NATHAN BAJADA, CENTRAL COAST, NSW
STYLE: I’m mad-keen on game-fishing with my wife, Amanda, and daughter, Chloe. Don’t be fooled, they’re a formidable crew! We also dabble on the snapper and kingfish grounds, and don’t mind a deep drop from time to time. The wife doesn’t mind a freezer full of fish. BOAT: We run a Cruise Craft 550 Outsider with a 150hp four-stroke Suzuki.
ELECTRONICS: We have a pair of 7-inch Simrad NSS EVO2 touchscreen units. These are connected via the NMEA 2000 network to the Lowrance Sonic Hub and Suzuki engine interface. We use one for sonar and the other as the chart plotter. We also added an OP40 remote controller, which allows us to drive either unit using buttons, rather than the touchscreens. This makes a big difference in a trailer boat, especially when you’re running in less than ideal conditions. The sounder is connected to a through-hull Airmar B164 50/200 1kW transducer.
SCREENSHOT: I’m a sucker for a good screenshot and probably spend too much time taking photos of my sounder screen rather than trying to catch what just swam under the boat. My favorite screenshot so far was one we took over the recent hot bite at Port Stephens over the New Year period, of four or five what I assume were striped marlin. Not long after, Amanda was hooked up and fighting one of them!
NATHAN’S TOP TIP: We fitted a 25mm spacer between the hull and transducer, which gave us a huge performance improvement. This is particularly noticeable at speed, as it reduces a lot of the interference from the bubbles running down the surface of the hull.
Recent Comments