Which bait boat is the best

However, if you want the best, you have to pay and there are indications the Angling Technics Microcat is up there. Four very quiet water jet motors power this bait boat via the FM frequency controller, it can be told to spin on its own axis for better performance, and it has all the LED lights for use and navigation in the dark. It is fitted with standard batteries that give it 45 minutes, and comes with a spare HD battery for an additional 70 minutes.

Still with Angling Technics for this very impressive bait boat, which is the Mk4 version of the first boat in our premium section above. It also has a m range so can take you just about anywhere, and is quite spectacular in being able to run at full speed for 2 hours. This boat also comes with the solar charger and spare battery, and is equipped with the interference-free sophisticated radio system for fault-free running, and it is a quality machine, without any doubt at all.

This is the smaller model in the Waverunner range, and perhaps makes more sense for someone wanting a sophisticated bait boat — in other words, not a toy — but without having to pay silly money. This boat comes with a single 5kg hopper, and also has a neat function whereby if you lose the radio signal it will automatically return to base.

The Cult Ranger is a sophisticated bait boat that has a hopper capacity of up to 3kg and can be used in single or dual-hopper configurations. It also runs on the secure 5. The Cult Ranger comes with lead rather than lithium batteries, that give you up to 3 hours of performance, and can be upgraded to heavier duty batteries for longer hours.

Is it worth the price? We believe it to be one of the best bait boats here, and with the fish finder is an interesting package. However, if you are serious about your carp fishing and really want a bait boat, this is undoubtedly one for a shortlist. Usage on one charged battery is two hours.

The fish finder is built-in and ready to go, and offers a full range of features and functions, and it has the requisite lights for night usage and large waters. However, if catching a lot of fish is your idea of success, then these boats will help you — we know that from experience! These are cheaper than some bait boats, but its probably a bit too much effort for my liking. One of the most important factors of all with the boat is the battery life.

However, some packages — among the premium bait boats especially — will be supplied with a spare battery or more, and others come with a very handy solar battery charger. The hopper is the part that carries and delivers the bait, and the difference in size here is quite considerable.

First, you need to decide upon whether you want a single or double hopper — the latter allows you to carry more groundbait, and to deliver it to two locations in one journey — and then how much you need to be able to carry.

The range starts at 1. How far away do you want to place your bait and rig? The usual maximum range of a boat is around m, but beware losing radio signals in areas where it may be obstructed by trees or buildings. Almost all of the bait boats in our range will be able to run further than the average caster and most will have a range in excess of m almost yards.

Some boat boats are fitted with devices which ensure that they turn around, should they ever lose signal from your controller, too. Bear in mind that many bait boats are fitted with hook-release systems, too.

These allow you to attach your hook to the outside of the bait boat, releasing it in tandem with your boatful of free offerings. If you are using the bait boat to drop your hook as well as your bait, it will serve you well to remember that you still need to be able to land any fish you hook! The force which moves your bait boat through the water is exceptionally important. This is why most bait boats are now fitted with jet pumps, rather than traditional propellers.

Jet pumps ensure that your bait boat moves through the water with minimal disturbance, as they are also less likely to tangle on weeds, enabling you to target shallower waters with more confidence. However, you will still find propellers on some of the bait boats we stock. This is because propellers require significantly less energy to get going and keep moving — extending the battery life of your boat by an impressive margin. High quality bait boat manufacturers will also keep the weed issue in mind when designing their propulsion system and many propeller driven boats now come with inbuilt weed guards.

As many carp anglers will know, more often than not the best time to target the water is at dawn and dusk. This will leave you with the unfortunate scenario of baiting your swim darkness or near to. Luckily, many of the bait boats in our range take this into account and are fitted with LEDs. Most bait boats will have different coloured lights on the front and back, so you should always easily be able to tell which way your boat is facing.

Along with the latest boats and spare battery packs, we also stock a comprehensive range of accessories. Everything from boat bags to solar panels and protective rain pouches for remote controls can be found on our online shop.

As you can see, Angling Direct has worked hard to put together a collection that covers all bases. When you see the price checked logo on the product page you are guaranteed a fantastic price.

Angling Direct is able to offer impartial advice on a huge range of fishing tackle and accessories from the biggest names in the business. Our customer support page has all the information you need for getting in contact. As standard, it lacks some of the advanced features like a built-in GPS, fishfinder, or camera. Anatec is a big name in bait boats and it is hard to keep them away from any such lists for long. They were the first manufacturer of the popular catamaran hull design and are vastly popular among British fishermen.

