Yamaha F100 helps win Barra Comp

by Bob Carter on 7 Jul 2009
Anglers don’t come more passionate about their sport than Melbourne’s Dave Silva. Dave works in the marine industry for Navico Australia, manufacturer of leading marine electronics brand Lowrance, and spends every possible opportunity fishing.

The Yamaha sponsored angler is so serious and keen about his sport, that he entered the Barra Nationals in Darwin and towed his Yamaha F100 powered boat from Melbourne to Darwin and back, a round trip of 8000 km.

It’s no surprise then that Dave Silva has emerged as the 2009 Champion Angler at the Barra Nationals.

'There are a number of things that led to my success at this tournament,' Dave Silva said back in Melbourne.

'But for me one of the keys was having my own boat at the five day long tournament. The Yamaha F100 is an exceptional engine that is ideally suited to Barra fishing.'

'One of the secrets to catching Barra is having the right trolling speed. The F100 with Yamaha’s exclusive digital network gauge system allows me to troll at speeds from 550 RPM to 1000 RPM in increments of 50 RPM. The gauges ability to electronically set and hold the engine speed makes the difference.'

Staged on the Daly River just out of Darwin, the annual Barra Nationals attracted 60 teams with three members per boat. Over a five-day period fishing from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm, anglers caught and released as many Barramundi as possible.

Each fish when caught was photographed against a measuring board, and then released. The accumulative length of the fish caught determined the winner.

Over the five day period of the competition Dave Silva caught in excess of 50 fish. On the last day he landed 16 Barra.

So what is the secret to success, according to Dave Silva?

'Trolling speed is obviously vitally important,' Dave reiterated. 'You have to use the right lures and you have to stay on the GPS track where you know the conditions are most conducive to Barra.'

'The run out tide is by far the best time to fish, and if you know how to work the tides, you can fish the run out for 4 ½ hours.'

On board Dave Silva’s boat were his wife Gaye along with Col Cordingly, affectionately known as the King of the Daly River. Local knowledge obviously also plays a role.

The F100 Yamaha engine used by Dave Silva is 4-cylinder, 4-stroke outboard that displaces 1596 cm³. The engine is renowned as a smooth running, quiet operating, low emission outboard. When teamed with the Yamaha digital network gauge system, the F100 is a highly sophisticated powerplant.

Yamaha is proud to support champion anglers such as Dave Silva, particularly as he competes in events that are ‘tag and release’ based.

Yamaha outboards are available through an Australia-wide network of authorised Yamaha outboard dealers. All Yamaha 4-stroke outboards are supported with a full 4-year manufacturer’s warranty and all 2-stroke outboards are backed by a 3-year warranty – standard conditions apply.