'We thought he was having us on': Australian fishermen rescue naked fugitive from croc-infested mangroves

Cam Faust and Kevin Joiner were laying crab traps near Darwin when they discovered a naked, distressed man in the crocodile-infested water. Screenshot / Channel 9

Two Australian friends on a Northern Territory fishing trip got the shock of their lives last weekend when they found a naked, filthy man calling for help in mangroves.

According to 9 News, mates Cam Faust and Kevin Joiner were laying crab traps on Sunday at East Point, around 18km from Darwin, when they discovered the man in the crocodile-infested water.

As they pulled up to help, they found the distressed man holding on to tree branches.

He told them he had been eating snails to survive after losing his way on New Year's Eve.

The man was allegedly on the run from authorities. Screenshot / Channel 9

"We thought he was having us on, taking the piss, and then we went closer and realised the severity," Faust told 9 News.

"Completely naked, cuts all over him, swollen feet, covered in mud."

The mates gave the man water and beer, loaned him a pair of shorts and took him back to shore, where they called an ambulance.

But in an even stranger twist, they soon discovered the real reason for his bizarre appearance.

The man was naked and covered in bites and scratches. Screenshot / Channel 9

It turns out the man was Luke Voskresensky, who was wanted by authorities for allegedly breaching bail over an armed robbery.

The 40-year-old allegedly escaped by ditching his electronic ankle bracelet.

"I was going to go visit him in hospital and my partner's a paramedic saying, 'He's in hospital with handcuffs on, two cops babysitting him,' so we were like, 'Oh, maybe we'll leave it," Faust told reporters.