The 1550 Fisher from Stabicraft is such a fantastic inshore boat - with the airtight pontoons it's safe and super stable, and also nimble and easy to tow. The front windscreen and (optional) canopy and clears keep occupants dry and warm, out of the elements that South West Victoria is so famous for!
This particular boat went to a local angler who fishes the coastline of the Great Ocean Road, targeting the inshore grounds for all kinds of fish - and the mighty southern rock lobster which make the area so famous. The 1550 Fisher Sportfish trim comes packed with lots of inclusions from factory, including all your basic electrical gear, walk through windscreen, Fish Pro seats, 70L Icey Tek Esky, bait board, cleats and rails, wash down pump, rod holders and much more. However there are always a few necessities we add every single time to all 1550s; being the rod and canopy arch, bimini with front and side clears, 60L underfloor fuel tank with U-Dek flooring and the electric motor bracket. On top of that, to this boat we fitted a ski pole baitboard, live bait tank in transom, transom boarding ladder and stage 1 gloss light grey paint to make it an even neater package.
From here, the 1550 went onto our favourite trailer - the custom full skid Easytow with a Boat Catch - and bolted onto the back was a Suzuki DF75 outboard. The 75 gives this boat the right amount of power; sure you could get away with a 60hp but fill the boat with blokes, an esky full of ice and crays, and send them into a 2m swell with headwind and you'll be kicking yourself for not going to max HP! The Suzuki is quiet, reliable and punchy - engineered with Japanese precision and quality.
For those trips back from the cray grounds, good pump up tunes are vital - and for this we fitted a Fusion MSRA60 stereo and 6.5" speakers. Into the dash went a Garmin Echomap Ultra 105SV which comes standard with a GT56 transducer which will be all the customer needs for his inshore fishing. We did however fit a Vision+ map card - this makes finding the hidden reefs and cray holes so much easier! For safety purposes along this part of the coast a good VHF is a must, so we went with the GME GX700 with a 1.8m antenna.
Up on the bow of the boat, the customer didn't hold back - adding a top shelf Lonestar GX1 anchor winch kit (built just down the road in Melbourne) and a Garmin Force Kraken electric motor. Adding both of these means not only will he be able to manually drop and retreive a physical anchor on the bottom, but if he plans to move spots at the click of a button, or motor along the coastline slowly - he can utilise the brushless and efficient power of the Kraken to do so. Having the electric motor on the bow is becoming a must for any offshore angler as technology progresses but a physical anchor winch will always have it's place too - so why not add both!
The package was finished off perfectly with a custom black lower pontoon wrap, which matches these Stabis so well. All in all, we couldn't think of a better package for drop netting crays, casting at a bluefin and bottom bashing for gummies along the Shipwreck Coast!