Do you think you could survive a few nights on a deserted island? What about a Northern Territory sandbank notoriously home to saltwater crocodiles?

Fisherman Alan Jones did.

He earned himself an unexpected stay on the Baines River, in the north-west of the NT, when his boat got caught on the wrong side of the tide.

He set out on the Baines, a tributary of the Victoria River, on March 31 but little did he or his family know he would not be returning until four days later.

"I turned right when I should've turned left," Mr Jones explained to the ABC's Tales from the Tinny.

"I went up the Baines and I knew they were big tides ... but I thought 'oh I'll get in and get out before the tides muck me around'."

The Baines is notorious for its hasty drops, starting at an elevation of 10.2 metres and ending 7 metres lower when it merges with the Victoria River.

For Katherine man Mr Jones, one snap decision would lead to his unexpected adventure.

Sorry, this audio has expired Stranded for three days; fisho charters chopper to rescue bogged boat

"I went round Sandy Creek and I was trawling along and thought 'gee, it's getting a bit low'," he said.

"I hit this little sandbar and realised it was getting real shallow ... when I turned right, I ended up on top of the sandbar."

After taking a wrong turn Alan Jones ended up on the wrong side of the tide. ( Supplied: Alan Jones )

Mr Jones tried to push the boat off, but it would not budge. With 24 bottles of water on board and food to last the trip he decided to wait the tide out.

"So I sat there for 12 hours, let the tide come back in and tried to push it off again ... there wasn't enough water under the boat to even float the boat," he said.

"I'm in trouble!"

He was right.

The tide went out again and he had another 12-hour wait in store. This time, the water did not even reach the boat.

Then a beep on his phone — a message from his son — helped him realise he had one bar of reception.

The message may have saved his life.

Mr Jones said he called the police.

And after two nights, he then had a choice: desert his $30,000 boat and return home to his family, or call in re-enforcements.

"I made the stupid decision that I would ring up and get a helicopter to drag me off into the water," he said.

Alan Jones paid for a helicopter to airlift his boat from a sandbank. ( Supplied: Alan Jones )

"When I looked at it [the boat], I was about 300 to 400 metres from deep-enough water to put the boat in. That's how far the river went down. I [thought I] need a chopper."

Several hours passed but eventually he heard the sound of whirling blades, and it was music to Mr Jones' ears.

"Once I waved him down and he came in, he landed the chopper and his mate got out ... but [the pilot] just hovered [the helicopter] there because he didn't want to break the surface," Mr Jones said.

"He came over the front of my boat, hooked up like a snatch strap, hooked the bottom of the helicopter cable and he flew up in the air, and we stood back and watched him."

"He [the pilot] had a bit of trouble getting it out of the mud [because] that suction was pretty good.

He persevered, he jolted it round and he picked the boat up and spun it 180 degrees."

The helicopter moved the boat back onto the Baines River, where Mr Jones was able to safely safely continue his fishing trip for two more nights.

After four days, the fisherman bagged five barramundi, none of which were keepers, and a hefty bill for the helicopter.

"I lived to fish another day," he said.