2019 Sea-Doo Fish Pro 155 review

Unveiled globally in September 2018, the first shipments of the Sea-Doo Fish Pro 155 have already started arriving in Australian showrooms before the year is out.

What you see here is how it comes from the factory, barring of course some minor assembly at the dealership.

Standard kit includes a Garmin EchoMap 62cv fish finder (on an integrated mount in place of the right-side mirror) and a 51-litre cooler box with four fishing rod holders.

There’s also a plank with a non-slip surface (Seadoo calls it an angled gunwale footrest) mounted along the top of both sides of the deck so your feet or shoes don’t scratch the body of the craft – and so you don’t slip when wrestling a fish out of the water.

Unlike most PWC seats that are sculptured to hold you in place at speed, the three-seater Fish Pro 155 has flat, block-shaped seat foam to make it easy to swing around from side to side.

The only option on the Fish Pro 155 on the example we tested was a pair of Bluetooth speakers (a $700 option) mounted above the front of the footwells that ingeniously switch themselves off after two hours to avoid draining the battery on the craft when the engine’s off.

Sea-Doo says this is a popular option among fishing enthusiasts who can stream their favourite music or talkback radio via their phone.

Pricing for the Seadoo Fish Pro 155 starts from $19,199 plus rego and trailer. Dealers are currently doing them for $20,999 drive-away without the Bluetooth speakers and $21,799 with the speakers added. Prices may vary slightly according to the type of trailer and the cost of state rego.

Considering the cost of the Garmin fish finder, the cooler box and rod holders, let alone the clever design, the Sea-Doo Fish Pro is a relative bargain.

By comparison, the other popular watercraft for jet ski fishing enthusiasts, the Yamaha WaveRunner FX range, costs close to the same money but without the Sea-Doo’s fishing add-ons included.

The 2019 Yamaha WaveRunner FXHO is $19,999 and the Yamaha WaveRunner FXHO Cruiser is $20,999 before trailer and rego are added – plus the cost of navigation and the fitment of a cooler box and brackets.

Warranty coverage is currently two years on the Sea-Doo Fish Pro 155 (versus three years across the Yamaha and Kawasaki range). Some other Sea-Doo models get three-year warranty coverage during limited-time promotions.

As with its rivals, Sea-Doo recommends the Fish Pro be serviced every 50 hours or 12 months, whichever comes first.

The Seadoo Fish Pro 155 is a triumph of industrial design, right down to the measurements – in metric and imperial – embossed in raised letters across the lid of the cooler box so you can measure the length of your catch.

There are genius touches like this throughout.

The Fish Pro’s deck and hull start life as the ST3 platform released in late 2017 as a 2018 model year. Other Sea-Doo models that use this platform include the flagship high performance RXT-X300 and the recreational GTX230, the Wake Pro 230 and the GTX-155.

The Fish Pro 155 is 29.2cm longer than other ST3-based Sea-Doos because a pontoon (or deck extension) has been cleverly and neatly integrated onto the rear of the deck.

This means there is room for both a cooler box and an optional 15-litre fuel can ($199), or an optional tackle box ($199). Without these accessories you have even more room on the rear deck to move around. That said, the plastic fuel can is low enough to easily step over.

Other genius ideas include a small 2.5-litre waterproof compartment near the handlebars for a mobile phone and other valuables. Sea-Doo even includes two small pieces of foam to wedge a phone between, to further prevent it from getting shock damage.

A massive 100-litre storage area under the nose hood is accessed by releasing two tabs under the handlebars. There’s a net for lighter items above the storage hold.

Because the handlebars also lift with the rest of the nose cover, it’s much easier to access the storage area while standing on the craft. On a Yamaha you need to lean right over the handlebars while on the water and balance yourself to access the storage area under the nose.

Also helpful: the Sea-Doo’s fuel filler is at the top of the craft, under the nose just in front of the seat, which makes on-water refuelling easier.

In contrast, the fuel filler on the 2019 Yamaha FX range has moved outside on the nose, making it difficult to refuel while on water (finding a way to reach down and get a jiggle hose in there, and also without ingesting water from any swell or wake is difficult).

