A 2.5 metre giant squid has been hooked off the coast of Tathra on the Far South Coast.
17-year-old, Bega High School student, Dom Chandler was fishing from his 420 Renegade with a mate on Monday morning (July 3), making the most of the beginning of NSW school holidays, when he hooked something heavy.
“I was winding up the (37kg) line, there was a bit of weight, and then it just let go suddenly and there was a massive squid just floating on the surface,” Chandler said.
“It looked liked it had been attacked by a shark or a whale or something,” he said.
“We tried lifting it into the boat because it would have been really good bait and we could have had bait forever but me and my mate couldn’t lift it whatsoever, it was way to heavy, and it kept ripping.
“When we managed to flip it over, it had teeth marks all over it, so it had definitely been attacked by something and yeah it was dead.”
The Kalaru local, told East Coast Radio he’d never seen anything like it.
“I’ve caught small squid off the Tathra Wharf but that thing was over 100kg,” Chandler said.
“I’ve sent photos of it to a marine biologist, trying to get more information on it but I can tell you it was huge and it was 100 percent a squid.”
Chandler said he won’t be chasing squid but is instead hoping to land a swordfish over the holidays.
Images & Video: Dom Chandler
