Luke Mathieson fillets blue cod at Back Beach while Shannan O’Connell (centre) and Luke’s father, Bob, enjoy some beers. PHOTOS: STEPHEN JAQUIERY

A keen Dunedin fisherman can now say he was literally hooked.

Bob Mathieson was enjoying good blue cod fishing below the lighthouse at Cape Saunders with his son Luke and friend Shannan O’Connell in their Shearwater 840 boat on Saturday.

Bob had hauled two fish aboard and taken one off the trace when the other fish bucked and jabbed the empty hook up to its shank in his arm.

With the fishing bait still attached, Bob Mathieson attempts to push the barb and bend of his fishing hook through the skin of his arm. Photo: Luke Mathieson

Unable to force the barb end through his skin with a pair of pliers by himself, Bob had Luke help with a push while Shannan carried on fishing.

With the barb exposed the pair cut it off before pulling the hook back through his arm.

"It was a bit of an ordeal but Dad didn’t make a sound. I would have been yelling my head off," Luke said.

The Mathieson Shearwater 840 boat heads up the harbour after a successful day’s fishing.

They carried on catching good fish until they had their limit before returning home with fish for family and friends and a tale to be told.