A New Zealand spear fisherman has set a NZ and possibly a world record with a super-sized snapper he speared near Whangarei in Northland.

Pat Swanson was allegedly free- diving 300 metres off the Hen and Chicken Islands when he saw the big fish resting in a crevasse. He quickly used his speargun to catch the monster snapper and dragged it up 20 metres to the surface.He rather modestly claimed he was lucky to come across it.

It weighed an impressive 15.04kg, breaking the NZ record of 14.75kg set in 1995.

New Zealand Underwater has confirmed his NZ record, but the world record is yet to be verified.Mr Swanson of New Plymouth was surprised that the snapper was so big and heavy. He broke a bottle of bubbly to celebrate.

He intends to send the snapper to the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research before having it mounted.

Mr Swanson, aged 45 years, has been a spear fisherman since he was 12 years old and has been competing since 1990. He has won three national championships during that time.

He had been training for the event for nearly two weeks when he caught the big snapper, which was not counted in the competition. He beat 70 other competitors to finish third in the event, which was held at Ruakaka near Whangarei.

He claims spear fishing is very physical and mentally tough. Divers have to hold their breath for up to two minutes at a time. He dives to a depth of 30 metres at times. Snappers are difficult to spear because they are very alert; they are much like deer - you have to stalk them!