Top 5 boats for chasing estuary perch

Fishing for EPs, as they’re also known, is best done from the water so you can more easily target the snags and structure where the fish aggregate.

Not every boat is suited to this sort of fishing. 

What, then, do you need to look for to sneak up on the fish?

Look for quiet hulls, carpeted if the boat is made from alloy, with room to mount an electric trolling motor so you can approach fishing hotspots quietly.

Depending on how deeply you want to dive into EP fishing, you’ll also look for a boat with a live well in which to store the catch.

Here’s the boatsales.com.au guide to the boats we would consider to be great estuary perch fishing platforms.

Small and beamy, the Savage 445 Raptor Pro is a surprisingly roomy tiller-steer boat that won’t cost you much to get out on the water.

Because it is part of the Pro range of more premium Raptor models, the Savage 445 Raptor Pro has carpeted bow and stern casting decks, a flat centre floor section, wide side coamings, and deep storage lockers.

It’s a good long-range boating option too, with a large flared bow to cut through chop and a transom that can handle up to 60hp of performance.

Owners can option a live bait tank built into the font casting deck floor, a rear casting deck live bait tank, and a bow plate to mount an electric trolling motor.

This boat also has the option of up to five different places around the cockpit to mount either of the two comfort seats that come with the boat.

On the downside, only two rod holders are fitted as standard. There are also no bow cleats, so you’re going to have to tie the anchor off on the bow rail or one of the laterals.

Sometimes you want a boat that can fish up a river for estuary perch one day, and then venture off the coast on the next.

That’s where a boat such as the Haines Signature 640SF side console comes to the fore. For your money, the standard equipment runs to bow and stern casting decks, multiple rod holders and rod racks, transom live well, kill tank and more – everything you need for chasing EPs.

However, at 6.6 metres in length, it’s a big, roomy platform that can also fish coastal areas, almost as though it was a sports fishing boat.

Underneath is a decent deep-vee hull that provides comfortable fast running in weather, and onboard is plenty of storage space for everything you need.

The side console configuration is good for drift fishing, too, where you tend to cast off one side of the boat.

How seriously do you take your perch fishing? If the answer is very, then this is the style of boat you’ll be chasing.

The Horizon Tournament Pro is a one-size-fits-all beamy 5.0-metre boat made for tournament fishing. That means heaps of level deck space, three rear console seats, a plumbed 1000-litre live well split into two separate sides, and big power hanging off the transom to get around the fishing grounds quickly.

The boat features a huge forward casting deck that sits just below the topdecks, and another smaller aft one behind the full-width dual console featuring separate low cowlings to protect the occupants.

On the bow is a standard electric motor mount.

The Horizon Tournament Pro features a fully carpeted floor to help with sneaking up on fish, with the option to replace the standard carpet with a hookless cover.

Good underfloor storage is a feature, including a full-length space for stowing rods.

The Horizon Tournament Pro comes standard with mechanical steering, but if you’re considering fitting the boat with the maximum-rated 115hp unit, SeaStar hydraulic steering is available as an option. 

Quintrex is arguably Australia’s favourite boat brand, catering to a wide range of budgets and applications.

One of them is the Quintrex 470 Stealth Hornet, a deluxe-spec lake and impoundment fishing rig targeted at competitive bass, barra, bream and flattie fishers.

Features include a rotomoulded 85-litre live bait tank under the front deck that can double as a tournament live well,  an electric-trolling-motor plate on the bow, a trolling motor battery tray (caters for two batteries for 24-volt set-ups) under the casting deck, and pop-up bow and stern cleats to keep the coamings clear and snag-free.

The layout of the boat closely follows US bass boat styling, including an almost sidedeck-level floor and an amidships side console.

The Quintrex 470 Stealth Hornet is built around a pickle-fork hull, meaning the boat can carry a lot of beam forward to create a vast amount of real estate on the front casting deck.

One of the benefits of the Apex hull that sits under the boat is a dry and stable ride. The 470 Stealth Hornet is rated at up to 75hp of performance, so it is able to run at a fair clip – important for time-constrained tournament fishing.

Here’s one for the budget-conscious among us who don’t necessarily need all the comfort of a lot of real estate around them.

The tiller-steer Anglapro Core STL374 is a V-nosed punt with a large casting deck forward. The benefit of the V-nose is the STL374 can still cut through chop, but the wide beam carried forward provides excellent stability at rest.

This is a basic boat package that you build to your specification, with options including a rear casting deck to match the forward one, a bow platform to mount an electric trolling motor and a hull that’s already pre-wired for mounting lights if the chase will start before daybreak.

There’s no option for rod holders, so you’re going to need to be a little inventive if you don’t want rods rolling around inside the boat.