HE has fished with his father, son, grandson and wife, but Barry Lockwood still prefers hitting the water alone.
For the 75-year-old Cleveland fisherman, a quiet day on Moreton Bay is about much more than what he brings home.
“It’s nice on my own,” he said.
“It’s relaxing on the water.
“I don’t care if I don’t catch anything. It’s peaceful and I don’t get to argue with anyone.”
Mr Lockwood said finding company could also be difficult because he usually fished during the week.
His lifelong connection with the water began when his family moved to Wynnum and he started fishing with his father, George Lockwood, who owned the Wynnum Herald.
“Dad would take me out fishing and crabbing on Waterloo Bay,” he said.
“I started in a canoe and then changed to sailing boats.
“At age 11, I was taking turns coming last sailing five-metre (16-foot) skiffs off Darling Point.”
These days, Mr Lockwood fishes every few weeks from his 5.3-metre tinnie, usually around Peel Island and the Rous Channel to its north.
Whiting, flathead and spotted mackerel are among his preferred catches.
“We would also go out sometimes to Harry Atkinsons near the entrance to the Bay to catch reef fish,” he said.
However, Mr Lockwood now goes crabbing more often, sometimes accompanied by his wife Sandy and 12-year-old grandson Cody White.
“Cody loves it,” he said.
“He loves steering the boat and pulling the pots up, but he won’t get the crabs out.
“He leaves that to me.”
While every trip produces a different result, Mr Lockwood said he regularly returned with the mud crab possession limit of seven per person, along with another 20 or so sand crabs.
“We usually catch enough for a good feed,” he said.
His greatest triumph came away from the Bay when he landed a 98cm barramundi at Lake Awoonga, inland from Gladstone.
“I was rapt,” he said.
“My mate said if I didn’t get it in the boat, then he’d throw me overboard.”
A former TAFE tutor, Mr Lockwood made the most of his 10-week holiday breaks by leaving a caravan at Amity Point, which became his family’s regular holiday and weekend destination from 1984 to 1996.
He later operated the Stradbroke Island Dive Centre charter boat service at Amity Point before moving permanently to the island.
From 1996 to 2003, he owned and operated the Samarinda guest lodge.
“My work and life have always revolved around the sea,” he said.
