This whopper tale is all true
Two 12-year-old boys watched in utter disbelief as their fishing rod swam around the lake in circles.
The black rod was pulled into New Plymouth’s Lake Rotomanu by a big fish, which had chomped down on their hook and made off with their gear.
Tai Sadler and Trae Schuler had only been fishing for a few minutes when they watched as their first catch of the day forcefully swam away, taking the rod with it.
The two Taranaki boys initially thought they would be in trouble for losing the rod, but that soon changed as they watched the rod being pulled around the lake.
Tai got on the phone to his mum Paula and his dad Frankie and told them the unlikely tale.
With a bit of help, Tai reckoned they could save the rod.
Within an hour his parents had brought two kayaks down to the lake and Tai and Trae headed out to retrieve their fishing rod.
‘‘The fish put up a great fight, there were lots of splashes,’’ Tai said.
’’And it pulled me all the way from the middle of the lake to the side.’’
Eventually the two lads got the rod and the fish out of the water.
‘‘And it was the biggest fish I’ve ever seen,’’ Tai said.
‘‘And definitely the biggest I’ve caught, by far,’’ Trae said.
The pair estimated the fish weighed about 10 kilograms and they thought it was a carp, which can grow up to 1.4 metres long and weigh up to 40 kilograms.
Grass carp in Lake Rotomanu are the property of New Plymouth District Council and are in the lake under a permit from the Ministry of Primary Industries and the Department of Conservation.
They are there to help maintain the open water for recreational use and are not meant to be deliberately fished. – Fairfax NZ