As the name indicates, the Anatec Catamaran DL has a simple yet efficient catamaran design. This makes it quite stable and suitable for choppy waters. Any catamaran style boat tracks well and this bait boat is no exception. For me, what sets Catamaran DL apart is its easy serviceability. As a result, you can save a lot of time and money by maintaining the boat yourself. For bait delivery, it has two independent hoppers and each of these can hold upwards of 1 kg of bait.

As they operate separately from each other, you can use this feature to deliver bait at different locations in one trip. You can also control the hatch opening speed and this enables you to spread bait over a larger area. In this newer, upgraded version of the DL, its two brushless motors work on two 7. The brushless motors help the boat glide through the water with ease and at a decent pace.

These motors power two propellers that can be operated individually, giving you the ability to make fine adjustments and also make U-turns. The boat does not need an antenna to operate. This means there will be no snagging with any overhead branches or foliage. There are six ultra-powerful LED lights on the front with twin lights on the back and these are extremely helpful in foggy conditions and, obviously, at night. The Catamaran DL also features a simple and ingenious rear line clip.

The clip enables you to release the hookbait independently from the bait inside the main hoppers. You can control this hook release mechanism from its Graupner handset. Other than that, there is so much to like about this feature-packed bait boat including robust construction, super-easy serviceability, perfect floatation with a catamaran hull and highly customizable bait delivery. The Waverunner Shuttle can be described as the younger sibling of the Waverunner Atom, we discussed earlier.

These two bait boats have a lot in common and you can expect similar performance. Thus, it provides a good feature-rich option at a lesser price. One natural concern with a smaller bait boat can be its limited bait capacity. However, the Shuttle surprises us with a 1. This is due to the one large magnetic hopper that runs the length of the boat. This model weighs in at 6.

There is also an ergonomic handle on the top. Such features make it ideal for a more mobile angler as it can easily be carried in most rucksacks. Like the Waverunner Atom, its hopper operates via an electromagnetic system so there is nothing to get stuck when releasing the contents.

One drawback I have personally felt with Waverunner boats is that they have funnelled hoppers, which is not ideal for spod mixes as some of it never leaves the boat. When it comes to power, the Shuttle works on two engine-operated propellers and has a coverage range of meters depending on the weather conditions.

On top of that, it now comes with a 5. This mechanism essentially works by making the boat turn whenever it gets to the end of its range until it receives a signal again. There are detachable solid weed guards on propellers. These do affect the speed of the boat so, if you are not fishing in a weedy lake, you can remove these for a faster ride.

There are also three more lights that act as a battery meter. You can also check the status of the battery on your handset. Talking of batteries, the boat operates on two 6V lead-acid batteries that give you around two hours of runtime. The handset operates on rechargeable AA batteries. This gives you the ability to tag the hookbait separately from the hopper and release it in a different position than the main load.

Of course, you can still place it in the hopper and release everything together as well. In summary, the Waverunner Shuttle is an impressive, compact bait boat that promises a lot. It has good battery life and coverage. Plus, there are multiple other handy features like the fail-safe return mechanism and rear line clip for effortless hook placement. Cult produces its Ranger Bait Boat series in three basic configurations and you can further customize these by adding things like a fishfinder and GPS functionality.

At first glance, we see an 8kg well-moulded boat with a stainless steel bolt joining the hull and the upper section. There is a silicone gasket in between and this provides a watertight seal between the two sections. The boat has two battery compartments that hold one lead-acid battery each lithium battery models are also available. The good thing is that these compartments have magnetic lids to keep water out.

Thanks to these covers, the boat is virtually unsinkable. From an aesthetics point of view, the first thing to catch the eye are its car-like tail lights , which I think look pretty cool and, of course, are very helpful for seeing which way round the boat is in the water. In addition, there are three battery indicators in the rear. On the front are three LEDs: two smaller lights at the sides with a larger central lamp that can be turned on and off from the handset.

Like the previous boats on the list, the Ranger has a safety feature which results in the boat performing a larger circular route whenever it goes out of the range in order to bring itself back into range. The boat has a m range but this may not quite be reachable unless the conditions are perfect so it is unlikely to reach much further than most other boats.

However, one area where Ranger certainly beats many of its competitors in run-time. At healthy hours run-time on the lead-acid battery model and around 6 hours on the lithium version.

A major plus is that you can add a divider to the hopper and have the 2 halves drop independently from each other. This makes this boat versatile and can help you feed different areas in a single trip. Like other entries on the list so far, Cult Ranger also has a rear line clip that finds its function in placing hookbait separate from the main payload. For getting out into the lake, the boat operates on two propellers that have a weed guard that you can remove depending on the lake conditions.

If the weed guards are removed, it can get to a top speed of feet per minute as opposed to 60 feet per minute with the weed guards on.