Fish bites: Brown trout celebrates 160th birthday
Razorline adds bite; Cruise Craft flagship teased; Lowrance Eagle lands; WA size limit shake-up; 25,000nm in a Haines HunterIf you’re into trout fishing, this weekend marks a significant milestone – Saturday marks the 160th anniversary of the first brown trout fry hatching at the Plenty River near New Norfolk in Tasmania.
Brown trout ova were introduced to Tasmania in 1864 as part of an acclimatisation program to introduce British fish species to Australian waters.
The ova were shipped to Tasmania on ice, with the first fry hatching on May 5. Tasmania's trout stock, which was fully established in the state by 1866, was eventually used to introduce the fish to other waterways throughout Australia.
Razerline teases 9500 Sabre Tooth
West Australian alloy boat specialist Razerline has given potential buyers a taste of an all-new 9500 Sabre Tooth catamaran that is currently in build.
The plans of the new semi-enclosed pilothouse model reveal it will reach 9.53 metres in length overall, with a beam of 3.0 metres.
It’ll be a boat capable of running wide, featuring twin 500-litre fuel tanks. Razerline said it would post images of the build over the next few weeks.
Cruise Craft E770HT build steps up
Meanwhile, Cruise Craft has given a first look at its E770HT that is currently being built at the Queensland-based factory.
The new model is due later this year, and will launch as a new flagship for the Cruise Craft range.
The new boat will measure 7.7 metres in length, with a beam of 2.5 metres.
Powering it will be either a single 450hp Yamaha XTO Offshore V8 engine, or twin 200hp engines, all fed by a 500-litre fuel tank.
Lowrance launches Eagle
Eagle, the new generation of more affordable Lowrance fishfinders for everything from kayaks to small trailer boats, has officially gone on sale in Australia.
Prices start from $249 for the ’yak-friendly 4.0-inch, vertically oriented Eagle 4x with a bullet skimmer transducer and no mapping, rising to $1999.99 for the 9.0-inch Eagle 9 with the TripleShot HD transducer that can show fish in even more detail, and including a base CMAP map system – more detailed vector charts are extra.
The new Eagle range is aimed at casual fishers, with the Elite range serving anglers who are a bit more serious about their day out on the water, and the HDS Pro range suiting those with the serious offshore fishing boat, and budget, to suit.
The Lowrance Eagle range of fishfinders and chartplotters is available in 4.0-inch, 5.0-inch, 7.0-inch and 9.0-inch sizes.
Western Australia size limit shakeup
Fisheries WA has removed size limits for dhufish, baldchin grouper and breaksea cod after noting high mortalitiy rates for fish returned to the sea by responsible recreational anglers.
According to WA Fisheries, all three species suffer from severe barotrauma, the effect of being pulled in from deep water, with up to half of all released dhufish, including small ones, dying.
Size limits on snapper still apply, and vary depending on where in the state you are fishing.
Boat trip of a lifetime
Victorian boat brand Haines Hunter has revealed one of its boat’s owners has clocked up more than 250,000 nautical miles in his 650R Limited Edition.
Details are few, but the 6.75-metre boat that Portland, Victoria-based Bob Pearson owns is from Haines Hunter’s R-Series runabout range.
The “Limited Edition” means that this boat has more premium features compared with the bread-and-butter model, including an upgraded transom for a higher horsepower rating, foam-filled voids and upgraded flooring.
Haines Hunter has recently teased it will soon add a 620 R-Series to its model line-up.
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