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Found this recent article on Robbie and thought it was a must to share - http://wheninwynnum.com/35-robbie-porter/?fbclid=IwAR2zLvhEjV-1nNYfQiagsRmTaJv7R0RsGKPHI1g44u16Mx5x_Z5HWNPNLPM WHEN IN WYNNUM People and Places of Wynnum POSTED ONJANUARY 19, 2019 BY SEAN K #35 – Robbie Porter January 19, 2019 This week we meet Robbie Porter, a Wynnum local, who is driving the oyster reef restoration in Moreton Bay. Robbie is the type of person that you love having a cold drink with, whilst telling stories. I always come away from our catchups feeling great, as well as a little inadequate as Robbie is an accomplished chef, house restorer, landscaper, film set designer, fisherman, … I jest, but he is seriously talented at whatever he turns his hand to. When he told me of his vision to restore the naturally occurring shellfish reefs that were prevalent before the cement industry decimated them, I wanted to help in any small way. Robbie outside the oyster shell drying out facility What brought you to the area? I had grown up in Brisbane’s west and lived in Sydney for a few years . My brother in law is a keen sailor. He moved here to be close to his hobby. My wife and I visited him often and we saw how glorious Wynnum is. We quickly realised that we had found our home. The bay was like a magnet. We bought and renovated our first house on Tingal Rd opposite the old Paint Place. We could never move away now. Collecting shells that would have been landfill The oyster shells dry out for a minimum of 4 months before becoming new reef structures Do you have any interesting or memorable experiences in Wynnum that you would like to share? One that is relevant to Wynnum; We bought a block of land at Wynnum North with the plan to move a Queenslander to it. It was tricky to find one but we got lucky and found a developer that was going to demolish one in Cedar St. We cut it in half and moved it one night via the water front. All the power lines were very low and needed to be lifted one at a time to get the 2 pieces of house under them. At one stage the house hit one of the large fig trees on the waterfront. It ripped off the gutter and damaged the front of the house. We had to scramble around and pick up all the roofing screws and gutter before we could continue. It took all night but finally we parked the house up near the roundabout on Wynnum North Rd and Pritchard St. The next day we moved it to our block and put it back together. We love our home now. It is strange but it feels like is was always here. Robbie with Joan Pease and Matthew Hayden who supported the Wynnum Fishing Classic, which raised money for the oyster reef restoration. What would you love to see in Wynnum? I would love to see a fantastic bar and restaurant on the water. I dream about owning the one on Wynnum Creek and turning it into a seafood restaurant and wine bar. I have this dream that I could build a large floating pontoon that we could lower into the water so that you can have your feet in the water while you have a drink on a hot day. However I’m sure it would be a hot spot for drowned phones. Robbie and Pipi at Rose Bay Any link to a website that you would like to share? I have been lucky enough to be involved with OzFish Unlimited. We are working to restore the lost oyster reefs of Moreton Bay. We would love you to join us. Find out more at www.ozfishmoretonbay.org. Pipi has her own instagram, sharing her morning walks https://www.instagram.com/pipis_morning_mangroves/ Who or What would you like me to cover in future posts on When in Wynnum? Annette and Lachlan, My brother in law and his fiancée. Judy and Rob, My mother and father in law. The old fish and chip shop on Wynnum Creek. Enjoying time on the water Pipi the neck warmer

A nice change

Well the weather was hot but cannot say the same about the bite, 7 bass 1 yella 1 silver that did not really count as we got it in a redclaw pot. Consolation prize was some redclaw. Cheers Ray ps percy and his mates all back at the ramp.

Robbie, before you start, do a marriage health check and if there is anything like say a new car that Mr's Drop Bear wants/needs/a bribe do that first and then dig up your cash tin from the back yard, one more thing, make sure it has a gas fridge to keep the piss cold while you are working on her, one more thing, make sure there are no sharp knives anywhere within reach, because I can guarantee you will want to slit your wrists not long after you start, and most other times during the resto, hence the need for a gas fridge full of piss MSB

