Photo of legend crocodile resurfaces as does whispers of its existence along Roper River

A MONSTER crocodile lurking in the deep, dark waters of the Roper River could be the biggest ever seen, with several fishermen claiming it to be at least 8m long

The monster croc was spotted on the banks of the Roper River by several sets of fishermen. Picture: Richard Sallis

A MONSTER crocodile lurking in the deep, dark waters of the Roper River could be the biggest ever seen, with several fisherman claiming it to be at least 8m long.

The photo of the enormous saltie was taken by Katherine man Richard Sallis and his mate Ian Graham, who were fishing along the Roper, about 300km from Katherine, near Black Fella Creek.

Mr Sallis said he spotted the croc along the bank of the river during the 2014 Dry season while they were in a 6.5m tinnie but he hasn’t seen it since, or in the nine years before that he had been fishing at the same spot.

He said his estimation of its length was based on comparing it to the length of his tinnie.

His claims of it being 8m were backed up by other fishermen, who measured it against their drag net.

The croc, now something of a Roper River legend, could be anywhere with the river spanning more than 1000km.

“We just couldn’t believe our eyes,” Mr Sallis said.

Two separate groups of fishermen estimated the enormous saltie at 8m long ... one group by comparing it to their 6.5m tinnie, and the others by comparing it to the length of their drag net. Picture: Richard Sallis

“That’s why there’s no fish in the river, we couldn’t catch anything because he’s eaten it (all).

“A couple of guys said they saw him after us and physically measured him by their drag net and then they said ‘you were right Richard, he was 8m’.

“We were over the moon because it’s a once in a lifetime visual thing, and to see it live — you’ve just got to be at the right place at the right time.”

Mr Sallis said the croc had been in a few fights as he was missing some fins along his tail though there’d be no dispute that he now owns the river.

“He was huge — it’s the stuff of scary movies,” he said.

“We cherish the picture we’ve got as he’s King of the Roper, he’d still be around.”

Crocodile expert Grahame Webb had his doubts that the croc truly was 8m long, as there was nothing to measure the prehistoric beast against.

“There’s nothing to scale this photo to in the picture, nor to suggest why it would not be in the four to five metre range,” he said.

“The head is really quite smooth where most of the really big, old crocodiles have all sorts of bumps along the snout.

“The only accurate way would have been to use the photo to put a stick in the mud near the tip of the snout, and another stick in the mud level with where the tail tip would have been and measure the straight-line distance.”

The NT is famous for its monster crocs with Adelaide River giant Dominator estimated to be 6.1 metres in length and weighing over a ton.

Cassius, a male saltwater crocodile caught in the Finniss River in the NT, is recognised as the world’s largest crocodile in captivity at 5.48m in length, and weighing in at 968kg.

The Territory’s own superstar Brutus, a neighbour of Dominator in the Adelaide River, is estimated to be around 5.5m.

Sweetheart, the Territory’s most famous (or most infamous) saltwater crocodile, was a modest 5.1m in length, by comparison.