A Napier fisherman has gone viral for catching a kingfish off a bridge using a modified bow and arrow, and says he only posted the video to stop people calling the cops on him.
Faran Lincoln has been fishing since he was a kid and landed the catch of his life off a bridge near Pandora Pond.
Lincoln and his older brother have been designing homemade fishing bow and arrows for about a year, and have been in a race to catch a kingfish which frequents the estuary under that bridge.
"For the last three months, I have been out there at least two or three times a week," Lincoln said.
He finally caught "Jeff" last Thursday morning - the name he affectionately gave the elusive fish.
"I was stunned. I was like s*** I got it," he said, of catching the 1.2m-long kingfish.
"If someone had told me three months ago I was going to shoot a kingfish with a bow and arrow I would have said 'you're dreaming, mate'.
"I never thought I was going to get it."
The fish did not fight and appeared to die instantly.
Making the catch even more remarkable, Lincoln's girlfriend was filming him at the time and the video has since been widely shared on social media.
"I posted it online because I wanted people to stop ringing the cops on me," he said, with a laugh.
Lincoln said just a few days prior to making the catch he was visited by two police officers while fishing off the bridge, a popular place for walkers and bikers.
"I turned around and there were two cops walking toward me and they said 'what are you up to?'"
He said they were very interested in his fishing technique and ended up watching him fish before letting him continue.
"The police said 'we had a complaint by a member of the public of a crazy guy down on the bridge with a bow and arrow'."
Lincoln, who works at Pan Pac, said he unfortunately didn't have scales when he took the fish home last Thursday so he didn't get to weigh it.
He said others had guessed it would have weighed between 20kg and 25kg.
"I've got one slice left in my freezer and the rest of it is spread out across Hawke's Bay [with neighbours and friends]."
Lincoln said his homemade fishing contraption was basically a combination of a hunting bow, a fishing arrow, a rod and reel, and a couple of aluminium pipes.
Lincoln said he felt a bit sad the day after he caught Jeff as he had become fond of the fish.
"I've been down in the Bay for 10 years and would have seen it the first year I came down," he said of the kingfish.
"Well, I think it might be the same one, he had the same [pattern]."
Lincoln said he had found a video online of someone else in Coromandel shooting kingfish with a bow and arrow when researching how to make one.
Lincoln's brother Clint said it was an amazing achievement.
"I'm his brother so obviously I was pissed off [he got it first]," he said.
"But I'm over the moon for him. My goal now will be to outdo him."