Pacific Sportfish 5.5m Fishing Cuddy Gary Howard. ONE advantage of working so close to a boat manufacturer and being their sole distributor is that you get a lot of say in the design of new models. Combine this with a keen fisho as the senior salesman and you end up with some smart looking rigs that have had more than just a bit of thought put into them. The latest release from Pacific Sportfish is a classic example with Bill Hull from Northside Marine putting a fishing layout with a difference to a proven performer on the water. The 5.5 Fishing Cuddy encompasses a number of fishing options to give anglers diversity in the one boat. What you basically have is a large open aft cockpit where all the fishing action takes place. The bow section of the boat is occupied by the cuddy where you will find the helm, storage and protection from the elements. Behind this is where you will see one of the major differences with this boat which is a large work station combining, bait rigging board, tackle hatch, live bait tank, ice box, bench seating and your batteries and oil bottles. Many anglers these days are quite diverse in their approach to fishing, being that it is not just one particular facet of the sport that they follow. Where once game boats and a handful of centre consoles targeted the game fish and big half cabs targeted the bottom reef species, we now so quite an overlap in these areas. Trailer boat anglers can enjoy chasing a few billfish yet still have a deck just as suited for a few anglers to do a bit of bottom bashing. Unless you have been in a few different versions of a similar size boat then it can be hard to appreciate the differences of room available and ease of fishing. Once you get a few on board, pulling up fish, trolling lures or trying to land fish, the advantages of a clever layout become more obvious. In the relaxed, unconfined area of a show room you can not appreciate this. Knowing that Bill is a keen fisho, I suggested that we slip a few rods in the boat when taking the boat for a test run - just in case there were a few fish about! I talked a mate of mine into coming out for a few hours with us as three is an average sort of number that would head out for a day’s fish and it is a good indication of how workable the boat is for fish, especially as we planned to try and spin up a few tuna or jig a couple of mackerel. Fast fishing and casting is a sure way to trip over each other if the layout of the boat isn’t quite right. The boat comes fitted with a V4 90hp Johnson, which for a 5.5 metre boat destined to do a lot of offshore fishing is about as small as you would want to go. In the bay conditions it was adequate for the job, but a really feel that a 115hp would be more appropriate for offshore work. The added weight of a full tank of fuel, ice, a good catch of fish and the likelihood of having to climb a few swells can take its toll. The 90hp and the 115hp Johnson outboards a more or less the same engine with only a few kilos difference in weight and under a thousand dollars difference in cost. The smaller engine however didn’t challenge the boat’s ability to get up on the plane and to maintain a good cruising speed. With the weight of the cuddy cab and the three of us up for’ard the ride was level and smooth. The morning started up with about ten knots of chop which was nothing to concern us with, the deep foot of the bow slipped through it with ease. As the day progressed the winds dropped and we had one of those days you pray for. Being mid week there were no other boats about and as we headed further across the bay we found a number of large schools of tuna working the baitfish schools on the surface. It just so happened that we had the rods rigged with lures. When I hooked up on the first cast to a solid mack tuna, you can imagine how we spent the next few hours as the fish continued to feed without fear. We all had a ball landing quite a few fish and dropping just as many as the fish threw the lures during the fight. The beauty of this is that we gave the boat a real work out and even though a cuddy cab is not as good for this style of fishing as the likes of a centre console the three of us could all still cast and retrieve lures without tripping over each other, even when we had double hook ups. This was made easier as there was nothing about the aft cockpit to restrict movement as the fish swum from one side of the boat to the other. With these fast running, stubborn fish it is important that you are able to quickly move your position as bust offs under the boat or around the engine can be common place. Perhaps the hardest aspect of this style of fishing is on those days when the fish are touchy and being positioned right at the bow (as in a centre console) can make a big difference. In the cuddy cab you have to cast from the side or try and balance up on the foredeck and anchor well. One area that works well is for trolling for the larger game fish. The work station behind the helm features a live bait tank, rigging board and tackle hatch with internal trays. Located here, you can work on various bait rigs while the rods are trolling from the sides and stern of the boat. On those long days trolling, when the fish are slow, the bench seat the folds up here is a blessing. You just sit back in comfort and watch those rods waiting for the action. Likewise you can sit down while bottom fishing waiting for those bites to come along. When you don’t want to use the seat it just hangs down. Behind it is where you’ll find the dual batteries and oil bottle. In this central location they are very easy to access if need be and in a position where they are not going to get a drink of salt water if reversing up on a fish or if you cop a big wave into the boat when crossing a bar. Remembering that all the water will run to the back of the boat. This boat comes with a self draining deck with reasonable size scuppers either side that can be opened or closed, none the less it does take quite a while for a few hundred litres of water to drain out, hence I do like the idea of the batteries being away from the transom. The other side of the centre-mounted work station is another big bench seat capable of seating three in behind the windscreen and under the canopy. Under the seat is your fully insulated ice box. Access down either side of this station is adequate and you shouldn’t have a problem getting from the front to the back of the boat. Inside the cabin there are no bunks, the area is merely for storage. A raised bulkhead runs across here with the bar on one side removable if you need to put longer items in here or perhaps roll a swag out for a bit of sleep. For a mid size fishing boat the 5.5 fishing cuddy offers anglers something a little different which is more than just a little fisherman friendly. Other features such as the wet tank under the floor and the removable cutting board over the anchor well all add to this boat. Stability at rest and on the move is very good, even with a couple of anglers on the one side it wasn’t too bad at all. You will, as we did, enjoy fishing out of these boat with the confidence that the rig is going to get you from A to B without fuss. It is indeed an interesting rig worth a good look at if you enjoy offshore fishing. Test Boat supplied by Northside Marine (07) 3265 8000.