Life for Tony Orton as a charter operator in Mangawhai Heads, New Zealand, looks a little something like this…
“I’ll leave the dock at first light, so that we can get to the local beach to catch the live bait we’ll use for the day. Once that’s done, I’ll head 30 miles offshore to the Mokohinau Islands, where I’ll most likely have the only boat in the area. Our fishing charter operation is world class, and we really are the only charter to fish out there.”
Tony has been a professional fishing guide for the last 25 years, and each charter has a crew of four – so that’s the trustworthy team sorted. And for gear, he recently made the change to Mercury Diesel 3.0L V6 270hp sterndrive paired with a Mercury Sea Core Bravo Three X drive on his Extreme 795XST vessel “STELLA”.
“A priority for us is to be loyal to our sponsors, so changing to Mercury wasn’t something that we took lightly. But they’re constantly pushing the boundaries for new gear, they’re really at the forefront of new technology,” Tony said.
“I’m over the moon with our new engine, from the safety and reliability to the ride, to the fuel savings – I really couldn’t be happier. The change to the diesel makes a lot of sense for us, the boat has a flat transom so we can walk all around the back and not lose any fish. It’s also incredibly easy to service maintenance because the touch points are so accessible. Plus, with fuel prices going through the roof, game fishing has become much more economical with our savings of more than 40L each day.”
In fact, at a cruise speed they’re burning only 1.5L per nautical mile, and at trolling speed of 6.5 knots they’re burning about 6L an hour. All of this means one thing for Tony and the team – better fishing for the Offshore Adventures charter customers. The challenge of fishing in the Mokohinau Islands also brings the promise of reefs holding trophy snapper and mighty kingfish – if you know where to look. And it’s pretty clearly from the impressive catches that Tony and his customers have had over the years, that he knows where to look.
mercmarine.com.au
