The man, understood to be 28-year-old mine worker Todd Bairstow, was fishing on the bank of Trunding Creek, Weipa, about 4pm yesterday when the crocodile attacked.

Police said the four-metre crocodile tried to drag him into the water, but he was able to cling on to the mangroves on the bank.

Another fisherman in the area heard the man’s cries for help and rushed to his aid, ABC Radio reported.

The pair managed to fight off the crocodile and then chase it away.

Mr Bairstow suffered lacerations and dislocated bones and was taken to Cairns for treatment.

The fisherman, who is belived to work for Rio Tinto, had earlier told his friends on Facebook he was “living the dream” in Weipa.

In one entry on his Facebook page he said he was “off to jurassIc [sic] park to slay the barra”.

The Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management said it would attempt to remove the crocodile.

DERM acting director for wildlife Mike Devery said the creek was "a known croc habitat".

The latest attack is the second reported crocodile incident in the area in less than a month, after a 37-year-old man survived an attack at a popular swimming hole near the small Cape York community of Napranum.

"A DERM croc expert will fly in from Cairns tomorrow to attempt to identify and catch the crocodile responsible and remove it from the wild,” Mr Devery said.

A Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service ranger stationed at Weipa installed recent croc sighting signs around the creek last night.

- with AAP and Stephanie Gardiner