A New South Wales man has survived a crocodile attack on the Western Cape York on Thursday, December 18, claiming some snags and over-hanging branches saved his life.

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Trevor Goodwin, from Lennox Heads, was on a fishing trip with his son when a 3.5m estuarine crocodile attacked and bit him on the leg near False Pera Heads, south of Weipa on the Western Cape York.

The attack occurred between 2.00 and 2.30pm

Mr Goodwin turned around to take an 80cm barramundi he had just landed up a bank when the crocodile lunged for him from the water, and caught him on the right leg around the knee.

Mr Goodwin was in Weipa on a short holiday to visit his son, Nathan Goodwin ,who works in Weipa, and the pair were on a fishing and camping trip around the Norman Creek area when the crocodile attacked.

Mr Goodwin and his son had crossed a sand bank in small creek with a steep climb up the other side to try their luck near some "pretty good snags".

Mr Goodwin had been underhand flicking his bait-caster through low hanging branches and over the snag to avoid getting tangled up, and had managed to catch an 80cm barramundi.

"As I was walking it out, I turned my back for one second to go up the bank when I heard a big clap.

"It was like I had just been hit with a big stick and I thought what was that.

"There was no noise either; there was nothing to say it was going to happen.

"It flew out of the water like a bullet and all I saw was this big croc hissing with its jaws open as it was going backwards into the water.

"Because of the snag and roots over the water that is probably what saved me. If those branches weren’t there, he probably would have had me!"

"I could tell he was really peeved off too, by the way he was walking backwards with his mouth wide open and hissing at me like that," he said.

When the Western Cape Bulletin asked Mr Goodwin how he knew the size of the croc, he explained that, as it was retreating back into the water, its body length had not come completely out of the water and that he estimated it to be about 300 mm across the top of the head.

Mr Goodwin showed the Bulletin where the croc had attached itself to his leg and explained that it had only just managed to hook onto his leg with its front teeth.

One puncture from one tooth required nine stiches.

Mr Goodwin then yelled for Nathan, who was fishing further down the creek, to get away from the water and began to drag himself up the bank and through the bush with his rod in one hand and the barra still attached.

They both had to cross the sand bank and the creek again to get to their boat, and, incredibly, stopped long enough to release the barra he had just caught.

They made their way by boat to their camp site at Norman Creek where Nathan packed everything up and loaded the boat for the two hour trip back to Weipa.

Mr Goodwin confided to the Bulletin that the funny thing was his son was not too happy about packing up the camp and calling the fishing trip short just because of a crocodile bite. "It was probably just shock though".

When asked how his wife took the news, Mr Goodwin said: "Oddly enough she had just rung to see how we were getting along when Megan (my daughter-in-law) had to tell her I had just been bitten by a crocodile and had been taken to hospital. I think it was a bit of a shock for her when she was told".

Mr Goodwin finished by saying: "Don’t believe that you will see a croc coming for you; the water was pretty dark and I turned my back for a second and it attacked me."

Mr Goodwin was released from hospital the next morning and was going to buy a lotto ticket on the way to his son’s house. He returned to Lennox heads on Sunday and definitely has one of the best fishing stories from Weipa ever.

Shane Bousen is the Publisher/Editor of the Western Cape Bulletin.