Phnom Penh  - A Cambodian man fishing for minnows in a shallow rice paddy on the outskirts of the capital accidentally netted a meter-long crocodile instead, local media reported Friday.

Khmer-language Koh Santepheap daily said San Pheakadey, 29, was wading through waist-deep water when he encountered the reptile at around lunchtime Thursday.

Unfazed, he hauled it in, hog-tied it and took it home, the paper said, featuring a picture of the one that didn't get away with the proud fisherman.

Pheakadey has ignored suggestions from his neighbours to eat the animal and is instead keeping it in his front yard until he can find an interested buyer, the paper said.

Koh Santepheap speculated that the croc may have escaped from an illegal crocodile farm near the capital after the country's rivers rose dramatically with the onset of monsoon season. (dpa)