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GO FISH!
By Barry Gibson
As I write this column over Memorial Day weekend, gas is – as everyone so well knows – at an all-time high in the U.S. Regular unleaded is $3.92 at my local Mobil station, and marine gas is even more, already up to $4.69 at a marina in Portland, ME, where I recently took on fuel. We’re all going to pay more this year for boat fuel assuming we pile on as many engine hours as we did last season, and a lot of boaters that I’ve talked to are resigned to that fact, figuring there’s nothing they can do about it short of trimming their number of trips.
But is there? The fact is that there are a few things you can do to reduce your fuel costs fairly significantly. But to get to “fairly significantly” you need to do several of these things in concert, as there’s no single magic bullet that will keep more of your hard-earned cash in your pocket. So, here are five simple tips for center-console fishermen that can provide some relief from those chronic gas pains.
Buy from a gas station if possible. Marinas are notorious for marking up gas as much as $1 (or more) per gallon over service station prices, even though they often get their fuel from the same delivery trucks. If you trailer your boat every trip you probably already buy from a gas station, but if you’re in a wet slip or rack you might think about purchasing one of those 15- to 28-gallon portable, wheeled “gas caddies” and fill it up at the local station. They run $230 to $400, but if you split the cost with a couple of buddies you may just recoup your portion of the investment in the first few fill-ups.
Don’t fill your boat’s tank(s) all the way. If you have a 150-gallon tank and you normally only burn 25 gallons per trip, there’s no sense lugging around the extra weight of unneeded fuel. Consider topping off at 80 or 100 gallons. You’ll have plenty of fuel in reserve, and the 300-plus pounds you eliminate can result in better economy at cruise speeds.
Lighten up. Just as excess fuel adds weight and reduces efficiency, so does all that gear you have stashed in every available nook and cranny. Do you really need to carry five gallons of oil? Three anchors? Twenty pounds of sinkers? Four cases of soda? Remove anything you really don’t need for a single trip and store the rest in a dock box or the garage.
Create a game plan for your fishing trips. Spend a little time before you head out developing a plan that will allow you to burn the least amount of fuel. Figure tides, time of day, “bite windows” and so forth, and then create a route to your string of honey-holes that eliminates back-tracking and lengthy side runs.
Use and trust your gph gauge. Most larger outboard motors now come with multi-function gauges that include digital or analog gallons-per-hour consumption. Use engine and tab trim along with throttle adjustment to obtain the most economical cruise speed. Engine trim angle in particular can make a huge difference. Keep tweaking until that gph number drops as low as you can get it.
Bottom line? Get out there and fish. Enjoy! Don’t let fuel prices push you around. You can save some real folding money if you put in a little extra effort. And, at the end of the year, what are you going to showcase in your annual Christmas family newsletter — the bucks you saved by cutting back on your number of fishing trips, or the photo of the 16-pound mutton snapper you wrestled away from that wreck?