Monday, February 7, 2011

Fishing From the Pelican Raider Boat

For those of you who don’t know the Pelican Raider Boat is a mini pontoon boat somewhat stunted. I had the opportunity to buy one of these little gems 3 years ago when Academy Sports was going out of business in Hoover Alabama. I had been thinking about a smaller boat for some time because I needed something small to fish the tiny nooks in Walker County Lake. I was getting tired of paying to rent an aluminum boat every time I wanted to fish the lake. At 4 bucks a pop for rental of a boat and 3.00 to pay to fish seemed a little steep. So enter the Raider boat, which turned out to be perfect for the type of fishing I was doing on the small lake. I could cover the entire lake with one charge on my trolling motor battery and still have power left at the end of a trip. With the lake being 160 areas I could fish all those little nooks and narrow channels with ease. It was perfect with my fly rod and I had plenty of rod rack space not to mention the extra space for tackle and a couple of small coolers. I learned early on that this little boat was more than I expected, because of the quietness, stability, ease of handling with a 30 lb. thrust trolling motor. The boat only weighs in at 85 lbs. because of the heavy gauge RAM molded construction. It floated high in the water which made it turn on a dime. In short, it has been the perfect little companion for my short trips to Walker or any other little water adventure. I don't know if you'll are aware of this but if you have a trolling motor on any small boat you must have it registered. Not having it registered will result in a fine. Guess who found this out?

Two individuals can fish from this boat. Your two seats slide along an open track which extends the length of the boat. I added a portable depth finder that operates off of D cell batteries. Perfect for a drop anchor 
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8 comments:

  1. JayFebruary 7, 2011 at 1:22 PM

    I once had a square stern canoe, and wondered about registering it in TN? I called TWRA and got conflicting information... some said "if it floats" it has to be registered. Others told me if it had a motor over 10 hp it had to be registered... and some said if it was over a certain length it had to be registered. I honestly don't know if the state "officials" knew what their own rules really stated. I ended up registering it to be on the safe side. Now I have kayaks and none are registered... and don't expect they ever will be, although I'm pretty sure some states require that too. So check your local laws.

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  2. Bill TrussellFebruary 7, 2011 at 2:42 PM

    Jay
    In Alabama, if you have a trolling motor on a canoe, kayak or a small aluminum boat you have to register it. I paid the price when I first got this little boat back in 08, when I didn't have it registered and got a fine. At the time I had just put the trolling motor on it, but no registration sticker. MAD was not the word I would use for how I felt.

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  3. BlakeFebruary 7, 2011 at 3:41 PM

    Expensive lesson learned, been there before myself with a canoe

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  4. Bill TrussellFebruary 7, 2011 at 5:26 PM

    Blake
    I can see charging for a gasoline motor on a boat, but a trolling motor is ridiculous.

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  5. AnonymousFebruary 7, 2011 at 10:25 PM

    Hi Bill, just wondering how the little boat handles in the wind? Sure looks like a handy way to access small waters for sure.

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  6. Bill TrussellFebruary 7, 2011 at 11:28 PM

    Mel
    Glad you asked I have created a stabilizer for the opposite end of the boat, where the anchor is located. I was going to mention that in the post and forgot to add it before I posted. I will make an image of the stabilizer and post it sometime tomorrow. I actually built this thing about a month ago. To answer your question about wind there is a problem so enter the stabilizer. Check back for the solution to the wind problem.

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  7. Jeff RyanFebruary 9, 2011 at 4:35 PM

    The first boat I ever bought was nearly identical... I was 16 years old and felt like I was on top of the world! I loved that boat.

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  8. Bill TrussellFebruary 9, 2011 at 6:08 PM

    Jeff
    Truly a handy little boat for small lakes and oversize ponds. I have landed lots of gills with this little rig. Thanks for the comment

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