Huge cod leaves fishermen in awe

This giant cod was captured on video when three mates were fishing off the Broome coast this month.

Esperance High School student and Broome Fishing Club member Ethan Rossiter, 13, used an underwater camera to film the fish – estimated to be around 180cm – tearing bait tied to a rope in Roebuck Bay.

Ethan’s father Geoff Rossiter said the cod, which he believes was an Orange Spotted Cod or North West Grouper, left them in awe of its huge size.

“We were out fishing for anything, out looking around the reefs but our bait kept getting stolen,” he said.

“We could see a long shape sitting on the bottom, but were sure it wasn’t a shark because it was such a soft bite – so we tied some burly to a rope and lowered our GoPro over the side.”

As Ethan, Geoff and Bailey Rossiter, 11, examined the footage , another cod of similar size suddenly flashed across the water.

“We were excited about how big it was, when Ethan said ‘you’re not going to believe this but there’s another one’ – so we gave up fishing and started throwing squid and prawns to them,” Geoff Rossiter said.

“God knows how old they are, over 70 years old maybe – five or six foot long and round like a 44 gallon drum.”

You could easily swim with them, that will be the next mission.”