Eddie a real Crocodile Dundee

File photo / Thinkstock

A 3m crocodile picked on the wrong guy when it attacked a Queensland miner, who gouged and punched his way to safety after being dragged underwater.

Eddie Sigai said he fought the crocodile after it grabbed his left hand, while swimming with daughters Jennifer, 17, and Monica, 12, at Beening Creek near Cape York in Far North Queensland last Saturday.

"I thought to myself, this is it, I am dead," the 37-year-old told The Sunday Mail. "But it's surprising what you can do when all you can think about is the safety of your children.

"It grabbed my hand and pulled me under the water so I was sitting and all I can remember is grabbing it, shaking it, punching it and going for its eyes."

Jennifer recalled feeling "something big" brush past her in the water and placed her hands on what she now believes was the back of the crocodile.

Monica said she felt the beast's tail swipe across her back as it made a beeline for her father. "I felt helpless and completely terrified," Monica said.

Mr Sigai said he remembered watching a documentary a few years ago about another man who survived a crocodile attack by gouging at its eyes.

"It swam past the girls, but I reckon it had me in its sights," Mr Sigai said.

"I don't know why. Maybe I disturbed its nest or it was just territorial. But I have no doubt that it had me on the menu."

After the attack, Mr Sigai said he screamed to his daughters to get out of the water.

He spent two days in hospital with bite marks on his left hand and deep scratch marks down his back.

"I am just glad it didn't go for one of the girls, but I tell you what, it will be a while before I get back in the water ... if I ever do."