Back again this morning We did well from 6 of our redclaw pots that had forkies as bait but the boat is really on the nose even though all that was left in the pots was a few bits of skin and bones. Averaged around 20 redclaw in the pots with forky bait against 4 to 6 in the other few pots that had dog biscuits in them. We got 4 forkies today so they have been converted to redclaw bait but I am not popular with the pongy boat parked outside the bedroom window. We found a good school of bass and managed 12 in quick time before the school moved on never to be found again. Saw the energex boys working on the pylons after being raised up on a mobile tower.Not for me with around 20k of wind blowing. Cheers Ray

I'm very excited. The ducks are in a row and I'm very excited that I am going to have my first trip to Harvey Bay on Wed. Well I have been to Harvey Bay in the past but not since I have been involved with AFO. I have learnt so much from so many of you I feel really confident we will be able to get a feed and have a nice time. I have spent the last 2 days getting Quampie ready. Thanks to @aussie123 and Reel Tackle http://www.reeltackle.com.au/ I have a replaced the bilge pump and pick up on the live bait tank, replaced the dodgy plastic rod holders to brand new stainless ones and bought some extended rod holders so I can run 4 rods now. I got a nice surprise when I checked the switch on the bilge. Salt water had gotten behind the switch panel and they were all corroded. So I built a box out of some ply wood I had lying around. I bought a new switch panel and re-patched everything to this. I now have spare fuses and a, hopefully, water tight switch panel. Very glad I saw it before the trip. All of the switches were in trouble and most were starting to rust away. The switch from the old bilge was not working at all and constantly on. I think the old motor burnt out from this. On top of this I have bought a few skirted lures, brushed up on how to rig live baits for trolling and how to rig some larger dead baits for trolling. I hope to catch a few large spotties and have a go at rigging these as troll baits. The plan is to read off at stupid early on Wed, launch at Urangan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urangan,_Queensland and leave the boat and car in the caravan park. $20 per night. My mate is a 4wd nut and is taking his car over so we will have to stay at Awinya Creek. https://findapark.npsr.qld.gov.au/parks/fraser/awinya-creek-beach-camping-camping?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gmb&utm_content=awinya-creek because I was told you cant camp at Wathumba from a car. Can anyone confirm that it's boat access only? The idea is to tow spoons and catch some spotties. Find some baits and tow some livies. If the wind alows go out to Roonies and target some Spanish on livies and perhaps try for some Marlin if we get the chance. Does anyone have Gps list for spots to try up north of Wathumba? We might send a few livies down for reefies if that is an option. Aussie told me there was a wreck up there worth a shot. Anyway wish us luck. I think it's gonna be awesome!

Got out in a mates boat on Sunday had Brock follow in my boat to go and harass some marlin. The conditions were mint and soon our 2 boats were on the reef in the early morning. We got a hit fairly early and I was 1st up the battle went for 20 minutes before getting a 50kg black marlin boatside. After a quick couple of pictures of the fish in the water we released a healthy fish. Nathan was driving his boat for the day so his dad and I could take turns on these fish. Next hit Les swung in to action and another feisty marlin was jumping and peeling line until he brought another 50kg black to the boat. That was 2 from 2 until the next marlin hit and I fought a big model estimated at 120kg. I was hurting a bit but didn't let up on this fish he jumped plenty of times and sounded down deep as well but we worked him over with rod and boat. Just out of leader range he broke us off and glided away doh 2 from 3. Next was a double hook up and both these marlin were over 100kg and frustrating us as they ran opposite each other and looked to spool us both so the call was made to break 1 off. Nathan made the call and his dad got the short straw as he called mine as the bigger fish with nearly 300m of line out we chased it down and after another epic battle we had another 100kg black boatside 3 from 4. We passed by Brock and he had got a monster to the boat estmated at 120kg plus his PB nice going son. Then we lost another marlin spitting the hook 3 from 5 then Les wins the next fight 4 from 6. Another 2 were lost through bust offs 4 from 8 but I had the last say and got another good fish to the boat to finish on 5 from 9 with fish from 50kg to 120kg. We called it a day and drove over to my boat to see the young fella fight their 2nd marlin with Jacob getting his 1st marlin so Brock helped him hold it up for a photo before releasing. The young lads went 2 from 2 before we both headed for home tired but happy fishos.

