2020 Yamaha WaveRunner FX HO FishSki review

Queensland’s FishSki started out as many ideas do, with a lot of trial and error.

After getting a bit tired (and occasionally bruised) trying to navigate some gnarly sandbars on the Sunshine Coast in a fishing boat, the creators of FishSki – Rob Grace and Shane Jordan – decided fishing from a jet ski might be a better option, given personal watercraft are more nimble and better able to conquer such conditions.

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Their first attempt was more of a contraption. It started with a rod holder bolted to the back of a jet ski, and then a milk crate was added. But the fish weren’t too fresh after the ride home, so they found a way to attach a picnic cooler box and some rod holders, but that also was not ideal.

In the end, they decided to design and make their own, and now have four main types of cooler boxes in up to eight colours that can adapt to fit almost any modern jet ski, including Sea-Doo, Kawasaki – and the 2020 Yamaha WaveRunner FX HO we are testing here.

First, a quick recap on the 2020 Yamaha WaveRunner FX HO. The FX range is Yamaha’s flagship series and as this article was published the FX HO's price starts from $20,499 (which is a $400 increase compared to its 2019 price). Trailer and registration typically add between $1500 and $2000.

The Yamaha WaveRunner FX HO is powered by Yamaha Marine’s 1.8-litre inline four-cylinder engine. Unlike most rivals, Yamaha does not release power figures for this model but, by the seat-of-the-pants, it’s one of the most powerful non-supercharged personal watercraft on the market.

This generation FX series was released in late 2018 as a 2019 model year, so it is one of the newest personal watercraft on sale in Australia.

The 2019 Yamaha WaveRunner FX HO had a white deck with a blue hull; the 2020 model tested has a white deck with green highlights and a black hull. The 2021 Yamaha WaveRunner prices and line-up can be found here.

With its three-seat, sit-down design the Yamaha WaveRunner FX HO is well-suited to families, leisure riders, ocean riders, and anyone who likes to fish.

The next step up is the supercharged version of this engine – in the Yamaha WaveRunner FX SVHO – for those who favour a thrill ride over long-range fuel economy.

The Yamaha WaveRunner FX HO comes with a digital dash display with an embedded PIN code to unlock the immobiliser (no need to worry about a lost key or remote). It can be operated using gloves but it works better with a fingertip.

The storage area in the nose is generous, but be sure not to carry too much weight in there because (a) it will push the nose down, which can cause it to take on a bit of water in rough chop and (b) the plastic panels that separate the storage area and the engine bay can easily snap their clips and become dislodged.

The seat is a wide, flat and comfortable design, but if you’re planning on riding all day you may like to consider long shorts and/or protection for your lower legs because the raised stitching on the seats can irritate.

There is a handy storage box under the back seat and a wet storage area near the deck on the back of the craft.

The large flat rear deck makes the Yamaha WaveRunner FX HO ideal as a launching pad for kids to jump off (be sure to shut down the engine, though, as the jet pump is just below the boarding step).

But this large flat deck also makes a great place to fit the FishSki cooler and accessories.

What we have here is the FishSki 68 Deluxe priced from $1249. It’s a 68-litre cooler box (ice-rated for five days) that also comes with an 18-litre carpeted tackle box. By comparison, the Sea-Doo Fish Pro has a 50-litre cooler box.

Instead of a grip mat on the lid (as per the Sea-Doo Fish Pro 170) there is a “food rated” plastic chopping board with a bait well, a fishing knife and sheath, six rod holders (two on each side and two on the front of the cooler box, each with an elastic lanyard to secure the rods in position), and two 5.0-litre fuel bladders mounted on the back.

Two stainless steel tie-down rails latch onto the tow hook behind the rearmost seat of the Yamaha WaveRunner FX HO.

Four height-adjustable “feet” enable you to sit the cooler box almost flat on the rear deck.

Two stainless steel ratchet straps (located near the rear corners of the cool box) are tensioned via the metal loop on either side of the craft (near the rear corners of the hull) normally used to secure it on a trailer.

There is also a metre-long retractable stainless steel gaff, and a sheathed knife to gut fish. The lid has handy latches that keep it open.

All up, the FishSki Deluxe box weighs 28kg not including ice, beer or fish, and with practice can be removed in a couple of minutes. Initial installation can take up to 15 minutes while you adjust the feet and the straps.

