Fishing Australia

Hi my name is Rob Wood.

I’m a fishing charter operator, operating in the Bundaberg and Gin Gin area of Queensland for over ten years. My ten year old son Tommy is a fishing “lunatic” and loves to fish when ever he can. He caught is first Marlin at age six and averages about 10 billfish a year lately he has applied himself to barra fishing and has also cracked his first fish over 1m last year with his first barra casting 102cm.

Tommy is Rob’s biggest fan watching Fishing Australia every Saturday on Win Television. I received a phone call from Rob saying that he was interested using our charter operation to do a episode on Lake Monduran.  As I had done the show previously and had struck up a friendship with Rob as a result, I said no! But with much coaxing from Rob and Tommy I finally agreed.

As this was the third show that I had done with Rob I was glad to hear him say that we would do the show over a full week, most of the shows in the past were done over one day and with barra fishing it’s very hard to produce in one day.

I asked my mate Stuart Adcock to give us a hand and he was great helping us with all the camera gear etc on location with his new Skeeter Boat..  He like Tommy is also a big fan of Rob and the show; go figure...  

Rob was keen to stay at the Gin Gin hotel with us as we had no five star accommodation in Gin Gin and I warned the staff of what a Prima Donna / Drama Queen Rob was.  We made sure he had the Honeymoon suite and sent all his meals up to his room where he ate alone. We ate in the main kitchen where Alistair the chef cooked all our meals while Paul Maccabei the producer kept us entertained with his ape impressions.

The fishing was tough to say the least. I had caught a massive 122 cm fish the week before on the new Storm Bait and Twitch lures that Rob had sent me and I also caught my biggest fish the week after he left being 129cm on the Storm lures also but somehow the fish knew the cameras had arrived.

Contrary to popular belief, I secretly enjoy fishing with Rob as he always lifts the spirits of the crew and the anglers to make the long hard days go quick. We had lots of fun and didn’t stop laughing all week, we played up that much that we actually missed two fish by stuffing around.

Just because he looks like that jibbering idiot Nudge of the old TV program “Hey Dad” some people think Rob is a dill, but I must say that every time I fished with Rob I learnt something new. He always impressed me with his knowledge of fishing, the environment and the ecosystem; he could always bring something new to the table. Rob is a very competent angler and out fished me for the whole week and when my spirits were down kept me thinking positively for the next fish.
Lake Monduran is one of the hardest barra fishing arenas in Australia on its day it makes me as charter operator / guide look great and on it’s off day it can almost drain the last drop of blood from you.

Rob and I worked tirelessly with the crew to make this show happen and we were really up against the odds but in the end we came up with what I thought was a great show and shows Lake Monduran for what it really is.  Rob is coming back in summer to fish with Tommy and myself and the fish will really be on then too.

I was interested to check out the Hobie kayaks and since the show have purchased one for ourselves but haven’t been able to use it because Tommy is always in it.

I would recommend watching some other fishing show if there was a better one but seeing as there isn’t check out Fishing Australia and like me you can wonder how and why this guy Rob Paxevanos got his ugly mug on TV.


Rob returns fire:

You’d eat alone too if you knew Woody…  Fans of the show also shouldn't be impressed by the fact that I out fished Woody; his son Tommy will tell you how easy that is…

Seriously, if you ever get to fish with Woody you will have a blast, stay at his pub if you can, its part of the fun, and plan around fishing the afternoon, evenings.

As half of my trip with Rob was spent filming a DVD, the fish that are on the show this week were caught across only two days.

I miss fishing with Woody and friends and definitely will be back soon...  Big fish and loads of fun.

Rob Paxevanos