12 Months with the Scout Sportfish 145
The US built range of Scout boats is a fairly new addition to Australia’s marine market and all early reports are good. But how does one fair after a year of punishment? I’ve taken a Sportfish 145 and put it through its paces for 12 months.
On The Road
The first big test for the Sportfish came as soon as I picked it up from Sportsfishing Boats Australia in Penrith NSW, with the seven hour drive home from western Sydney to the NSW north coast. The lightweight Scout was a dream to tow behind a mid sized 4WD I was using at the time, only struggling up the largest of hills. I have since upgraded to a 100 series Landcruiser and you don’t even know the boat is there.
The trailer used to tow the Sportfish is a Dunbier sports model. Unfortunately I found the standard small carpet covered skids did not allow the boat to glide freely on and off the trailer unless it was fully submerged, limiting launching options. Further, the black rubber rollers left unsightly black marks on the hull. After some experimentation, I chose to replace these items with longer teflon impregnated skids and polyurethane rollers, which allowed the boat to slide on and off the trailer easier and did not mark the hull.
The Scout/Dunbier combination has been put to the test on the road over the past year, with regular trips ranging as far as Cairns to the North and Ulludulla to the South. In fact, the wheels have rolled over more than 15,000kms of road, both tarred and unsealed, and the biggest incident so far has been a broken number plate bracket, courtesy of a larger than average gutter.
On The Water
As I do a lot of my fishing solo, I was pleased to find that the lightweight hull was easy to launch and retrieve on my own. After only a few trips however, I started to notice some small scratches appearing on the hull from when I had brought the nose of the boat up onto sand or gravel whilst parking the car. After a bit of shopping around, I came across a product known as Keelguard, a durable strip of polycor composite material that sticks to the front half of the boats keel with a strong 3M adhesive. Since attaching the Keelguard I’ve had no problems with the boat resting against the bottom and even after 12 months, the product is only showing minimal signs of wear.
At rest in the water the 145 is a very stable fishing platform, with space to fish three people comfortably. The casting platforms front and rear are large enough to fish two anglers on each but are ideal for one. There is also enough space for a third angler to fish from the centre.
Seating is set up a bit different to most Aussie built designs, with a bench seat on the back deck, which is wide enough for three people. There is then a single seat in front of the console, which hides the live well underneath. This design is ideal for fishing as it maximises deck space and makes moving around the boat easy, as there are no free standing seats to negotiate. The only downside of this is not having back support when sitting on the bench seat – a small compromise if you consider the extra fishing space. The front seat does have a backrest however, so if you just need a bit of a relax in the middle of a long fishing session, it’s a comfortable option.
The live well, although small, is still large enough to hold a few bass, bream or a heap of live bait and is plumbed with a rule 500gph pump that keeps plenty of fresh water flowing through.
Another well thought out feature of the Sportfish is a self-draining deck. This is achieved by having two small drain holes in the rear corners of the deck, which can be plugged with bungs when not needed. This was very handy on a recent trip to Lake Monduran when we had 5 days of torrential rain. The drain hole bungs where left out and any water the boat caught simply drained away. It is also helpful for washing the boat both on and off the water as you can spray the whole boat with the hose, both inside and out.
Storage in the small Scout is quite sufficient, with plenty of space to keep safety gear permanently in place, as well as more than enough space for fishing gear. There is a small compartment within the console in which I keep a fire extinguisher and a small dry bag with a first aid kit, flares and other safety gear. There is then two large compartments that extend underneath the rear casting platform. These are large and can hold a lot of gear but access is via a small hatch and it can be difficult to reach items that may slide right to the back. There is a small hatch in the centre of the rear platform which provides access to the bilge, fuel filter and starter battery. The fuel tank is permanently mounted under the front casting platform on the left with more storage on the right, which is where the second battery is mounted to run the electric motor. The 145 does not come standard with rod storage but there is enough space to mount triple upright rod holders on either side of the console. I also mounted a horizontal holder for another two rods on the inside of the starboard side gunnel.
The console itself holds a small Scout branded carbon fibre switch panel, controlling the lights, live well pump and 500gph automatic bilge pump. I also mounted two RAM brackets for the sounder and GPS. These adjustable brackets mean the electronics can be moved to be viewed from any position in the boat. I went for a large colour sounder and separate hand held GPS. I chose the hand held GPS as a safety feature as it can be ran off two AA batteries, so even if you have a sounder malfunction or loose power you can still run the GPS to get yourself out of trouble.
The electric motor I chose was a Minn Kota 55lb thrust Riptide, which has more than enough power to manoeuver the boat, even in strong wind or current. It is mounted using a Minn Kota puck style quick release bracket and power is supplied through a heavy duty power plug. This leaves the deck uncluttered when the electric motor is mounted and completely clear when removed. The white Riptide and quick release bracket also match the colour of the hull, which was an added bonus.
Powering the Sportfish is a Yamaha 50 horsepower oil injected two stroke, which is the maximum power recommended for the 145. The lightweight two stroke offers a lot of punch in a lightweight package. It came fitted standard with a Yamaha aluminium 14” pitch prop which I swapped for a Solas aluminium 13” pitch prop. The smaller pitch prop gets the boat up onto the plane quicker and with less effort, with a loss of only a couple of km’s of top end speed. I stayed with an aluminium prop as they are much cheaper than stainless and do far less damage to the motor if you hit something such as a large log or rock bar.
Summary
For Australian estuary and impoundment conditions, the Scout Sportfish 145 has performed outstandingly well. I have had it in the upper freshwater reaches of our east coast river systems right down to coastal sand flats, knocked it around in the timber of some of our most popular impoundments and even pushed it through rough swells chasing snapper and pelagics around inshore reefs. Over the 12 months I have owned the Sportfish it has passed every test with flying colours. Since ironing out the minor problems with the trailer, I have not found any further faults with Scout Sportfish 145.
It truly is a great mix of American styling suited perfectly to Australian conditions.
Dale Johnson