Unlike other Sea-Doos (for now), the Fish Pro 155 comes with a 70-litre fuel tank, improving the riding range compared to other non-supercharged Sea-Doo models.

The widescreen digital dash isn’t a touchscreen as with the 2019 Yamaha WaveRunner FX series, but it’s a large, clear and easy display to read. Helpfully it also includes a compass and a clock.

The design of the deck means the Sea-Doo seats (and the bodywork underneath them) are slightly narrower, which means your legs don’t rub against them as they do on a Yamaha FX. The footwells are wide and deep, making it harder to catch your foot in a tight turn.

The boarding step at the rear is wide and cushioned, so it won’t bruise a knee or shin when clambering back on board after a swim.

One minor criticism: the front and rear corners of the gunwale don’t have a slot to curl fingers underneath, such as when trying to pull the craft onto a beach or manoeuvre it by hand onto a trailer; only the gunwales on the side have channels you can grip your fingers into.

Powered by a non-supercharged 1503cc three-cylinder Rotax engine, the Sea-Doo Fish Pro is a smooth operator, with a claimed top speed of about 100km/h (versus about 120km/h for supercharged models).

Of course, the Fish Pro is not about top speed. Fishing enthusiasts prefer its many other advantages.

The pump feels like it sits low in the water, because it accelerates smoothly and doesn’t get interrupted when you’re going through chop. Because the pump spends more time in the water, fuel use is likely more efficient and you’re also getting better traction.

Compared with previous generation Yamaha WaveRunner FX models I’ve ridden (2015 and 2016), the Sea-Doo Fish Pro 155 tends to point its nose up more, even with the trim in neutral or the nose pointed down.

Of course, the pontoon and cooler box on the back add more weight but there are other contributing factors for the different feel.

The Sea-Doo engine is mounted lower and further back in the hull versus the Yamaha WaveRunner FX, giving it a lower centre of gravity and sending more weight to the rear.

The advantage here is that the Sea-Doo hulls turns with more grip at low and medium speeds because the sponsons and the hull can really dig in.

At higher speeds and in chop the Sea-Doo Fish Pro wants to point the nose up and can feel a bit slippery when cutting across waves. This is not a criticism, merely an observation. You soon learn to adjust your riding style.

I also noticed the Sea-Doo hull can tend to list (lean one side or the other) in certain choppy conditions. At first I thought this was caused by the crosswind but after testing it in the opposite direction it was apparent it wasn’t the wind. Again, this is not a criticism, just an observation. You can easily adjust your riding style. And of course the slight lean is non-existent on flat water.

Once idle, the Sea-Doo Fish Pro 155 hull is incredibly stable. Depending on how good your balance is you can stand on or lean over the edge of either side (such as when trying to get a fish out of water) and the Fish Pro doesn’t want to tip over. Fishing enthusiasts will no doubt appreciate this stability at rest.

Another key feature for fishing is a “trolling mode”, in effect a cruise control that steps up in 1km/h increments from 0 to 10km/h. Normally it idles at about 8km/h.

The Sea-Doo Fish Pro also comes with a learner key as well as one for grown ups that unlocks full power, in case you don’t trust the kids at full throttle.

The Sea-Doo Fish Pro is a watercraft made for fishing enthusiasts that was clearly designed with the help of fishing enthusiasts. They’ve thought of everything.

Specifications
Model: Sea-Doo Fish Pro 155
Length: 3.734m
Beam: 1.25m
Weight: 389kg (dry, est)
Power: 155hp 1503cc 3-cyl Rotax, non-supercharged
Top speed: 54kt (100km/h)
Fuel tank: 70L
Seating capacity: 3
Warranty: Two years
Service intervals: 12 months or 50 hours, whichever comes first

Priced from: $19,199 with Garmin EchoMap Plus 62cv fish finder, fishing seat, 51L cooler box, extended rear platform with accessory attachment, angled gunwale footrests, storage bin organiser, trolling mode, 4x rod holders (does not include trailer or registration)
Price as tested: $19,999 with BRP bluetooth speakers (does not include trailer or registration)

Supplied by: Beaches Sea-Doo and Can-Am, Sydney