HOOK, LINE & SINKER
YOU’RE GONNA NEED
A BIGGER BOAT It doesn’t get much better than shackling a new boat to your D-MAX. Fisher king Andrew Hart wets his vessel.
I
t’s the best line in Jaws. Having just laid eyes on Spielberg’s 25-foot great white for the first time, an awestruck Roy Scheider staggers backwards into the wheelhouse of Quint’s fishing vessel and tells the captain: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” The film’s representation of killer sharks might have been unrealistic, but it got one thing right: there’s just something compelling about bigger boats. Not only has Hook, Line and Sinker been driving Isuzus for over a decade, the show has partnered with Bar Crusher for the same time—and we’ve pretty much had every boat they make. These Aussie-built boats come in several sizes and models,
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MAX*D GO YOUR OWN WAY
and all offer the same characteristics and features that put them among the best trailer boats on the market. This time around we decided to go big! In fact, the biggest in the range: a 780 Hard Top with all the features and even a flushing toilet in the bow! This is a serious offshore fishing boat, but also a great family cruiser. Offshore fishing is exactly what I have planned for her this summer in the waters off eastern Tasmania. Before getting the boat back to my home state, however, it behoved us not only to christen it, but film a bunch of episodes of the show using it. The only problem: we collected the big girl in July from the factory on the outskirts of Melbourne. Heading to Tasmania to do the honours in the depths of winter held little appeal, so we hitched up the mighty red D-MAX and headed north: destination, well, anywhere a bit warmer.
WORDS ANDREW HART
Rumours soon landed of yellowfin tuna happening off the coast of Batemans Bay in southern NSW. I liked that forecast and the BOM agreed—and the great thing about having a trailer boat is that you can literally take it to where the fish are. On the road the 780HT is a big haul. The boat weighs around three tonnes— easy meat for the D-MAX—but because it’s so large there’s also a lot of windage. The D-MAX’s power, plus features such as Trailer Sway Control, meant each kilometre felt supremely solid and safe. Head down, we arrived at Batemans Bay in the early evening. Next morning, we met Gavin McCallum from McCallum’s Sports and headed to sea. This Bar Crusher has all the good stuff: twin Yamaha F150 four-strokes complete with very smart fly-by-wire digital steering and joystick control. It has a top speed of over 40 knots (75 km/h), but it’s
