When people ask Dave Silva for fishing and boating advice, they do so for a very good reason. Not only is Dave Silva a Sales Manager for the popular marine electronics company Lowrance , but he is also one of the most respected competition fishermen in Australia having spent over 20 years chasing Barramundi, Bass and Murray Cod in high profile tournaments across the country.

The fact that Dave won't use any other outboard brand but Yamaha speaks volumes.

Dave Silva began his boating love affair when he purchased his first Yamaha from Pitmans Marine in Adelaide over 30 years ago. The 25hp 2-stroke was bolted to the back of a 4.2 metre Quintrex Jarramundi and served Dave well as he fished throughout his hometown waters in South Australia.

Cutting his teeth as a custom rod builder and electronics guru for the biggest tackle shop in SA provided Dave with a solid industry grounding and opened up an opportunity at Lowrance where he has thrived for the last 14 years. Dave is now a multiple champion competition angler for Team Lowrance and continues to rely on Yamaha as he contests his favourite tournaments including the Barra Nationals, the popular tri-leg Fresh Water Masters and the premier Barra Classic on the Daly River in NT.

"I have long been a supporter of the Yamaha outboard motor," said Dave.

"With the comps that I fish, I can troll for hours on end, constantly moving up or down the river or lake. My Yammy never lets me down and it's great on fuel economy with no oils to mix or oil tanks to fill plus one of the best features is no smoke or smell when trolling."

The current Team Lowrance rig that Dave commands has a Yamaha F100 4-stroke outboard powering a 5 metre Quintrex Hornet. Supplied by Dave's good friends at Streaker Boats in Melbourne, the Yamaha powered Quintrex Hornet suits Dave perfectly and draws lots of attention from eager onlookers keen to see how this popular tournament package stacks up.

Dave has spent the last 15 years fishing the Barra Classic on the Daly River. Backed by Lowrance, Dave has the opportunity to send his Yamaha powered rig up to the Northern Territory a couple of times a year and is a consistent fishing identity at other high profile competitions on the east coast. With such a presence across the competition circuit, it's no surprise that other outboard manufacturers are courting the transom of Dave's Quintrex.

Dave's commitment to the Yamaha brand was tested when a well known outboard manufacturer offered him a free engine to use onboard the Team Lowrance boat. Deliberation was short as Dave explained that he'd rather pay for a Yamaha outboard, then use a free 2-stroke engine on offer from a competitor.

"In my line of work people ask all sorts of questions relating to fishing and a lot of them want to know how my boat performs," said Dave.
"Given the amount of time I spend at comps and on the water in general, other outboard manufacturers would have liked to have their motors on my boat. The simple answer as to why I use Yamaha and Quintrex is that they are both reliable. The Yamaha has the perfect power to weight, economical to run and always starts first time."

If Dave didn't fill his leisure time with competition glory alongside his angling partner and wife Gaye, chances are he'd still be at his favourite fishing spots chasing Barramundi on the Daly River or giant Murray Cod on Lake Mulwala. At the end of the day, according to Dave, as long as he is in his boat with his Yamaha pushing it along, he'll be having a great time.

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.

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