Hello! I am a commercial jig fisherman and I catch and sell live fish on the Oregon coast out of my 1991 C-Dory Angler 22. Sometimes I go out with two deck hands but usually just one. I have a live well that weighs about 1000 lbs full and the boat is powered with a Honda 90 and 9.9 kicker.
Currently I mostly fish out of Port Orford where a crane sets the boats into the bay, no bar to cross, and this setup works great however I have fished north and south of here in Gold Beach and Bandon, where there are bars to negotiate, and I feel I am way underpowered at the bar especially when coming back in to port with a full load.
Last summer I was inbound crossing the bar in Bandon in conditions one would rather not see when coming home, and I found myself in a predicament I would rather not be in again. I lined up with the slot, picked a big swell to ride in, gave it full throttle and here we go. As the wave bucked up higher and higher I was unable to keep up and the boat slipped back into the trough. The next wave picked me up and theatened to break over the top of the boat but luckily I was able to shoot down the face like a pipeline surfer and wooshhh I was in. The ride to the dock found butterflies in my stomach and me questioning my career choice. A few days ago in Gold Beach I had a similar experience although not quite as dramatic but still, I've had enough.
I need more power.
I have a Honda 130 on another boat and I am thinking maybe I need to put it on the C-Dory. The extra horsepower would allow me to get up and go when necessary and I might not even sacrifice fuel economy as it's rare that even the 90 is wide open while cruising except to get up on plane, so the lower rpm might even save me some gas. I'm thinking the flat bottom design would handle the extra 100 lbs or so no problem.
Any thoughts?
Currently I mostly fish out of Port Orford where a crane sets the boats into the bay, no bar to cross, and this setup works great however I have fished north and south of here in Gold Beach and Bandon, where there are bars to negotiate, and I feel I am way underpowered at the bar especially when coming back in to port with a full load.
Last summer I was inbound crossing the bar in Bandon in conditions one would rather not see when coming home, and I found myself in a predicament I would rather not be in again. I lined up with the slot, picked a big swell to ride in, gave it full throttle and here we go. As the wave bucked up higher and higher I was unable to keep up and the boat slipped back into the trough. The next wave picked me up and theatened to break over the top of the boat but luckily I was able to shoot down the face like a pipeline surfer and wooshhh I was in. The ride to the dock found butterflies in my stomach and me questioning my career choice. A few days ago in Gold Beach I had a similar experience although not quite as dramatic but still, I've had enough.
I need more power.
I have a Honda 130 on another boat and I am thinking maybe I need to put it on the C-Dory. The extra horsepower would allow me to get up and go when necessary and I might not even sacrifice fuel economy as it's rare that even the 90 is wide open while cruising except to get up on plane, so the lower rpm might even save me some gas. I'm thinking the flat bottom design would handle the extra 100 lbs or so no problem.
Any thoughts?