A whale of a tale about the one that got away

Ohope recreational fisherman Graeme Paull hooked the biggest catch of his life - a whale.

Mr Paull said he and friend Peter Garside were fishing from Mr Paull's 5m boat Prozac on Sunday and, after catching gurnard in water 15-20m deep off Ohiwa, they went further offshore, seeking snapper.

At about 36m they stopped and Mr Paull threw a bucket of burley over the side, then cast a stray line into it.

Soon after he felt a pull that grew in strength and shortly after, a whale surfaced about 20-25m away.

"It caused some turbulence behind the boat for a while then it continued on its way," he said. He applied brake to his reel to snap the line quickly so he didn't lose too much.

Mr Paull said he thought it was a humpback but could not be sure.

It had a dorsal fin and was longer than his boat but it was impossible to say by how much.

"It was just an enormous hump that came out of the water."

Mr Paull thinks the mammal may have been attracted to the burley and, while swimming through it, somehow ingested the hook, or foul-hooked itself.

He said Mr Garside explained to him at the time in unambiguous syllables that catching a whale had been the wrong thing to do.

- NZPA