EARLY DAYS OF VMR

Ron Walters was Commodore in 1978, Ron has also spent some 50 years with the SES, was also a member of Coast Guard, the local Fire Station, and the lions Club, he also did the pub raffles for 20+ years amongst many other activities. Julie Walters was also Secretary and then Treasurer for a number of years. The following are some of his, and wife Julie’s recollections of rescues during their time with our organisation:

FLINDER REEF: - Ron got a call on the radio from a charter boat to find an oil filter for his boat as he was stuck on Flinders Reef at 11PM with a hole in his oil filter. He had a fishing trip on and it was very rough weather. “I found an oil filter and our crew and I set out for Flinders in very rough seas with white caps everywhere. We came up to the stern of is boat and threw the filter to him. When we were leaving we saw a fellow on the boat rail. We got him on board. He was sea sick and wanted to get back on dry land. We let him off at the ramp and he asked to meet us at the hotel the next day where he bought us all a drink for saving him.” Turned out he was a police officer from Dalby.

TANGALOOMA FLYER: - Got a call asking Ron if he could take 10 people off the Tangalooma Flyer stuck on the mud off Bribie. Skipper misjudged the tide. People were angry and throwing chairs off the boat. Ron took his 28ft boat out at 8:30 at night and took all 10 people off the Flyer to the Bribie Jetty.

DUX CREEK: - A woman rang to report a man bogged in Dux Creek. We arrived in the Landrover with ropes. He was fishing in long rubber pants and the tide was rising. He was up to his armpits in the mud. We threw him a rope, as we couldn’t get close to him or we would all be stuck, and he put it under his arms, and we pulled him out.

TURTLE: - Channel 7 rang advising that there was a leatherback turtle caught in the shark net at Woorim. Rang Sea World but it was too far and would take too long. Rang Shark Net Ranger in Mooloolaba but wouldn’t come down. As Commodore of the Air Sea Rescue I decided to go out and free it. I took a friend and motored out in a tinny. Went overboard to cut the turtle out and towed it to the beach at Woorim. Kids helped cut the rope off the turtle which had started to cut into it and let it go back to the sea. There were a lot of people on the beach and also the 7 chopper and film crew. Ron was arrested and fined $1000 by the Boating and Fishing Patrol for destroying the shark net and taken to the Police Station and put in the lock up. Channel 7 played it on the news and the public demanded that Ron be released and not have to pay the fine.

(Follow-on articles will be published in subsequent Issues of this magazine).

Check the life jacket for signs of:

• Sun Damage

• Fading

• Rips

• Check the buckle works

• Inspect straps for any deterioration

• If reflective strips are attached make sure they are clean and undamaged.

• Make sure the whistle works. Look after the equipment that will look after you.!"

Summer on the water around Bribie has been pretty pleasant all around, hasn’t it? Sure, we’ve had some hot days, but those mid-afternoon breezes keep coming in from the east, to cool off a little. A lot of days lately, there has been more cloud than sun, resulting in slightly lower than usual water temperatures. Not sure if that has made any real difference - all in all, the fishing lately has been almost standard summer fare.

Time of day has been a big factor in fishing success stories. Richard says there is plenty of snapper sitting under the bridge, around the 37-45cm mark, but you have to be there very early in the morning. Robert has been going out to the South marker around sunrise and getting good snapper using squid. Rod likes to get out while the sun is rising too, but after one recent trip said it “was more about boating than fishing. I got a couple of whiting, and they didn’t have the decency to be summer whiting!” It was a fast tide that morning and Rod saw quite a few crab pots drifting down the Passage – a good reason to make sure you have enough rope on your pots and maybe half a brick on them as well.

There’s actually been some good luck with the whiting in the Passage, around Pacific Harbour and further north.

Elimbah and Coochin Creeks have had good runs on the big rising tides. The afternoons are a good time to try Skirmish Point for sand whiting, using the onshore breezes. There have been reports of good numbers of grassy sweetlips through the Passage. Parrot Island, Pacific Harbour and south of the Bribie Lock have all been good spots to target them, along with a few other species. Josh caught a couple of big sweetlips, a 33cm tusk fish and a shovelnose. Rob and Jo found 6 different types in a short session off the Bongaree IGA, including 3 nice snappers, some sweetlips, shovelnose and even a sergeant baker, “a big one!”- all caught on prawns. Claudio says that his best catches have been sweetlips in Gallagher’s Gutter, where he’s also been getting shovelnose, stingrays and tripod fish.

Flathead has been typically disappointing for this time of year – the biggest catches are almost always late winter, but some around 45cm is still being caught up among the mangroves in Ningi Creek. Bill and his mates brought in a flathead from Ningi Creek, as well as two breams, close to 30cm (using worms), a couple of unusually impressive tripod fish (prawns) and more whiting. Bill said they caught “every fish known to man” on that fishing trip!

Good numbers of bream are being found right through the Passage – and chicken breast has been a great bait to cast out for them. Rick said he’s been using chicken thighs for about 10 years and wouldn’t use anything else. He had a great time with the bream at Turner’s Camp on a falling tide – keeping two at 40cm.

There have been a few reports of night-time shark fishing at the bridge. Apparently, some good-sized ones are hooking up – Brent’s becoming quite passionate about night fishing at the bridge! Kev also got lucky – he had a telescopic rod, a small hook and a live baitfish, and was pretty pleased with his 1.2m catshark!

From Craig“Caught Bronze shark (2mt to 2.4) at the Bribie Bridge, 19th Feb, on squid, using 30-pound braid with 40 pound leader on the tide turn.

Caught shovel nose on the 20th at night, at high tide at the bridge, on a whole squid –it was around 1.6mt long. 20 to 30 min battle to get both to the boat and both released unharmed.”