My girls got their first ones on soft plastics in the Passage. Great fun on 6lb

Robbie, I grew up in an era when very few fishos carried a camera and as such, a lot of those memorable catches went unrecorded. In the current era, where practically every device known to mankind seems to have the capability of recording an image and then instantly transferring it to some other place, there are no longer any excuses for failing to present a photo of something to brag about, but it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. I guess one would call me a minimalist when it comes to fishing - I only carry the most essential gear and that has never included cameras or smartphones. Maybe I should take that great leap into the 21st century. As for stories, like all fishos, I only tell true stories - or most of them are. Jeff

Although I am new to the forum, the thing that pops into my head is where do you draw the line between north & south? Is it the Tropic of Capricorn and where do the inland rivers and impoundments fit into north & south? I mainly fish the Dawson, Upper Fitzroy, Nogoa, Barcoo & Thomson rivers that are almost smack bang on the tropic line, so with the current format of north & south, where should I post a report? My opinion, for what it's worth - there is only one Queensland. Jeff

Benno launch the boat at Greenhills and head upstream till you reach a big steep hill on your left. Start fishing from there all the way till you reach the fresh further up. That stretch is the best section in the river this time of the year and it can turn on some amazing surface fishing after dark. Up the top the river takes a 90 degree right hand turn and it can be hard to get through there if the river is low but on that corner is a deep hole full of heavy timber with an amazing amount of big Bass in it. That corner was always our end point before fishing our way back down stream. I used to flick deep divers late afternoon on the way up and drift back on dark with surface lures. Best surface lure was the Teeny Torpedos and Jitterbugs. Manns 10+ were top divers in chartreuse green and red/black. The barrage up the top of the Belmore River fishing landbased can also produce good Bass and Turrum. Just be aware of ticks along the banks there as they are really bad. BTW, that big hill had a great reserve opposite that you could camp at years ago but I am not sure on the regs for it these days. It is very rare to catch a Bass below Kempsey this time of the year as it is a Winter fishery downstream.

Before and after shots Antifoul gone, new scuppers, new stainless steel capping to replace cracked plastic molding and old chopping board for transducers, epoxied filled old holes and then epoxied the stern saver mounting blocks to the hull for the transducers I didn't really appreciate the difference until I put before/after photos side by side.

hi dale Corio Bay is a great spot. The water is clear most of the time, and it is fairly sheltered from the SW winds. For those that don't know it is part of Port Phillip Bay near Geelong. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Corio+Bay/ As you're probably aware the equipment you need on Victorian waters varies according to the type of vessel you are operating, the type of waterway you are on and the proximity to the shore. Transport Safety Victoria would classify Corio Bay as an Enclosed (Bay and Estuaries) and so the safety gear that is required is: 1 x Type 1 Lifejacket (per person on board/towed) 1 x Waterproof buoyant torch 1 x Anchor and chain or line or both 1 x Bailer (if no electric or manual bilge pumping system) 1 x Bucket with lanyard (can also double as a bailer) 1 x Electric or manual bilge pumping system (if vessel has covered bilge or closed underfloor compartments other than airtight void spaces) 1 x Pair of oars with rowlocks or pair of paddles (if vessel is up to and including 4.8m) 2 x Hand held orange smoke signals 2 x Hand held red distress flares 1x Lifebuoy (if vessel is more than 8m but less than 12m in length) 2 x Lifebuoy (if vessel is more than 12m in length) portable fire extinguisher (quantity depends on length of boat) Hope this helps Cheers

Had a family morning out in the southern bay on Saturday with friends tagging along in their boat. They were keen to try around Coochiemudlo so we headed to Victoria Pt ramp, but as I feared there was no parking so up to Cleveland/Raby Bay instead, where it was obviously busy (by this stage it was almost 10:30am ...) but we got a park, launched quickly and headed to the south western corner of Peel. Was a bit lumpy and although we were anchored 40m inside a beacon and away from passing boats, the sheer volume (and size of some of them ....) meant the water turned into a washing machine for 75% of the time which wasn't great (but bearable). My 7yr old son Liam caught his first shark (little fella only about 50cm long), we got a couple of small grassies and a bream and that was it, but as always just good to get out on the water. Never seen so many boats at Horseshoe Bay - we didn't get within about 300m or more of them but there must have been at least 200 or 300 boats, including some pretty big ones. Madness!!! Amazingly we got straight onto the pontoon back at the ramp which was a welcome relief.

