[ZenGum]

What is the world coming to when the old dead-fish routine doesn't work even in Darwin. :

Darwin police say a man they caught drink-driving last night tried to give officers a dead fish.

Officers were called to a service station at Casuarina just after midnight and say the 44-year-old man was visibly drunk.

Duty Superintendent Rob Farmer says the man "stumbled" out of the car and tried to talk to police before producing the dead fish.

"I'm told it was a saratoga, not a very good one either, only about 30 centimetres long apparently," he said.

"We don't know why he produced it and where he got it from. But yeah, he was intent on showing it to them."

Police say the man later recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.235 per cent.

Superintendent Farmer says he is unsure what happened to the fish.

"As far as I know, it's still with the car now," he said.

"I don't know whether there were other people there who may have been able to take care of the fish or whether he's going to have a surprise in his vehicle when he gets back to it.

"It's not a good idea to keep dead fish in your car."

The man is due to appear in court today along with another alleged high-range drink-driver who had only just been released on bail after crashing a stolen car.

Police say the man went drinking again, stole a ute, backed it into a parked car and later crashed it into a moving car, before ending up in a stormwater drain near Darwin's CBD.

The 28-year-old has been refused bail, and police say he did not have a licence to begin with.