Fishing from a helicopter

I caught a fish, and it was THIS big...

If you told someone you liked fishing, they might imagine you sitting peacefully on a riverbank, waiting for a bite on the end of your fishing line.

Or perhaps they might picture you hauling nets up from the side of a boat in the middle of the sea.

But how about diving head first from a helicopter and wrestling with a marlin?

It's not what the Outlook team would expect either. But then George Arney met extreme angler Matt Watson. He's known as the ‘Gannet Man' because of his love of catching fish in this unusual way.

Matt explained that the idea of catching fish from the air started out as a joke. He tried for eleven months until he managed to perfect the technique. He's also fished in a snowstorm 100 km out to sea, and thinks he's caught around 1100 fish in total.

Listen Hear Matt chatting to George Arney on Outlook

Duration: 5 minutes. First broadcast 12 March 2009

Matt's angling exploits are now featured on a New Zealand TV programme called The Ultimate Fishing Show.

You can see video of Matt in action on their website: The Ultimate Fishing Show

Exteme fishing underwater

Gannet Man leaps from a helicopter