past you motor with like a pulley slide on it and you attached you rope to it so it still had free movement while making turns and didn't interfere with the movement of the outboard. The rope would usually drag the water causing a spray in my face and probably wouldn't be ideal for skiing because it would be low to the water but for an inter tube it would work fine.

something like this is what we had.

http://www.jobesports.com/EN/Products/Ropes_and_Handles/Bridles/Rope_Bridle_Stainless_Steel_Hooks/

I've used this set up plenty of times. Works fine.
When pulling a skier or tube, you have to keep your engine trimmed down the entire time. Not much speed required to pull a tube or skier.

I fish out of a Astro Fish-n-Ski and it does just fine. Its rigged with a 3- bank on board charger, drop in night lights and live wells, 12/24 trolling motor and depth finders. Plenty of storage.

Although, I realy wish I had known that there was a stigma that went with owning a fish-n-ski.
emoScratch

 

[Gator]

I don't have a ski pole but this past week-end I pulled my grandchildren on a tube at Norris Lake until they were worn out just using the harness and a rope attached to the tube.
It works just fine, just a little drag on the water w/o the pole. Good Luck.

 

[Breeze]

Well i had a ski pole for sale for a long time on here.it just fit in the seat pole hole in the rear.i gave it to my daughter for a yard sale they had at u.t.c this summer i will check and see if she still has it

 

[ChooChooSnakeMan]

I'll put my 2 cents worth in since I've owned two fish and ski boats. I have a ski pole with the braces that attach to eyes that are on the back deck next to the transom. I've never used it because I know of at least one case of someone pulling a skier and the pole popped out of the pedestal hole. It caused a lot of damage to the guys outboard and could have injured someone very easily. I always used the harness that has been mentioned that attaches to the boat tie down loops on the back of the hull. It works great for skiers or tubes and is easy to hook up and take off on the water. I think you should have an open mind about a fish and ski boat. There are several that are more fish than ski. I would stay away from the other variety that are more ski oriented like the SF series from Stratos and Triton also makes a boat that is more ski than fish. My first boat was a Dynatrak 17'6" fish and ski that worked well. I had it for about 15 years and my kids grew up on that boat. It had a 115 hp outboard and pulled skiers and tubes fine. It had a top end of around 52 - 54 mph and I caught a lot of fish out of it. My current boat is what I and many others think is the best fish and ski ever built, the Viper Coral. Mine is a 202 and is 20'2" long with a Merc 225 on it. It is Viper's Cobra bass boat hull with a fish and ski cap on it. I have two rod lockers up front that hold 7' rods and a ski locker in the floor that is handy. It has a 45 gallon aerated live well and a nice Minn Kota 24 volt trolling motor. The front deck is big enough for two to fish out of and the back deck is adequate for one angler. It has a stereo, built in large cooler and plenty of storage. The boat handles rough water great and I've had it to 68 mph on gps with some to go so while not as fast as a true bass boat, not many fish and ski boats can run with me. Now don't get me wrong, if fishing was all I was going to use the boat for, I would have a 20'+ dual console straight bass boat, but for taking the family out or just cruising around the fish and ski is hard to beat. Viper only made around 250 of the Coral fish and ski boats so they are kind of hard to find, but you can find them on occasion. Most of the dealers were in TX, OK, MO, and AK. I drove to Texas to pick mine up and I've never regretted it. Skeeter, Champion, Stratos, Javelin to name a few also made fish and ski boats that were more fish oriented. Good luck on your search!