Tuna the 'size of a cow'

A fish the "size of a cow" that took five people to haul on board a boat may have set a new world game- fishing record for a Nelson angler.

Business broker Michael Hayes thought he was going to be dragged overboard when he tried to land the 268kg bluefin tuna off the West Coast.

He was fishing with a 60kg breaking-strain line about 50km west of Greymouth last Thursday.

Now he is waiting for the results of a DNA test to confirm that the fish is a Pacific bluefin tuna and a new International Game Fishing Association record.

"I got it to the boat but then it took five of us to get it into the boat," Mr Hayes said. "It was a hell of a big fish; it's the size of a cow."