Fisherman plans to stuff the 'monster fish' that didn't get away

Durban sales rep and fisherman Emile Govender certainly deserves the bragging rights when he boasts about the one that didn’t get away.

The deep sea fishing enthusiast has caught what is believed to be the biggest black musselcracker in KwaZulu-Natal‚ at a whopping 42kg.

According to the International Game Fish Association‚ the biggest recorded catch was 32.2kg in Richards Bay in 1996. Bruce Mann‚ a senior scientist at the Oceanographic Research Institute‚ said the biggest confirmed weight of a black musselcracker was 37.8kg.

Govender was deep sea fishing with his co-workers on Saturday morning in Salt Rock‚ north of Ballito‚ when his rod hooked on to something unusually large. “I tried to reel it and when I couldn’t‚ I knew it was going to be a big sucker‚” said an elated Govender.

After 30 minutes of wrestling‚ the “monster” sea creature emerged from the water.

“I was very excited. I didn’t expect to catch something this big. It was a super day‚” Govender said.

On average‚ musselcrackers weigh between 4 and 12 kg. The South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (Sassi) lists the fish as red‚ which means it is a vulnerable species and people are not allowed to buy them. Fishermen‚ however‚ are allowed to catch them.

Deep sea fishing has become a company hobby for Govender and his colleagues at a steel manufacturing company. He said he plans to stuff the fish and have it hung at the office.