Even bigger tigers off Hedland?

The president of Port Hedland Game Fishing Club reckons there are bigger tiger sharks than the 260kg world record buster, caught in Dampier last week, lurking off the Port Hedland coast.

Sydney angler Brett Sinclair hit the headlines last week when he caught a 260.8kg monster in the Dampier Classic competition, using just a 6kg line.

The aim of the competition was to catch the heaviest fish possible on the lightest line.

In doing so, he beat the previous record over 100g.

Jon Jarvis says the waters off Hedland are a hotspot for big-game fisherman looking for an elusive catch.

“We get tigers the same size, if not bigger, off Hedland,” he said.

“There’s quite a few of them out around North Turtle and Little Turtle islands.

"They hang around the islands where the turtle colonies are.

“In years gone past, there have been a few guys who have chased them out there on a catch and release basis.”

He said the trend of fisherman travelling to Hedland chasing tigers had slowed down in the past six to seven years because of a drowning accident.

Mr Jarvis said the Dampier competition causes controversy due to the ethical issues of killing large fish.

“We generally don’t kill large fish by principal,” he said.

“There’s controversy every year in Dampier, with this competition, but as a club we’ve said we’re not going to do it because of the negative connotations.”

Mr Jarvis said the new world-record holder had caught a 27kg fish on a 1kg line hours before landing his whopper in a three-hour struggle.