ON a recent trip to Cape York with Steve Morgan and my brother Mark, we spent most of our week exploring the different options around 'The Tip' with local Punsand guide Scott Oldfield. One of those options involved a trip into the billabongs of the Jardine River.
We boated up stream for many kilometres, tied the boat up to a tree and then walked about three kilometres cross country to the billabongs. I was extremely impressed with what I saw and caught, and I'd go as far as saying that it would rate as one of my most memorable fishing experiences. The one drawback was that, except for the ends of the billabong where it narrowed down, the larger part of the main body would have been very difficult to fish from the shore and we all agreed that a small dingy would have been a great asset.
Scott then relayed the gruelling epic of the day he and his business partner tried to get an aluminium tinny in to the billabong. After eight hours of dragging the tinny across inhospitable country, involving much blood, sweat and tears, not to mention some near biffo, they finally made it to the water. A week later, the boat was stolen.
When Erik Jorgenson, of Porta-Bote walked down the Roseville boat ramp to meet me with a twelve foot dingy folded neatly to about the size of a Malibu surfboard under his arm, for some strange reason the above mentioned billabong sprang immediately to mind. The instructions say it takes ten minutes to unfold and assemble, but I've seen it go together quicker then that with practice.
Mention of a portable folding boat conjures up for most people, an image of a gimmicky, squat, canoe-like craft, suitable for short trips to the Botanical Garden ponds. Well I'm here to tell you there have been some dramatic changes in design and construction which have taken these boats from toy status to being serious contenders as smooth water fishing boats.
For starters, they now sport a conventional transom, which on the larger model is capable of taking anything up to an 8 hp outboard.. The twelve and a half footer that I tested, really hooted with a 5 hp on the back with just myself in the boat, but still managed to plane with three people on board.
Its handling as a row boat surprised me more than anything. I was expecting it to be akin to trying to row a li-lo but instead found directional stability, and rigidity in the rowlocks that would rival some aluminium boats.
Overall stability was at least as good as a similar sized rigid vessel, although the flexing in the floor takes a little getting used to as you move about. I'd feel quite comfortable fishing two people in this boat on smooth water, and if you were careful, both could stand up and lure fish without problems. The Porta Bote promotional video shows a diver getting into the water, then back out over the side of the boat.
The hull is constructed of Polypropylene which is an incredibly tough engineered resin that, under normal use, will take almost any beating you can throw at it. The video shows it being dropped from a crane into the water while full of bricks with no apparent damage. The Porta-bote meets US Coastguard specs and due to the built in buoyancy is virtually unsinkable.
To get it working as a fishing boat would require a bit of thought towards some accessories. There's not much in the way of cleats to tie off a forward and aft anchor and some rod holders would be required. Fortunately the skin material can be drilled to accommodate a few detachable 'extras' without interfering with structural integrity. According to the distributor, a portable suction-mount sounder transducer is ideally suited to a Porta-boat. There's plenty of room in the twelve footer as tested to carry all the extras normally associated with an estuary or fresh water trip.
I'd suggest an outboard with an integral fuel tank, but there's room for a small remote tank or battery should you opt for an electric outboard. A Minn-Kota 27 or 36 pound thrust electric would be ample and the Porta-bote will take these either as a transom mount or as a bow mount. Anything heavier should be mounted on the transom only.
The Porta-bote is ideally suited to fisho's with limited storage space at home. It folds to about the size of a traditional plank surfboard and about 100 mm thick. You could even keep it inside a flat or similar accommodation, provided there were no objections from your significant other.
I can see a huge application in the above-mentioned billabong situation. It would be great on a Cape York trip or a gorge country freshwater cod expedition and I could even see myself using one to float down a remote stretch of Macleay bass water.
Compared to a wind resistant tinny, it's very streamlined on the roof of the car and should cut down fuel consumption on long trips.