Ten-year-old boy hauls in enormous 88kg fish double his weight after a three-hour ‘tug of war’ with the tuna – smashing an Australian record and feeding his family for days
- Lochie Miller, 10, caught a massive 88kg southern bluefin tuna last Sunday
- He was fishing with dad Leo Miller off the southernmost point of Tasmania
- Lochie struggled for three hours to reel in the monster fish with a 24kg line
- They have filed paperwork to officially record Lochie’s record-breaking catch
A ten-year-old boy has broken an Australian record by hauling in a massive 88kg fish in a marathon three-hour battle.
Lochie Miller was fishing east of Maatsuyker Island, the southernmost point of Tasmania, with dad Leo Miller when he hooked the monster tuna last Sunday.
Mr Miller said Lochie struggled for almost three hours to haul in the southern bluefin tuna on a 24kg line and managed the impressive feat thanks to his determination.
‘I offered to help but he’s quite a determined boy and he said “No I want to do it on my own”,’ Mr Miller told Daily Mail Australia.
Lochie Miller, 10, (pictured above) reeled in a massive 88kg southern bluefin tuna last Sunday
The ten-year-old (pictured above) had been fishing with his dad Leo Miller off the southernmost point of Tasmania when he snagged the tuna on his 24kg fishing line
The father-son duo watched conditions around Maatsuyker Island, one of the roughest sections of coastal water in the world, for over a week before their trip.
They finally woke up at 3am on Sunday to launch their boat, the Choonachaser, from Catamaran and complete a two-hour ride to the fishing spot.
Mr Miller was the first to hook a tuna before giving his son a turn.
‘I caught one about 40kg and then said to Lochie “Would you like to have a go on the tuna?” and he said “Yeah cool”,’ Mr Miller explained.
‘Then bang the rod went off and he attached his harness and started fighting the fish and it didn’t take too long before we realised it was a better sized one.’
It took Lochie two hours and 45 minutes of ‘tug of war’ to reel in the massive fish more than double his weight.
‘He was very tired and in quite a bit of pain and discomfort and it’s also quite a mental struggle to focus for that long,’ Mr Miller said.
Lochie struggled for three hours to reel in the monster tuna (pictured above with Lochie)
Mr Miller (pictured above with Lochie) believes his son’s catch has broken the Australian record for a southern bluefin tuna caught in the 44kg line class of under-11s boys
‘It’s quite taxing and he’s only 10 so he was getting pretty fatigued and for quite a while there we didn’t really think he would get it done.
‘He was not in a good place at times but he was very determined to finish what he started and inch by inch he managed to do that.’
Mr Miller said the pair would seek to make Lochie an official record-breaker for the 88kg tuna catch.
‘It’s certainly big enough to break the Australian record in the 44kg line class of under-11s boys but there’s a lot of paperwork to fill out,’ he explained.
The family have since been enjoying tuna ‘for breakfast, lunch and dinner’.
‘We’ve eaten a lot, we’ve given quite a lot away to friends and family and we’ve frozen quite a lot as well,’ Mr Miller said.
Mr Miller monitored fishing conditions east of Maatsuyker Island (pictured) for over a week