LIFE for Tim and Cath Downie of Macleay Island is about being on the water and fishing, but mostly it’s about the freedom this lifestyle affords.
Tim and Cath worked as professional fishers from 1979 to 2014, living and working on various boats and fishing trawlers and employing the best fishermen there were.
They hauled in between 1000 and 1100 coral trout a week, each caught individually, with a single line and a single hook. These they exported live to the Asian market. Incidental fishing also included sweet lip, mackerel and trevally.
Most were caught out of Bowen.
Despite no longer working professionally, the pair confess a continued love of boating and fishing. Cath works as a cook on board South Passage, one of Queensland’s Tall Ships which teaches sea and life skills to teenagers.
“Basically, I work with my family. It’s just a large family,” she said.
Tim continues to fish from his 45-foot Skybird yacht moored outside his island home, between Macleay and Garden islands. Tim lived onboard this craft while building their home on Macleay.
His most recent fishing trip was on his son’s pleasure boat where he caught his quota of coral trout and sweet lip on the Swains, the outer reef of the Barrier Reef.
“I still get a buzz out of catching fish. It’s hard to describe. You have to bring it to the surface, land it and beat the sharks. It’s a different life,” Tim said.
“There is every type of fish out there, if you know the spots. It is very heartening to see the reef healthy like this.”
Cath said she was an early riser and would “drop in a line when no one else was awake”.
“I can catch a half dozen trout before breakfast,” she said.
Although Tim and Cath worked as professional fishers, they said they still enjoyed a feed of fish.
“Once Tim caught an 8kg crayfish off Palm Island. There was hardly a pot big enough to put it in,” Cath said.
Along the way, there have been special moments.
“We have been followed by a huge whale shark. We have had two whales and a baby alongside.
“It’s a hard living, but it offers freedom and beauty and some wonderful memories.”
