On the lovely grassed Tocumwal Foreshore Park you’ll find the ‘World’s Biggest Codfish’ on display, representing what this area is most famous for. The Aboriginal name for the Murray Cod is ‘Goodoo’. The ‘Big Fish’ as it is known locally, was originally erected at the old swimming pool in 1968, but was later moved to its present location on the foreshore.
Enjoy the playground, picnic and toilet facilities, a lovely river view, and views of both the old and new bridges linking New South Wales to Victoria
In 1967 three foresighted women who made up the auxiliary of the local Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture decided that Tocumwal needed “something different” to put them on the map. These women were Miss Kathryn (Trixie) Moore, Miss Alice Johnson (later Gibson) and Mrs Lorna Nash. For many months this small band of women gathered the support of the towns people and raised a princely sum of three thousand pounds, the cost of the fish.
The fish was made by the Duralite company in Melbourne and constructed of fibre glass. Mouldings were taken off an eight section mould of the original plaster sculpture. It’s skeleton is a fabrication of steel truss and strutting. It is 21 feet long and 7 feet high and is 5 feet across. It weighs in at 450 pounds.
It’s colouring came from spray painting a base then hand painting on the spots. Because little was known about this NEW material ~Fibre glass~ in 1967 it took many months to finish the process and in that time the big banana was set up in Queensland so that Tocumwal was the second “Big Thing” to go on display. Over the years it has had many refurbishment’s. In latter years the wire mesh and barbed wire surrounds that had enclosed the fish for many years were removed and it now stands proudly on the foreshore fall to see.
To-day the fish has become an icon that many people will refer to having seen in their travels. Over the years and attempt was made to name the fish but the people of Tocumwal still refer to it as just simply “The Fish”.
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