There may be plenty more fish in the sea, but Georges River is one mighty fish down after this big catch.
Schoolboy Charlie, 12, brought home quite the treat for his family for Easter - a 1.5 metre long jewfish he caught while fishing at Como on March 16.
Charlie, who is a member of the Woronora Fishing Club, is now on its big fish record books, having caught the largest fish during a club competition.
He was on his tinny with a friend, fishing on the river one afternoon. "I thought it was a stingray," Charlie said. "My friend helped me get it in. It wouldn't fit in the net so I grabbed it by its throat and put it into my boat."
Charlie caught the fish using yellowtail as bait. The schoolboy who lives by the river at Woronora, hauled the mighty catch onto land. His mother Isabel said she couldn't believe what he had caught.
"Charlie called me screaming and said he caught a big fish but when I saw it, I couldn't believe he didn't capsize the boat," she said.
They kept the fish on ice until it was weighed at the club the next day. "It wouldn't fit in the freezer so we cut it in steaks at the butcher," Isabel said. "I crumbed some of it, and made a few dishes for Good Friday. I made a curry dish and a Thai basil dish. Because it's such a big fish the bones weren't little, but it was beautiful. Everyone loved it."
She said Charlie started fishing at about age 4. "He's been fishing ever since he could hold a rod - he has lots of rods. He loves fishing," she said. "He says he prefers to be out fishing than gaming, and I think that's excellent."
Marine life expert and editor of Dive Log Australasia, Mike Scotland, of Kirrawee, said jewfish (mulloway, argyrosomus japonicus), spawn in the surf and often move upstream.
"[This] huge one was in breeding mode," he said. "Jewfish are one of the fastest growing fish in the sea. They like to rest in tightly packed schools in protected waters. They are a prime candidate for aquaculture and are highly carnivorous."
