Trolling?
 

Hi I am about to close the deal on the 1996 Mariah and I only have really one concern it is how slow will these boats go. I like to Kokanee fish and you must troll slow and I don't want to mount my ez troll plate to the out drive unless it is a must. I want to know if anyone of you here fish from their Mariah and if so how do you do, or are these boats only for water sports? :confused:

Re: Trolling?
 

Mariahs are pleasure boats. Certainly you could fish off of it but if that's your main goal I would think you would be better served with something designed for your purpose IMO.

Re: Trolling?
 

This is where I am caught between a rock and a hard place. It is a very beautiful boat and the price is alright and I could see us (wife & myself) enjoying it just cruising. I told her I would hate to trash such a beautiful boat fishing and altering the deck to accommodate downriggers and rod holders etc.. I heard in her voice a little bit of disappointment but it is not just I but she likes to fish also. So here we are trying to make a decision that we can live with and not regret it.

Re: Trolling?
 

There are possibly a couple variables you could control like idle speed and prop pitch? I'd imagine it's going to always be a little above ideal speed but it sure is going to ride better than a bass boat.

Re: Trolling?
 

I am really stuck I know that my wife loves the boat and I like it a lot. I know if we had to fish we could night fish for trout under a submersible light from the swim platform. It is just such a gorgeous boat I would hate to trash it.

Re: Trolling?
 

If you intentionally trash a Mariah you would probably make enemies with many here. LOL

Re: Trolling?
 

First as you know this is not a fishing boat. I do a lot of fishing on my Mariah and many others. So here are my thoughts:

1) If you were only concerned about slow trolling - then you put something as simple as a bucket or a drift anchor out. In my Mariah, I can slow idle speed from 4.5KT to about 2KT. If you need to go slower, add a bucket or use a bigger drift anchor.

2) Now if you want to install rod holders, I put mine on my grab rail across the stern. I used clamp on rod holders. Work great! They don't get in the way and they're not permanent!

3) Down riggers - that's a different story.There are some good clamp on models, but I haven't seen any with a clamp for tubes. You may have to create your own brace to clamp on the downrigger. The advantage - it's not permanent again.

I don't know what model you're looking at, but these are very fishable - just not in real skinny water! They clean easily, but don't drain directly overboard as the deck water goes through the bilge. You may want to spray/clean the bilge often to keep the smell down from fish slime, blood, etc.

Good luck!

Re: Trolling?
 

I am not out to make any enemies, I respect and love beauty that is why I married my wife. I have chosen to pass on the boat simply because we both love to fish. I am disabled so I can ski or tube and as far a just cursing when ever we get our selves on the water wife wants to fish. I use to work everyday on the water on around boats and love being out in the fresh air. I just won’t buy something beautiful and make it ugly. I am sorry if I offended anyone here and if you would just remove me from you membership I would appreciate it. Thank you LJ.

Re: Trolling?
 

I doubt you offended anyone! I love to fish. The Mariah was NOT my first choice, but the kids really wanted some big and comfortable to ski and tube behind. The Mariah fit that bill! I kept it's beauty by keeping the add-ons small and easy to remove (except the Humminbird Fish Finder/GPS unit - but that's still a beauty in itself).

I may sell the Mariah next spring as the kids are older now and not as interested in driving the 2 hours to the boat to do what they do.

Good luck!

I have nothing to do with the membership!

Re: Trolling?
 

LJ- Don't be offended, some of our members tend to be a little sarcastic with their posts. Sorry about that. :)

Mariah's can be a good fishing boat, as I have seen them with trolling motors mounted on the front. Granted it may not be the absolute best choice for a full-fledged fishing vessel, if that's what your primary focus for using it will be.

If you wanted to stick with the Mariah line, have you thought about looking at possibly a Jubilee model? The look of them is definitely an acquired taste, but it's definitely more open than any of the other boats, and might actually be one of the easiest when it comes to accessibility if you're disabled. It also has lots of space for the wife to lay out and relax! They have TONS of storage on board, and some of the lockers could probably be made into livewells or catch holders. I would assume you could put a tower on the boat and mount outriggers, rod holders, etc.

Otherwise, the new Mariah line is owned by the parent company of Sea Fox boats, who make great fishing boats. Maybe check them out and see if there's something that might be more suitable for your fishing needs!

Once again, sorry about some of the previous comments, we don't want to lose any potential Mariah owners, and we're here to help! :wink_thumbup: