Sea-Doo and Cam-Am give anglers options to reach secret fishing spots

Whether you enjoy spending time on the water or in the woods, Bombardier Recreational Products put you in the driver’s seat

BRP, as the Canadian company is known, makes Sea-Doo personal watercraft that include vessels designed for fishing as well as Can-Am utility vehicles that can handle the most rugged, muddiest trails that South Florida off-road riders encounter.

I had the opportunity to fish from a Sea-Doo FishPro and a Sea-Doo Switch pontoon boat in the Intracoastal Waterway in Jupiter and test drive a Can-Am Defender on the backcountry trails at the J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area west of West Palm Beach. They were fun to drive and provided access to places that bigger boats and buggies could not get into.

The FishPro, which is offered in four models, has fishing-specific features that allow it to handle choppy, bigger open waters according to Sea-Doo spokesman Tim McKercher.

“It has a deeper Vee-hull and it’s a little bit longer than some of our other models, so it’s designed to go through those rougher water conditions but it’s also designed to be very stable. It was completely redesigned based on some consumer feedback,” McKercher said, adding that BRP designers increased the FishPro’s stability by lowering its center of gravity.

“They lowered the seat position, they lowered the footwells, they lowered the handlebars, they lowered the storage, they lowered the fuel tank. And when you’re fishing, it’s even more important to be stable because you’re moving around a little bit more than the average rider.”

Among the FishPro features are a Garmin GPS and fishfinder unit, a cooler for live bait or your catch, rod-holders, a large front storage space ideal for tackle and other accessories such as a swivel seat, and a waterproof, shockproof compartment for a smart phone. McKercher added that the versatile FishPro also can be used for wakeboarding or cruising to a sandbar or waterfront restaurant.

Bri Andrassy of Jupiter, who gained fame when she caught and released a 200-pound striped marlin fishing from a kayak off Mexico, is now a Sea-Doo ambassador. She said she loves being able to quickly cover a lot of water to get to where the fish are instead of having to paddle to and from a distant hotspot. Fishing with her in Jupiter, we ran to one of her spots in Hobe Sound, where we caught snook and snapper, among other species.

A FishPro would be ideal for fishing the fall mullet run, which should be happening soon, as anglers can run along local beaches until they find the mullet schools and the snook, tarpon, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, jacks and sharks that feed on the baitfish.

“You can spot those schools and run up to them at 50 mph, get right in the middle of the school, cast, hook up and catch a fish, and then run and gun and cast again,” McKercher said. “Bri’s the perfect example. She was fishing from kayaks and paddleboards before she got on a Sea-Doo. And that’s really fun, but it’s as fast as you paddle, and that’s a lot of work. This is like a kayak in that you have a full 360-degree experience on the water. You’re close to the water, you’re close to the fish, but you can go 55 mph or more.”

Can-Am ambassador Allie D’Andrea of Jupiter, who hunts deer and turkeys on South Florida public lands such as Corbett and Big Cypress, where off-round vehicles are allowed, loves the maneuverability the smaller four-wheel drive vehicles provide as well as their reliability compared with big buggies that always seem to be breaking down.

“For me, it’s really just the accessibility of being able to hunt in places that I really otherwise couldn’t,” said D’Andrea, who is known as Outdoors Allie on YouTube and Instagram. “It’s a lot easier to ride back a couple miles on a trail and then hike from there to a spot. I’ll see people parked somewhere instead of trying to drive on a sandy road and I can just zip right past them.”

The two-door, three-person Can-Am Defender Limited and the four-door, six-person Defender Max Limited have 82-horsepower engines, power steering, tow hitches with a 2,500-pound towing capacity, winches, air conditioning and heating, a full hard roof and a three-position tilt-up glass windshield. D’Andrea noted that her Can-Am can easily handle wet conditions typical of South Florida.

“As long as the water’s not too deep, you’re good,” she said, adding that it’s wise to stop the vehicle, get out and check the water depth in some questionable spots.

During our ride through Corbett, the Can-Am had no trouble negotiating sand, water and muddy potholes. D’Andrea takes comfort in having a winch that can get her out of a tight spot if necessary, but she primarily uses it to get hunters who aren’t driving a Can-Am unstuck.

This story was originally published September 12, 2025 at 5:38 PM.