Ramco 600

North-east 20 knots, gusting 25 with rain, is not the best possible forecast for conducting a boat review.

However, a combination of circumstances meant that we had to go with it, regardless of the weather. But where to go? The east coast was out, the west coast unworkable, and even the Hauraki Gulf likely to be extremely unpleasant. Fortunately there is always somewhere to go boating in this wonderful country, so Lake Okataina - sheltered from the worst of the weather - was our rendezvous at 9am on a wet, blustery autumn morning.

Meeting me at the ramp were Ross Christensen from Fish City in Hamilton along with Mike Davis, Fish City's freshwater expert and Suzie Eade from Mercury Marine.

The Fishmaster was equipped with the latest Mercury four-stroke, a 115hp unit that felt very appropriate on the crystal-clear waters of Okataina. It started with a turn of the key and purred quietly at idle while we cast off. Even though the boat was uncarpeted, noise levels remained very low right through the rev range.

The Mercury sounded reasonably urgent at higher revs, but the engine note has none of the shrillness sometimes present in two-stroke motors. Resonance through the hull was minimal as well.

The motor-hull combination is a happy one. Response was crisp and the boat climbed onto the plane with a minimum of fuss. With four adults and their gear, top speed in a short burst was over 40mph - with less than an hour on the motor, we didn't want to push things too hard.

The 600 Fishmaster is a good compromise between fishing room and cabin space. An excellent boat for families, the v-berths are full-length and there's good headroom and storage in the cabin. Overnighting is a practical option with this boat.

The cockpit is still roomy enough for the serious angler - we flyfished with four adults - and the layout shows Ramco's long experience building multiple-use craft. The 600 would be equally at home on the lakes, at sea chasing snapper and other bottom species, transporting four divers to their favourite location, or out wide trolling for gamefish. The well-proven hull is a good performer in the rough and the boat's big enough to be a realistic bluewater proposition when the weather's good.

We anchored the boat from the bow and the stern at Okataina's famous Log Pool. Shooting heads and a selection of fancifully coloured boobies and glo-bugs were the order of the day and it wasn't long before Mike came tight on a fine Okataina rainbow. The fish gave a good account of itself, but Mike's 'authoritative' rod work (he gave it death!) soon had the three-kilo fish in the net.

Not long after, in the midst of untangling a knot in my shooting line, I too hooked and landed a rainbow. A much smaller fish than Mike's, it was nonetheless my first Okataina trout, breaking a hoodoo of several years. I was well pleased.

Fishing four flyfishers from one boat is no mean feat. When actually fishing, things were not the least bit cramped. But flyfishing involves casting and this requires a fair amount of room. The Ramco 600 Fishmaster has a wide non-slip swimstep, which proved an ideal platform to stand and cast from. We took it in turns to step onto the platform and cast, or else used the rear corner of the cockpit, thankful for its uncluttered nature and the absence of line-snagging bits and pieces.

At the sharp end the anchor can be accessed either through the generous forward hatch or by climbing around the cabin to the bows. This was reasonably easy and the boat doesn't heel a lot. Bowrails are standard.

This boat was fitted with an underfloor fuel tank, the batteries were mounted on alloy shelves raised off the floor, and three battery switches were fixed neatly under the transom. There's a bilge pump in the sump. For the purposes of this review a Navman 900 GPS was fitted, along with a Lowrance sounder. We used the sounder to check out 'Dogger Bank', anchoring for a while at a promising drop-off and working hard to keep up with Suzie's culinary efforts before the wind forced us to go elsewhere.

We finished the day anchored in a sheltered bay where Mike and I each took another fish and Ross hooked what appeared to be a horse. This fish ripped out lots of backing and showed no sign of slowing down before the weight suddenly came off. When Ross retrieved his lure, we saw that the hook had broken at the bend!

As the afternoon progressed rain began to set in. The canopy was welcome, although it interferes with flycasting - thank goodness for the swimstep - but a half-hour period without a bite convinced us it was time to go.

Twenty minutes later the boat was back on its Voyager single-axle trailer and we were sitting in the bar at Lake Okataina Lodge warming up and discussing our day before embarking on the long drive home.

Mercury's 115hp EFI four-stroke is an inline four-cylinder engine with four valves per cylinder and dual overhead-cams. It displaces 1741cc and weighs just 175kg, nearly 50kg lighter than some of its rivals. It is the first Mercury four-stroke engine to feature an EFI (electronic fuel injection) fuel system. ----- Advertisement ----- The engine uses Mercury's low copper XK360 aluminium alloy for its castings and makes extensive use of stainless steel components and fastenings, plus a range of sacrificial anodes to ensure excellent corrosion protection. Mercury expects their four-stroke technology to deliver fuel savings of up to 40% over standard two-stroke models across the board. The Mercury 115hp four-stroke fully complies with America's strict emission regulations (EPA) up to 2006.        This article is reproduced with permission of NZ Fisherman Magazine John Eichelsheim Re-publishing elsewhere is prohibited