Video captures Aussie bloke's 'insane' catch during Queensland floods: 'Only in Townsville'
One man has found a small silver lining as communities across Queensland's north continue to battle rising waters, trying to rescue homes and livestock.
As relentless flooding continues to wreak havoc across Far North Queensland, one Townsville local found an unexpected silver lining — hauling in a huge barramundi from the overflowing waters near the Ross River Dam.
Footage that surfaced on social media on Monday captured the remarkable moment, showing the rain-drenched fisherman grinning from ear to ear as he hoisted the one-metre-long catch onto his shoulder, with the fish appearing about the size of a schoolchild.
Umbrella-clutching onlookers watched in awe as he proudly posed for photos, flashing a thumbs-up despite the downpour, before placing his fresh prize onto the back of his ute.
Among those witnessing the hilarious scene was Brendan Marolla, who filmed the encounter and shared his astonishment. "Only in Townsville, guys, check this out," he can be heard saying in the clip. "Look at this guy — wow. That is decent, man."
Posting the footage online, he summed up the bizarre yet quintessentially Aussie moment: "You never know what you’ll see during the floods." Marolla later told the ABC the barramundi "looked bloated" and had lost some scales, theorising it may have died going down the dam’s spillway.
If the fish was alive when it was caught it, as many people pointed out in the comments, it poses a few ethical issues. Generally, it's discouraged to catch fish of that size due to the fact they are the top breeders in their ecosystems. Doing so can disrupt food chains.
People responding shared in the man's glee. "That's insane," one person said. "What a catch," said another. "It's probably going to taste like mud," another, less enthusiastic person, suggested.
Meanwhile, rainfall is expected to ease over the coming days but any further water in the already-soaked region will aggravate the flood disaster. Communities across the state continue to battle rising waters, rescuing homes, people, and livestock from the deluge.
Rain expected to ease, but Queensland not out of the woods yet
The intensity of rain in northern Queensland had eased on Monday afternoon with six-hour totals peaking at 50 to 100mm rather than up to 600mm over the weekend.
There were still some isolated high rainfall totals between Innisfail and Ingham where 167mm was recorded at Clyde Road at Babinda and 149mm at Paluma. But even as rain eases, river levels are still rising.
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"Some catchments are holding steady or even starting to fall, but others are still continuing to rise in response to past rainfall," meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said.
Good news overnight for Townsville residents, with the Ross River failing to reach the major flood level and peaking at 1.66m before it began subsiding.
But those evacuated in Townsville's "black zone" spanning Cluden, Hermit Park, Idalia, Oonoonba, Railway Estate and Rosslea have still been urged not to return home.
"Do not return home until you are advised to do so," Councillor Andrew Robinson said.
Ingham's swollen Herbert River is still on the rise with locals fearing it would reach beyond the record level of the 1967 mark at 15.2m. The Herbert River at Abergowrie Bridge is at 13.35m and rising while at the Ingham Substation, where the 1967 record was held, it has begun falling to 14.34m.
with AAP
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