A Sandy Bay teenager has reportedly achieved a potential record catch after a grueling three-hour-plus battle with a massive swordfish off Tasmania’s east coast.
Fifteen-year-old Lochie Miller reeled in a 151-kilogram swordfish during a Tuna Club Tasmania competition at Pirates Bay on Saturday.
The enormous fight unfolded in about 550 metres of water near Eaglehawk Neck, with the young angler wrestling the fish to the boat for three hours and 15 minutes.
“We lost a smaller one earlier in the day, but we managed to hook up again, and it took over three hours in the end,” Miller told Pulse. “We had 20 kilos of drag on it for two hours.”
The creature measured just over four metres in length and tested Miller’s skill and endurance to the limit.
“It was mentally really challenging in the end, but we finally pulled it in and got it aboard, thankfully,” he added.
Lochie’s father, Leo, who was one of five people on the boat, said the fish would be shared with friends, family, and crew members.
“It freezes really well. You can keep it for up to a year because it has a high visceral fat content,” he noted. “We’re having steaks on the barbecue tonight. It’s a fantastic eating fish.”
Leo also pointed out that swordfish are among the ocean’s most formidable adversaries for anglers.
“They’re the hardest-fighting fish in the ocean because they have more white muscle than any other fish in the world,” he explained.
During Tasmania’s swordfish season, recreational anglers typically land about 50 swordfish, with roughly half kept and the other half tagged and released.
The competition drew 33 other boats from the same port, with dozens more recreational vessels in the vicinity.
For Lochie, who has been fishing since he was four-and-a-half, the catch represents the culmination of years spent pursuing the sport.
“I’ve caught a lot of fish before, but this one definitely takes the cake,” he said. “Of all the ones I’ve caught, this is definitely the best.”