The example used in these photos had Jet Fish labels, but FishSki is the manufacturer and the original branding.

The FishSki cooler has more functionality than the Sea-Doo Fish Pro cooler, box but it’s heavier, taller, and the lid has sharper edges, so you need to be careful when climbing aboard (and over it) via the rear boarding step.

The lid can snap shut on you pretty abruptly if you don’t secure the latches properly to stay open.

And accessing the two 5.0-litre fuel cans on the back of the cooler is difficult if you’re on the water.

As with the Sea-Doo, the location of the FishSki rod holders at the rear of the watercraft means they will cop a lot of spray when on the move. So maybe don’t take your best and most expensive rod on your first trip.

Overall, the whole arrangement felt sturdy. That said, we stuck to calm waters and medium chop and didn’t get the chance to give it a bashing in the ocean.

The 2021 Yamaha WaveRunner FX HO is genuinely a great all-rounder. It has enough power to keep most revheads happy but enough fuel range for ocean riding and a day of fishing.

The 70-litre tank is the same capacity as the Sea-Doo Fish Pro 170 (only Kawasaki has a bigger tank capacity with 78 litres). In ocean riding conditions I routinely saw 50 to 51 litres per 100km on the FX HO.

You can use more or less than this depending on current, chop, fuel load, trim, and the weight of the rider and extra equipment.

Those two 5.0-litre fuel bladders on the back could be just enough to get you home if you venture too far from shore.

The Yamaha mounting system in front of the handlebars enables the fitment of optional Bluetooth speakers, fishfinder, or a navigation unit.

A fishfinder transducer and navigation unit is factory-fitted as standard on the Sea-Doo Fish Pro. The Yamaha WaveRunner FX HO tested was equipped with an optional Garmin ECHOMAP Plus 45cv with a GT20-TM transducer ($499).

Other than colour, there were no changes to the 2020 Yamaha FX series beyond some running adjustments to the fuel sender to improve the accuracy of the gauge.

Refuelling, too, can be slow unless you remove the sleeve from the fuel filler neck designed to stop overflow and minimise the sudden release of pressure when undoing the cap.

If fuel use is a focus, the FX HO has a super-accurate “fuel used” meter, which monitors flow through the injectors.

Providing you top up the tank and reset this meter before each ride, you will have one of the most accurate fuel monitoring systems in the watercraft business.

The Yamaha WaveRunner FX HO is extremely stable at rest, on smooth water or in rolling ocean swell. The flat seat design makes it easy to switch from side to side when fishing.

The footwells can fill with water, which can affect stability. However they're not as deep as, say, the footwells in the Sea-Doo Fish Pro. In both cases a quick blast of the throttle will rid the water.

Having tested both the Yamaha WaveRunner FX HO FishSki and Sea-Doo Fish Pro 170, I would say the Yamaha has slightly better low-speed manouvreability (both have forward and reverse triggers on the handlebars) and is better in open water when the going gets really tough.

But in flat water and low to medium chop, there is not much that splits these two watercraft. At that point, it comes down to price, ergonomics, and personal preference.

For fishing riders who would never consider anything other than a Yamaha and want the extra performance, the Yamaha WaveRunner FX HO with the aftermarket FishSki accessory kit is a great alternative and a clever aftermarket solution.

For those new to the sport who want a turn-key watercraft to take fishing, the Sea-Doo Fish Pro 170 is also a great choice.

Specifications
Model: 2020 Yamaha WaveRunner FX HO
Length: 3.58m
Width: 1.27m
Weight: 380kg (dry, est)
Power: 1.8-litre four-cylinder, non-supercharged. Power output not disclosed
Top speed: 100km/h (est)
Fuel tank: 70L
Seating capacity: 3
Warranty: Three years
Service intervals: 12 months or 50 hours, whichever comes first

Priced from: $20,499 (not including trailer and rego) with 4.3-inch digital touchscreen display, three-speed no-wake mode, 130-litre storage area, 16.6-litre waterproof compartment in front of the seat, waterproof bucket with twist-top lid under the rear seat.

Price as tested: FishSki box $1249, Garmin ECHOMAP ($499)

Supplied by: Yamaha Marine Australia, FishSki Australia