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 We’ve always been a big fan of fishing from inflatable boats. But we’ve heard the criticisms every time we’ve been out on the Sea Eagle SE-8. Time and time people have questioned the safety of such a small boat. Now we’ve definitely battle tested the Sea Eagle SE-8 and we can attest that safety is not compromised. However, the size of the boat does make carrying a lot of fishing gear difficult and the speed of the SE-8 doesn't allow you to cover a lot of water in a short amount of time. So for 2008 we’ve decided to test out a bigger and faster inflatable. Yes, it’s bigger, faster but still packs all the benefits of an inflatable boat.
Looking at the 2008 BRIG Dingo lineup, we found an ideal line of boats which will suit every angler's needs. The Dingo D300 comes equipped with two separate air chambers for safety. In addition, BRIG has designed an inflatable keel running from the bow to the aft which also acts as an air chamber. This inflatable keel helps the Dingo series to get on plane quicker and allows the boat to cut through the water providing for a very smooth ride. The performance of inflatable boats are usually much better than their hard-bodied competition, and the D300 is no exception. While the BRIG D300 is rated for a 15hp motor, we equipped ours with a 6hp Mercury Outboard for ease of transport. The 6hp was sufficient in getting the D300 onto plane and allowed us to cover a lot of water in a short period of time which is crucial to catching some great fish.
 BRIG’s Dingo series is extremely lightweight and portable with the D300 weighing in at only 86lbs. With gas prices expected to increase through to the end of 2009, lightweight and portability are very important factors. One of the beautiful aspects of inflatables is that because of their lightweight they hardly consume any fuel while out on the water. Also, because you can just roll it up and pack it in your trunk, you don’t have a wind resisting, heavy boat and trailer combination to suck the gas out of your car as well. In addition, being portable allows you to get into many fishing holes where bigger boats just can’t go. The D300 combined with the Mercury 6hp has a draft of approx.1 ft. This allows you to get into some really shallow water.
BRIG boats are manufactured in Ukraine and the quality of their workmanship in outstanding. BRIG Boats are constructed from a 5-layer fabric with a Polyester core, an extremely durable material resistant to UV rays and fuel. In addition, all seams are glued together and a rubbing strake surrounds the entire boat for additional protection when mooring. Their use of quality components is readily visible from their oars to the wooden floor boards.
 The D300 took us approximately 15 minutes to get from the trunk to the water. For our first time out we wanted to see how much water and what types of fishing structure we could cover. Luckily, we were blessed with some varying weather conditions, with it being cloudy and windy in the morning, then bright blue skies and calm winds in the afternoon. The first spot we hit was a sharp drop just off of point in search for some walleyes. Having traveled over much open water, the stability of the BRIG D300 was evident, as we traversed some rougher water. After hitting a few more spots in search of walleye in about 15ft -30ft of water, we decided to call “no joy” and switch to hunt for some Northern Pike. To be honest, I think we were having more fun driving the D300 around the lake.
 In for the shores we headed as we decided to get back to some fishing! We anchored in along a weed bed in about 6ft of water. The wide beam of the D300 and the large inflatable tubes, it is extremely stable and comfortable even with the two of us standing and fighting a Pike double-header. After landing a few hefty Pike, we decided to head into the shallows in search of more Pike.
We arrived at a shallow flat in about 2ft of water in between to weed beds. After catching a couple of landing a few more fish, we concluded a fantastic day out on the lake in the BRIG Dingo D300. Having covered water ranging from deep to shallow and having fished a variety of structure in the D300, it is definitely a mean, lean fishing machine.
Visit BRIG’s website today!
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