Red Terror 4.8m Express

Readers of the feature Different Strokes in the Spring quarterly edition of Trailer Boat's sister mag BlueWater Boats & Sportsfishing would recall Peter Pescell and the 4.8m Express Bad Habit.

If you missed the article, Peter was awarded the 1998/99 Sir Garrick Agnew Trophy presented to the angler who tags and releases the most billfish in Australian waters each year.

He tagged a staggering 96 billfish during the season to claim the trophy, which is actually the most billfish ever tagged by a single angler in one year. Even more impressive is that Peter caught most of those fish single-handed out of the little red tinnie (affectionately known on the Sunshine Coast as 'The Red Terror').

Peter attributes a lot of his success to the fit-out of the Express. Although only a small boat, Peter packed the tinnie with options normally only seen on a much larger vessel. But he still managed to maintain a clean, uncluttered work area. "Positioning of equipment is paramount", advises Peter. "Everything must have its place."

FINE-TUNED FIT-OUT
Because Peter primarily fishes alone, the boat is fitted-out for this purpose, however, fit-out should not change very much, even with multiple anglers onboard. In a 4.8m boat, chances are you'll be shorthanded at some stage. (So Peter's tips will no doubt be relevant.)

Obviously fishing one-up, Peter fought his fish from the helm. Therefore, everything must be accessible to the helm station. Being prepared is very important when fishing from a small boat and even moreso when you are on your own.

Peter has a carbon-fibre tagpole attached to the starboard side-pocket with Velcro, which can easily be reached from the helm. The carbon-fibre pole is light enough to use with one hand, which leaves the other one free to handle the rod. A gaff is also located on the starboard sidepocket, just in case a mahi mahi or cobia finds its way to the side of the boat. If Peter's on the port-side of the boat with a fish alongside, there is also a spare tag pole and gaff on that side.

Although almost unheard of on a 4.8m boat, Peter describes the autopilot as one of the boat's most valuable assets especially for single-handed billfishing. The autopilot allows Peter to run fish down without having to keep one hand on the wheel. This practice would be impossible without autopilot, as the torque on the outboard usually pulls the boat in one direction.

As Peter catches a lot of billfish on livebait, a good livebait tank is also imperative. He says the size of the tank is not as important as the size of the pump providing water flow. Peter says he started experimenting with an 80lt tank, but uses a mere 25lt tank and can still keep 30 or 40 baits alive thanks to a powerful pump. (At least a 500-800gal/hr pump is recommended.) Peter says he also prefers the livebait tank to be round. "The baits swim in a circular motion around the tank, which seems to keep them in prime condition," he says. The livebait tank is located in the aft corner on the portside of the boat.

"When setting up outriggers on a small boat, you must set them higher than you would on a larger boat", Peter says. "Remember, that because you are so close to the water, you must angle the riggers nice and high to get the most out of those skipbaits and lures." When setting up your outriggers, ensure that the tip of the outrigger is forward of your rod tip when a rod is placed in the rodholder. This will prevent tip wraps, especially when conditions are a bit rough.

WHAT A TEASE!
Because small boats don't have the luxury of a couple of big diesels thumping away to help raise fish, Peter places a high priority on teasers when trolling. Creating as much commotion as possible is the name of the game and Peter will troll as many as three teasers, especially if he has a mate or two onboard. Peter's OENo 1' rule on teasers is "keep it soft". He normally runs daisy chains of Moldcraft squid as surface teasers and a Moldcraft fender as a sub-surface teaser. Interestingly, Peter also prefers dark colours in his teasers.

When the fish have gone off the bite, Peter describes his downrigger as invaluable. "Trolling a few baits around down deep normally does the trick", Peter says. "The downrigger can turn a fishless day into a successful one in no time."

As Peter regularly fishes 20 miles offshore, he found it necessary to increase the fuel capacity on the Express. There is a standard 60lt tank underfloor to which Peter added a custom 50lt tank in the centre of the boat. There is also space under the aft starboard seat for another 25lt hand-carry tank. With 135lt onboard, the Express now has quite a range, even with the 75hp two-stroke Yamaha pushing her along at a sprightly 30kt.

On the aft end of the centre fueltank is an aluminium grabrail, which is great to lean against while fishing or provides a great handrail when things are a bit joggling. Forward of the centre fueltank is a large icebox, which will hold a nice size cobia and also doubles as a seat.

Centrally located at the transom is a cutting board with a handy teflon basket below. Knife and pliers are in easy reach as well as a good old fish pacifier. The battery is stored in a sealed battery box which has an isolation switch. A saltwater deckwash is also located at the transom.

There is no shortage of rodholders onboard, with an eight-pot rocket launcher above the windscreen, six flush-mounted holders in the gunwales, two on the cutting board and another three along the port sidepocket.

Electronics are, of course, a personal choice. However, Peter opted for a Humminbird Platinum ID sounder, Lowrance GlobalNav 310 GPS, GME VHF radio and Autohelm sportpilot on the Express.

Peter recently sold Bad Habit and if you are wondering whether he sold it to upgrade to a big gameboat... Well, not quite. He bought a 5.2m Kevlacat and is fitting it out as we speak. No doubt, it won't be long and he'll be back out on the water working on retaining the Sir Garrick Agnew Trophy.