Mako 284 Centre Console Fishing Boat: 2016 Review

The Mako 284 Centre Console is a fibreglass fishing boat made entirely for sportfishing and long runs offshore. The Trade-a-Boat crew tested this boat in a variety of conditions in and around Hervey Bay, covering long runs of as much as 80 miles and even venturing offshore.

Mako 284 Centre Console

The Mako 284 CC is quite the fishing boat. Weight is not inconsiderable – around three tonnes – but with the supercharged twin 300hp Mercury Verado outboard powerplant that’s not a problem. Those Twin 300hp Mercury Verado outboard motors have a lot of gutsy gumption out of the hole, while economy was not bad either.

“The ride is incredibly soft on this boat,” said Trade-a-Boat’s Queensland boat tester, Kevin Smith. “Whatever conditions get thrown at it, she can handle it. We travelled around, at an average of 25 to 30 knots over the whole weekend, and in some pretty rough conditions – and nobody looked uncomfortable at any stage during the trip,” he said.

“You can wack it up to higher speeds round the 42 to 44-knot mark; the only thing there though, you’re going to be sucking a bit of juice,” he said.

Fishability

Being a centre-console fishing boat, the Mako 284 CC design is obviously built around all-round fishing space. “It’s a pretty good multi-purpose type of fishing boat,” says Kevin Smith. “We had five or six onboard over the whole weekend and there was never an issue with space. It’s an easy boat to work off. ”

The Mako 284 CC was very much worked through the conditions it was built for, with hot gamefishing sessions (catching mackerel, tuna, and even losing one marlin) demonstrating again and again its space and fishability credentials.

“Up in the bow, throw poppers for GTs. In the stern, put a spread out for marlin or whatever gamefish you prefer. And if you really want to, over the side, chuck a few bottom sticks down. It’s the best of all worlds,” said Kevin Smith.

Storage

While centre console fishing boats generally lack storage space, this is not the case on the Mako 284 CC. The bow has storage hatches that can even take rods. Massive killtanks are in the stern while the gunwales have big rod racks, plus tackle storage is built in throughout. The baitstation – located inside the cockpit – has a colossal livewell, as well as a sink. All this still leaves a wide open area for the fishing.

Mako 284 Centre Console price

This Centre Console is a big, awesome toy. For this reason the Mako 284 CC price is a touch under $300,000. It’s not for everyone, but you get a lot of boat for your money – and then some.

“In saying that, I don’t think it’s bad value for money at all,” said Kevin Smith. “As you can see, it’s loaded with features and accessories, and at the end of the day it’s a really good quality product.”