Heading to an island for 5 days in June. It’s a 6 mile trip from landing to island, and closest fuel is 8 mile round trip from the cabin. Wanna bring as much as we can. I’ve got a 16” boat that will be packed up with gear and already have two 6 gallon tanks on board. 25hp motor so don’t use a ton, and we will also the bow-mount a lot — but don’t wanna get in a bad spot either.
How much fuel would you pack for a trip like that, and can anyone recommend a fuel caddy?
Thanks!
2 6 gallon tanks on board and 2 extra 6 gallon cans would be more than enough for a 25 horse motor wouldnt it? fuel caddys get so heavy and suck moving around. 6 gallon cans are easier to haul around. 8 mile round trip to get extra gas isnt that far really lol
Suppose you’re not wrong. I was looking at 15 gallon jug thing but I suppose an extra couple 6 gallon jerry cans would probably suffice.
Re: the 8 mile trip for gas. I suppose it’s all relative. There are a lot of things I’d rather do on my trip than take an 8 mile cruise for gas while burning more gas along the entire trip. There are also lots of little narrows and shallow spots and tons of canoes on that route so it’s not just like a straight shot running wide open.
We did a trip similar to this in Ontario probably 15 years ago. We had x3 boats with nothing bigger than a 25hp and a slightly further trip than you by water.
I don’t remember specifics, but I vividly remember being shocked at how little 15hp and 25hp outboards used. We probably brought 30 gallons too much between all the boats.
Have done similar outings, we had a 2stroke 25hp and 14′, amazing how much fuel you’ll gobble up with the boat loaded with gear. Some of our fishing spots were 15-30min boat rides as well, we’d easily go thru 20gallons in 3 days fishing, sometimes have to get gas from other groups who had 4 strokes.
We trolled quite a bit tho, no electric so that will help you.
Many years ago we used to boat/portage in to an island in Canada. 1st thing you do when you get to the island is store enough gas to get back to the landing at the end of the week. This gas is untouchable until pack/boat out day.
I would take the 2 tanks and 2 more 6 gallon cans, I cannot imagine going thru more than 6 gallons in a day, and if you look to be going thru it, make the 8 mile trek for more fuel in the middle of the day, not during prime fishing hours, and fish your way to and from the fuel stop. I had to make a run to a different resort once due to fuel not being available where I was staying, and wound up fishing a spot I never would have known about if I had not gone that way after fuel one time. It is likely the best walleye gravel bar I have been to! Now I hit it every trip to the area. I used to fish in a 16 foot boat with a 30HP evinrude, worked evenings, put boat in the water at approx 11 PM and fish till 4AM, could fish 2 nights from the 6 gallon tank and then would fill again, but was never out of gas.
I bring 2 6 gallon cans on our trip to canada. Completely different scenario however. Ours is a 22 mile boat ride and I have a 19′ boat with at 150 but it sips gas for its size. Typically by the end of the week I will add the two cans and still have plenty when we get back to the landing.
Those big gas caddies are not for this situation. Those are for filling a boat from a dock. They are way too heavy when full to be portable in the sense of getting them in and out of the boat. You also need gravity to get the gas out of the caddy. That means the caddy has to be higher than your gas tank.
For Canada trips we go through a lot of gas and the best thing I’ve found is good old-fashioned 5 gallon cans. They are easier to move around and easier to stow when your gas is broken down into 5 gallon cans.
As far as how much you need it’s really difficult to estimate. What really chews up gas in the old school 25 horse two strokes is doing a lot of Open water running. Those two strokes sip of gas when trolling but they really go through it when you’re up on plane.
In Canada when we have to do a lot of running to run up the river when the fish are by the falls we’re going through 6 Plus gallons a day. But when we don’t have to do that much running around because the fish are down in the big lake we only go through a gallon to 2 gallons a day. A wide variation.
Those big gas caddies are not for this situation.
This. They are intended for lugging gas down to the dock not carrying in a boat. Once you get it in the boat it will be likely too heavy to get out.
Sounds like cans is the way to go. But FWIW I was never planning to keep the caddy on the boat. I was looking at a 15 gallon caddy. Only time it would be in the boat is on the trip to and from the island. Upon arrival it would make to the dock, and I would use it to top off our two 6-gallon tanks as needed every morning.
I’ve spent some time plotting out routes to the various spots we are likely to fish. The good news is that our island is pretty centrally located. Some days we will put on 5 miles max, other days closer to 10. There is one trip I’m looking at that would be 14 miles round trip. I don’t think it will be necessary to go that far to find fish but I also like to explore and this area just looks cool.
When we’re using the outboard, it’s mostly going to be running on plane. Trolling will be done with the bow-mount and we’ll also spend a good chunk on spot-lock near islands and reefs.
Im going to do some testing next week to try to determine roughly how many hours/miles on plane I can get in one gallon. Should be interesting.
I do a similar trip but with a bigger boat and motor. Canaan’s and a jiggle siphon seem to work best for extra gas.
I guess in your situation which I’ve been in many many times, I haul 3 or 4 6 gallon cans to camp and then keep one of those in the boat at all times if I know I’m running further then what my 6 gallon tank would let me go for back and forth. Then I upgraded to a 12 gallon tank in the little boat and never really worried about it. But I have many gas cans so I never thought of a big fuel cuddy. Even though I’d rather carry multiple 6s over 1 15
I have a 25HP four stroke on my 16 footer and it sips gas. Outside of other suggestion here, I would suggest packing flares and other emergency equipment to flag down other boaters from a long distance should gas or engine breakdown happen.
I was considering a fuel caddy myself but I decided against because of the weight.
Instead I bought a AA battery fuel pump. Screws onto a 5-6 gal gas can and has a 4.25′ hose and auto shut off.
Refueling a boat with a 6 gal can is a PITA.
This Terra pump has solved it all!
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