Net result of this trip - @Poddymullet - I don't have a sounder on the kayak and don't have any fish to show either! weather was STINKING hot, 43 degrees Saturday and 44 Sunday. Was a bit stuck in a couple of bits of river, was too shallow/rocky on either end to risk taking the hobie through. Waited until well after all children and bogans had removed themselves from the river and had a peddle on dusk one afternoon. Threw a bunch of different lures in around snags, not one bit of interest. No surface activity to speak of. Think the heat would have had the fish sitting in the deepest spots in the river, unfortunately my stretch was at most about 1.5m deep. Plenty of good looking snags though. Was even too hot to enjoy a bourbon properly! One day I will add to my wild bass tally... thanks to @aussie123 for the tips and advice regardless of my failure to implement them.

I ended up heading out at Pimpama and fishing some of what I though were back channels between the Pimpama and Coomera Rivers. Nothing like waiting for the tide to change, sneaking up a 20m wide channel in a foot of water to the mouth of the perfect drain, full stealth mode, getting ready to cast... and then having 12 - yes actually 12 of them following one another as they seem to feel the need to do - ****s on jetskis come ripping past you at about 30kn - not even slowing down in the skinny channel, flying past within 2-3m of the yak, giving me a serious shower in the process. Jetskis were pretty much a constant problem for the day, no respect for the environment or people around them. Pretty much shut down the bite as the water I was fishing was less than a metre deep for the most part. I hooked on jack in my jack spot, managed to put the brakes on it, only to pull the hook afterwards. My day was summed up completely when i threw out a pontoon 21 crackerjack to troll on the way home and finally felt a bit of weight on the line only to pull in a mongrel catfish which to be fair is a first for me on a lure - not that i'm going to brag about it. to prove it wasn't a fluke, about a minute later I hooked another. This was beyond a joke... surely. Completely annoyed, I peddled back to the ramp, rang @ellicat for some sympathy, and only got laughed at. Maybe he was out jetskiing that day... $25 at yatala pies later and i felt much better.

Thanks @Drop Bear now keep these under your hat, as they are my secret marks shhhhhh

Hey guys, So I finally went out to jacobs well to chase those flathead that I was after and what a successful mission. Unfortunately only have photos of the fish on the chopping board after I scaled/gutted and I barely remembered that. Anyway I went out in Tuesday and bought a bag of pillies but didn't really need it because as soon as we got to our spot there was livies basically jumping out of the water. Few casts with the net and got heaps of mullet and herring. We flicked these intowards the fallen in trees from the first picture I added. Straight away we were on and catching undersized flathead and eventually caught a 41cm. After high tide changed I decided to flick out two pink curly tail zmans for a troll. We headed towards tipplers and caught about 4 flathead which one was 46cm. After battling a few sand bars we finally made it to tipplers for a beer and then decided to head back to our original place to camp the night on the boat. Thank got for my GPS otherwise I would have been flying blind. We eventually got back and it was a couple of hours before high tide again. We suffered many of casualties on our live bait and went back to the pillies. I caught a 45cm bream which I threw back and then got onto a 39cm rock cod which was soon followed by a 41cm sea perch. Things settled for the night and we eventually hit the sack. Once we woke up at about 4am covered in bites we decided to tear up my cast net on some tree stumps. Once that mission was accomplished I pulled out a yakka Jig and oh was I successful. I probably caught about 10 yakkas and heaps of herring, pike along with a couple mullet. We kept trying this area for another 30 minutes and caught nothing but an old t-shirt a shell and a massive piece of drift wood. We then moved onto the second spot which is the second photo. We sat at the mouth of this little estuary and cast just behind the tree on the corner as the tide was going out and bam! Caught onto a massive dead weight which is my biggest flathead ever at 66cm. The yakkas were going nuts! About 5 mins later we got onto a much bigger one but it cut the line before it got to the boat. Happy with ourselves we decided to head back and my motor decided to fire on one cylinder again. Unsure what this issue is and not even my mechanic can figure it out. Anyway I used this as an excuse to head back to the car and troll with a hard body. Which was sort of successful as we got onto a little trev. Anyway all and all a great trip with many of bites of all kinds. I think my next target species will be threadfin salmon and I may need a bit of help with that as I have had a lot of trouble catching one. Sorry about the photos I should have had a ruler or something. They are on a massive chopping board.

