KISSIMMEE, Florida— Troy Lindner has seen the history of fishing. Growing up in Brainerd, Minnesota, he spent his childhood watching father and fishing legend Al Lindner haul in monsters of all species on the Bassmaster circuit, and on t.v. Now, at age 40, he’s watching the future of fishing.
The future looks like a wake—the kind you’d see behind any outboard cruising the coastal waters from Florida to California and every lake in between. But this wake is created with instant torque, zero emissions, and zero gas.
It’s called the Pure Watercraft Electric Outboard, and it’s poised to do for fishing what Elon Musk and Tesla are doing for cars.
The prototype model, first shown to curious onlookers at Kissimmee’s Big Toho Marina during ICAST, is set for production in 2018.
“Right now, it’s equivalent to a 40 horsepower motor,” Lindner says. “I was fishing a tournament in it a few weeks ago and fished all day. It’s a huge advantage where in live in Southern California, where the lakes can be smaller and they receive high amounts of pressure. This motor gives me the ability to come in stealthily.”
But Pure Watercraft says the motor is about more than stealth. It’s about changing the way anglers impact the environment, and it has the potential to unlock remote waters across the nation that are off-limits to conventional outboards due to environmental regulations.
Pure Watercraft says their debut outboard will retail for around $6,000. Requiring nearly zero maintenance, each motor should last about two decades. Battery packs, which can be recharged in 1.5 hours and last for up to seven years, will also retail for $6,000.
“The only limit to this is battery size, and battery size is going down,” says Lindner. “I hope to start fishing this in Bassmaster Opens and the FLW Costa Series this year.”
