Cutwater Fishing Mods/Musts?

[haramachi]

Hello:

First time poster, new to the Cutwater community. This is such a great forum! We are in the process of selling our current boat so that we can upgrade to a Cutwater 302 coupe w/ Yamahas. As much as we love our current setup, which is an aluminum boat principally used for fishing/crabbing and some overnights in Puget Sound, we're looking for a little more comfort/cruisability without sacrificing too much on the fishing front. Hence, the 302. My principal concern in making the switch is what we give up on fishability, and what I need to do to improve that. I've found a few posts on this forum talking about transducers, downriggers, etc., but if anyone who fishes a Cutwater a lot has tips or suggestions on what we should do with the boat before it leaves the factory/dealer, it would be much appreciated! For example, to match what we currently have, I think we'll want to add a thru hull or transom transducer, and consider putting Scotty plugs on the swim step so we can haul in crab pots from the back or maybe even fish a light downrigger + ball off the swim step. But that would be conditional on the strength of those rails. I'm also thinking the grill could pop out and be replaced by a cutting board for bait prep. Any thoughts or suggestions on this topic would be MUCH apprecaited. What's worked, what hasn't worked, what would you do differently if you could do it again, etc.


Warm wishes,

Chris

 

[steven_ickman]

Hey Chris... We just traded in our C28 for a C302 Coupe as well. When do you get your boat? I've fished my C28 a few times but will confess that I''m a more casual fisherman at best. The people you want to talk to are Jeff and Tonja Warren who own "I'm In!", a C302 Sport Coupe. They fish the heck out of their boat. They're not super active on here, unfortunately, but Jeff and I were talking about upgrades last month so I can try to recall the upgrades he made and what upgrades I'm making...

I can't recall if Jeff had any specific fishing upgrades done but the boats come pretty well equipped from the factory. Jeff and Tonja used to have a C28 and on that boat they had an extra TV added so that they could watch their depth finder from their cockpit. The salon TV on the 302 can already be flipped around to mirror the depth finder so you don't need that upgrade anymore. Both of us swapped out the the fridge on the cockpit. Jeff had them put in a freezer because they crab a lot where we opted for the ice maker. We're having Bellingham Yachts add a 12v outlet add to the lazzerett (large storage area under cockpit) so that we can add a portable freezer which we'll just keep in there as it's massive (ironically we're buying Jeff and Tonjas old portable freezer.) We're also adding a 120v outlet in the cockpit because you just never know.

We kept the poles for the sunshade on our old 28 and they're making us a new sunshade. Jeff and Tonja have a big 12th man flag they use as a sunshade and the cool thing they did is they added rod holders to the railings on the swim step and they moved their poles to back there which gives them much more area for shade. Normally the poles go in the rod holders at the corner of the cockpit so not as much area and trust me if you do a lot of extended cruising out here you'll want a sunshade of some sort.

We're having some additional canvas work done to prevent our 2 year old from flipping switches in the coffin area (thanks for that tip Nat) but to be honest this will be our 3rd season cruising in a cutwater and the boat seems pretty well equipped out of the box. If you have some other electronic goodies you'd like to add I'm sure they can accommodate you but from a cruising perspective the boat should be pretty well setup.

Steve

 

[steven_ickman]

Oh I can't believe I forgot to add... Both Jeff and I had SeaDek, an aftermarket decking material, added to the cockpit. It's a really nice rubber decking that looks gorgeous, should give you better traction, and just feels nice under feet. Jeff and Tonja say it cleans up really well with the a hose after fishing so that could definitely be a great upgrade for you. Price wise I think the quotes are coming in at around $4k - $5k so it's not cheap but we had just had it done on our C28 and I'm convinced it helped sell our boat in less than a week so I feel like it's the best upgrade we could have made.

 

[mikey]

I am very interested in Jeff & Tonja's mounting the TV in the cockpit to give chart/sounder for fishing as I have a C28 with a Garmin 7212. Do you know the format they used or is it possible to contact them?

 

[Headlee]

I've fished our C28 the last couple of seasons in Puget Sound. It is generally equipped well enough to fish straight from the factory. I use a Scotty on the port and starboard side and flip the cabin seat down and simply view the Garmin 7212 from the cockpit and use the auto pilot remote to make minor adjustments to my course. I'll probably add a rail mounted cutting table to handle the herring and crab bait to keep it out of the cockpit. I have raptor decking and the oils do leave stains, which is something you don't have to deal with when fishing from aluminum. Also, there isn't a good place that I have found for a large cooler in the cockpit or swim step. Maybe I'll go with a soft sided cooler of some sort.

I've caught fish while trolling with the D4 260 HP, but think I might be more effective with 9.9 or 15 hp kicker that is tied into the steering and autopilot. Not to mention so much quieter. This of course opens up a whole new level of upgrade. I done some research, but have not yet found a boat yard that is skilled at mounting a kicker on a C28. I'd love to hear any recommendations.

Lastly, I'd be interested in who built the sunshade for Steven. Thanks.