An 8-year-old Northland boy has caught a monster marlin 10 times his own weight, missing out on a new world record by a mere 6kg.
Hunter Scott, of Kerikeri, caught the 250.8kg black marlin near the Hole in the Rock on Saturday. It took the 25kg boy three-and-a-half hours to haul it in.
"It felt good to get it to the boat. And I felt happy the fight was over and I didn't give up ... in the last 15 minutes I felt like I was going to die," he said.
Hunter said he hooked the marlin himself and brought it in, with help only to gaff it and get it on the boat.
His catch was a clear winner of the juniors tournament staged by the Bay of Islands Swordfish Club last weekend and contested by about 100 young anglers from Tutukaka north.