Buy cheap, buy twice—or a proper bargain? That was the question when Wayne and Foxy unpacked a bait boat bought from Temu for around £230. It looked promising on the kitchen table, but the real test was a week of carp fishing in France.

We took our usual ND bait boat as well. Foxy put the budget boat to work on the right-hand side of the swim, while Wayne used the ND on the left. This was a chance to see how the cheaper option handled the jobs we actually needed it for: taking rigs and bait out, returning to marked spots and getting back to the bank.

First impressions: better than we expected

Neither of us knew quite what to expect when we opened the box. The boat felt light, looked tidy and made a better first impression than the price might suggest. Some of the stickers were already peeling, but the overall finish was more encouraging.

Our package included a remote with a small display and four batteries in total: two in the main delivery and another two that arrived separately. There was also an antenna and a lanyard. Those were the contents of our order, so check the exact package if you’re comparing listings.

One feature stood out straight away: the opening at the rear for loading the rig and line. Being able to use that passage rather than fiddling underneath the hull looked like it could make life much easier on the bank.

Putting it to work in France

By Tuesday afternoon, we’d been at the lake for three nights. The arrival day had been a bit of a blur of travelling and setting up, but we’d now had enough time using the boat to form a useful first impression.

So far, so good. In fact, Foxy was already talking about keeping it. The original idea had been to test it and sell it afterwards, but he could see it getting plenty of use on smaller waters back home in the North East.

Speed: surprisingly quick

The boat has three speed settings, changed using the M button on the remote. Settings two and three were noticeably quick. Wayne’s first observation from watching Foxy use it was just how rapidly it moved.

That mattered on this trip because we were fishing a long way out. We estimated roughly two and a half minutes to reach a spot, followed by the return journey. We didn’t measure the distance, so there isn’t a tested range figure to quote—but these weren’t just short runs a few yards from the bank.

GPS: returning to the spots we marked

To find our spots, we went out in a rowing boat and prodded around for hard areas. Once we’d found a spot, we positioned the bait boat over it and saved the location.

We then sent the bait boat away while staying over the spot in the rowing boat. When we told it to return to the saved location, it came straight back to where we were waiting. That was a reassuring practical check of its positioning, rather than a measured GPS accuracy test.

The remote also showed an estimated countdown to the selected spot. As the boat approached, it beeped, with the beeps becoming more frequent nearer the destination. In the return demonstration, we selected the location we’d saved as spot one and pressed the flag button to send it back.

Battery life during our trip

We fully charged the batteries at home. By the Tuesday update, we still hadn’t changed them, although the boat’s battery indicator had reached red and a change was due soon.

For the work it had done, we were pleased with that. We didn’t log exact operating hours or trips, so this is our experience from the session rather than a controlled battery-life figure.

Loading bait and rigs

The loading arrangement turned out to be one of the boat’s most useful features. In the demonstration, we opened the hopper mechanism, closed the door, added bait and used the passage at the back for the rig and line before securing the latch.

There was a small hiccup when the remote wasn’t switched on—a reminder to have both the boat and controller ready before operating the mechanism. Once everything was on, loading was straightforward, with no awkward reaching underneath the hull to route the line.

What didn’t we like?

Reverse was the clearest weakness. By Friday, after plenty of use, Foxy’s main criticism was that the boat didn’t perform especially well going backwards.

It also carried less bait than the ND boat we’d brought along. For the tasks we used it for, the budget boat had done what we needed, but that doesn’t make the two boats identical in capacity, features or long-term durability.

During the trip, the remote also survived sitting in a puddle in the rowing boat. We don’t know its waterproof rating and wouldn’t treat that incident as proof that it can be submerged.

Did it pass the test?

Yes. By the end of the week, the boat had seen lots of use and Foxy was still impressed. It had also been used to place the rig and bait for a 50lb carp during the trip—a memorable result, even if no bait boat can take all the credit for a capture.

For around £230, our verdict was 9/10 for value. The speed, loading arrangement and return to saved spots were the highlights. Weak reversing and the smaller hopper were the compromises.

That’s our verdict after one busy week in France, rather than a claim about years of reliability. We went into the test wondering whether we’d regret buying cheap. We came away wanting to keep it.

Watch the full review

Watch Fresh Fishing’s bait boat review on YouTube for the unboxing, bankside updates, loading demonstration and final verdict.