Aussie blokes rating catch of a lifetime

Two Aussie blokes could have saddled up their prize catch when they landed one of the world’s rarest fish during a Top End charter outing.

An online post of the pair’s incredibly rare catch showed the two men holding up a giant oarfish, which has a horse-like head, plate-sized eyes and a long, slender body, after reeling it in.

Skipper Curtis Peterson, from Tiwi Islands Adventures, led the charter group during a moonlight session off Melville Island last week.

The oarfish, which swims vertically at depths of up to 1000m, is also known as ‘The Doomsday Fish’, where legend has it that higher powers are sending a warning sign to those that lay eyes on the fish.

An expert said the ancient-looking creature is a rare catch off the Top End.

‘It’s the first time I’ve ever heard someone land a fish like that up here,’ NT News fishing columnist Alex Julius said.

‘It’s also very rare to land one of these fish, most being found washed up ashore already deceased.’

But on the downside, he said oarfish aren’t much chop on the dinner table.

Curtis Peterson, from Tiwi Islands Adventures, and a young angler with their rare catch.

‘Apparently they’re not that great eating either, having a gelatinous like taste to them,’ he said.

An image of the catch on Fishing Australia TV’s Facebook page has had 1300 comments and 470 shares since it was posted last Friday night.

Some questioned whether it was AI-generated, but others saw the lighter side of it.

‘It’s Puff the magic sea dragon who lives under the sea isn’t it,’ one commenter said.

Another added: ‘Of course that’s a seahorse which refused to go extinct when the world wiped out dinosaurs.’

This comment had a slice of Aussie larrikin about it.

‘I’d call it the Bogan Barracuda. Looks like the fish version of the bloke at the pub who always has a wild story and an even wilder mullet,’ it read.