Just before Jackson Green reeled in “the biggest fish of my life”, there were tuna jumping out of the water left, right and centre.
“I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins,” the 12-year-old angler said.
He recalled the smell of sea salt, the sound of the “reel screaming” and the splashes from the fish behind the lures.
“I’ve caught lots of yellow fin tuna and some other little species, but those little fights were too easy, I was after something bigger.
“By the splash, I knew straight away it was a big one,” he told The Profile.
The keen fisher was correct.
The year 8 student from Hikutaia School was fishing off his dads boat, Greenies Waka, at Waihau Bay on June 19, when he pulled up a colossal 87.2kg Southern Bluefin Tuna on a 60kg line.
He thought he’d be there for hours, he said, but it only took around 15 to 20 minutes to secure the fish.
“It was quite easy because it was hooked down deep in the gills.”
He was amazed at how massive it was – it looked about twice the size when they got it to the boat.
“I felt quite proud of myself.”
But the young fisher didn’t just reel in his biggest ever catch.
Jackson, who was also part of the Mercury Bay Game Fishing Club, also snapped up the junior club record and locked in the heaviest Southern Bluefin Tuna for the club for the 2025/2026 season.
He said he was excited and was able to share in his joy with a round of high-fives and encouragement from his crew on the day – dad Michael Green, his dad’s friend, Bryce Hickey, and four-year-old brother Franek.
He caught the record-breaker with a Shimano Tiagra Game Fishing Reel with a custom built rod on a 60kg line.
At one point his arms got sore, during the hardest part when the tuna was “fighting hard” to swim down, he said.
“So when you’re on the fish and normally it’s trying to go down, but then your drag’s stopping it from going down. And the more drag you put in it, the more it’ll fight,” he said.
Jackson Green’s passion for the sport was inspired by his dad and kickstarted when he was “old enough to hold a rod”.
He was around 2-years old when he took part in his first fishing competition, and the rest was history.
He looked forward to one day fishing at Three Kings Islands, and the next fish on his list to catch was a big blue marlin.
It wasn’t just about the fish though, he said it was also a time to make memories with his dad.
When Jackson wasn’t behind the rod, he could be found with a camera capturing footage of their trips and adventures.
He loved to catch the fish, but said he also enjoyed making fishing videos because “it’s fun to film all the action” for people to see.
“I want them to feel like they were there the whole time experiencing everything.”
His two big dreams were to one day do fishing charters and also make fishing content and get sponsored by brands like Shimano and Daiwa, he said.
One day if he could be sponsored, he wanted to be a person who “catches big fish” and had “heaps of time to do fishing”.
By DAVIDDA HIKATANGATA
