Lake Butler Boat Haven, Robe, South Australia

Lake Butler Boat Haven, Robe, South Australia

In the early days of Robe the fishing industry flourished. One of the problems the industry faced was the wild winter weather. At first they moored the boats out in the bay, but this sometimes proved disastrous during storms. The next solution was to drag the fishing craft over the sand hills to Lake Butler, a natural lake within a few minutes walk of the main street. Here the boats were safe from the ravages of winter storms.

Lake Butler Boat Haven, Robe, South Australia

In 1964 a two metre deep channel was dug to allow the fleet to enter a safe haven year round. There are now many cray fishing and recreational fishing boats moored regularly in this artificial harbour. When I visited recently many of the boats were actually out of the water undergoing annual maintenance work. Some of these can be seen in the distance in the photo above.

Lake Butler Boat Haven, Robe, South Australia

Some of the boats are available for charter for visiting anglers.