Gus van Hart, The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper

A young angler has landed the catch of a lifetime off the Cohuna pier, reeling in a metre-plus Murray cod that has kids around town asking him how to fish.

Personal trainer Jye Hill, who recently turned 20, was only a few minutes into a session at the popular Cohuna spot when his rod suddenly came to life.

“I was actually about 30 metres down the bank setting up my shrimp net because I’d only been there for five minutes,” Mr Hill said.

“Then all of a sudden my bells started ringing a little bit, so I ran over and set the hook. I thought I was snagged and then all of a sudden it started swimming around. It was huge compared to any fish I’ve ever fought before. I couldn’t believe it. I was like, what is this?”

The cod eventually taped out at 1.12 metres, putting it firmly in the “monster” category for Murray cod and easily the biggest fish Hill had ever hooked.

He said the size of the fish quickly drew a crowd along the pier.

Photos: The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper

“I was panicking. I had a very small fish net, so there was no chance of me fitting him in there,” he said.

“By the time I saw the fish I already had a crowd building around me because I’d been fighting him for well over five minutes.”

In the end it took Hill about ten minutes to get the cod under control, with the fish still charging and diving even after he first caught sight of it halfway through the battle.

Hill said the big cod easily would have tipped the scales if they had been able to weigh it.

“It’s hard to tell because we didn’t weigh it, but it would have been over 40 pounds,” he said.

Once the photos were done, the metre-plus cod went straight back.

“I had probably ten or so people standing around getting all these different angles of photos, but I just got some photos, got a measure and got him back in,” Hill said.

“You’ve got to release Murray cod when they get that big. They’re a protected species.”

It capped off a red-hot day on the water for Hill and his partner, with four cod landed in total.

“Yeah, it was a pretty good day fishing overall as well. We actually caught four for the day,” he said. “The smallest one was 67cm.”

Since a video of the catch started circulating, Hill said the giant cod had made him an unlikely celebrity with local youngsters.

“All the kids in town who have seen my video keep coming up to me and asking me how to fish,” he laughed.

“Yeah, it is [good notoriety]. They’re all trying to use my bait.”

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 11 December 2025.