Toowoomba anglers Mick Allan and Peter Roche came across this unlucky Murray cod while fishing recently at Cooby Dam near Toowoomba.

While trolling next to the weedy banks a bloke in a kayak paddling towards them told them he had seen what looked like a big cod dead in the weed near the bank so Mick and Pete went to investigate and found this monster. The cod was still quite fresh and looked like it only died the night before.

Not having a camera on board they decided to take it back to the boat ramp to get some shots of their find.

The cod was over 1m long and at a guess around the 25kg mark. Its luck ran out when it caught a 38cm silver perch and in the process if trying to crush and eat it, the perch put up a fight and tried to escape through the cod’s gills where it became stuck. This caused the cod to eventually drown as its gills were no longer able to function properly. The perch looked like it had been stuck for about a week – if the cod could have lasted a few more days the perch would have decomposed and possible slipped out.

The photos show the silver perch stuck in the gills and the size of it when removed.

Mick being the sort of bloke who doesn’t like to miss an opportunity, couldn’t resist sending the photo of himself holding up the cod to a few of his mates with the message: “I only caught the one this morning!” He confessed to all a few days later revealing the hapless silver perch in the cod’s gills. - ?????????????