Fishermen surprised to hook dead wallaby in Devon river

Two Devon fishermen were surprised when they caught something slightly more exotic than the pike they were hoping for after hooking a dead wallaby.



Matt Welham, 27, and Richard Williams, 28, both from Exwick, thought they would try their luck in the flood relief channel by Mill on The Exe near Exeter after spotting a large pike there. Using their long carp rods and special treble-hook lures they cast for the lone big fish.

Matt said: “As it was pike we were bottom fishing and I got a what seemed like a bite. I hauled it in and it looked at first as if there was a dead cat on the line. When it got closer and out of the water it looked like a kangaroo. I guessed it was stuffed but when we saw it close up we realised it was real and a wallaby.



“It must have weighed about 25lb and we reckoned it had been in the water for about two days tops.” Richard added: “There is a farm up by Newton St Cyres that we’d heard kept wallabies so we went up there and told them.” Wallabies, which are known as reasonable swimmers, are usually found in Australia.