‘Monster’ fish a tasty treat for duo

Geraldton fisherman Matt Wilson says he’s made “the catch of a lifetime” after reeling in a gigantic 172cm mulloway while fishing off the beach south of Flat Rocks recently.

Mr Wilson said the monster fish tipped the scales at 20kg, although he estimated it could have easily weighed more than 30kg.

“It’s the biggest fish I’ve caught in my life, so I’m very, very happy,” Mr Wilson said.

“I’m not too sure if it’s close to a record or not in Geraldton, but it’s certainly up there.”

Mr Wilson and mate Jamie Goding said they had been waiting for six hours without a bite when their luck changed.

“We decided to burly up, and then within five minutes this mulloway came through and smashed Matt’s bait,” Mr Goding said.

Mr Wilson said from that point, it was a team effort.

“The line suddenly went off in the rod holder — just a couple of sharp bites — and then it took off screaming,” he said.

“It took about 200m of line up the beach, and we had to follow it for about 100m to try and land it, and then we finally brought it in with the waves, and Jamie went in and gaffed it in the side.

“It put up a massive fight; it took a good 15 minutes to bring it in.”

Mr Goding said he was lucky he didn’t slice his hand while trying to bring the fish ashore.

“I had the line around my hand and it was pulling me, and luckily I let go, because the line would’ve cut straight through my hand,” he said.

“I couldn’t believe the weight of it — it was unbelievable.”

Mr Wilson said the fish tasted delicious barbecued, served with a chilli chutney and Mediterranean dukkah spices.

Getaway Outdoors Geraldton fishing manager Sham Benson said while the fish was indeed a whopper, without knowing the official weight, it was hard to tell if it had broken any records.

“I’ve seen fish like it, but they’re few and far between and as the years go by, they’re getting more rare,” he said.