I joined the forum 3 years ago and I've finally gotten around to my first post - hey, I'm a Queenslander and don't like to do things in a hurry. Being retired and full time travelling, I get to fish in a lot of different locations, sometimes in the salt, but mainly in the fresh targeting yellas up here in western Qld rivers. I occasionally get down to South Oz when the crabs and calamari are on and even like spending time catching carp on ultra light gear just for the hell of it in the Murray. Due to the extended drought, most of my favourite spots in outback Qld have become nothing more than the occasional mud-hole, so it looks like it's time for a trip down south again and hit some of the coastal estuaries and rivers. Jeff

I would search by key words rather than area. If l want to catch Barra that’s what l would search for. North or south doesn’t worry me. The simpler the better l find.

Classic Robbie. Nice bio @Drop Bear, I love how you managed to get Pippie into so many of the photos.

They weren’t the boat went well after lifting the motor by one hole. Mailed the transducers positions reading great. The conditions were calm all day. Nothing of any note, usual reef species. No marlin, lost a small Dollie at the boat. Luke caught 2 new species for him a skipjack tuna and Red Throat Emperor. I caught this tiny Wahoo on a Soft Plastic retrieved at high speed. PB

I was in Burrum in September. Fished 8-mile reef and got schoolies - surprisingly we got them close to the bottom. Just fished mono with a sinker and 3 hook gang - lost a couple to bite-offs but others around us got nothing so think the lack of wire helped. Use the gps mark to find the reef (or look for the boats) then sound up some fish and bait - the reef seems to be nothing more than a gravel patch with no outstanding features from what I saw. Also got mixed bag up the river but no particular spot, just keep moving based on tide, wind, etc. New ramp is awesome - vast improvement over the old two ramps. Marty

Hey Brad, I have done most of my fishing up there around the river but have chased pelagics straight out the front of the river. Just follow the red markers out along the channel and keep an eye out for birds as usual. The 8 mile reef can also be good and is in easy reach for your boat. Here is a link to some GPS marks for Hervey Bay, including the 8 mile http://www.fishntales.com/gpsmarks/qld/herveybay.htm You used to be able to troll between the Burrum River mouth and Woodgate but you need to check the green zone. Great new ramp up there now means you can get out in most weather. Enjoy.

What a ripper boat Robbie. Firstly I would be looking in to finding a swing mooring somewhere as they are very cheap or just do what others do and go make a mooring somewhere,lol. There is also plenty of empty moorings around the canal houses so you may be able to find a private wharf to use at someones house. 6 years without slipping and painting is a worry for a timber boat as she may be full of grub now but she will need to be slipped to see what damage may be done. I can show you how to kill the grub easy enough and the good thing with grub is they do not cross planks so if they are in a plank, they will only eat out that single plank. The timber planks are not an issue as you can replace them but if they are in the keel you will have serious problems. To paint her bum you will need some scrapers to remove the barnacles, pressure washer, brushes and rollers. You will also need some caulking, caulking tool, putty, antifoul and replacement anodes for the rudder and shaft if there is one on it and possibly a shaft bearing. It may have keel cooling so they would need anodes too but I would presume the engine water pickup will be a standard through hull fitting. The cooling pump should be a standard Jabsco Pump so a new impeller will fix the heating problem. It may also just be the debris screen over the pickup clogged up with algae and barnacles. Ring around for slipping options or hard stand options to find the cheapest and go from there but make very sure that the place you pick allows you to work on your own boat without having to use their shipwrights or laborers as that will cost you a small fortune. I will come and slip it with you and then we can check her bum out and see if there is any issues there, hopefully she will just be filthy dirty and after a good clean and paint she will be good for many more years to come. Then we can go right through the engine room, steering, gearbox, shaft ect and sort out any other little issues she may have. The old diesel may be an issue as it is probably full of algae so we would need to look at that very closely to find a solution to fix it. Anodes, Bearings and Impellers ect I can get them for you at cost and stuff like the painting gear you can get throw away rollers and brushes from Bunnings. I would not worry about the roof or any structure above the decks for a long time yet, just get the hull and engine room sorted first. Sort out the bottom, engine and fuel as priority and the rest when ever you feel like playing with the boat.