Aussie Teen Wins $80,000 For Snagging Monster Murray Cod
A Victorian teenager is $80,000 richer after winning a fishing competition in Victoria's Nagambie.
The GoFish competition saw over 883 Murray Cod caught, totalling 40,629.3 centimetres.
In total, 2,250 fish were caught, measuring 89,131.6 centimetres - not to mention the 2,594 beers that were consumed.
A lot of the anglers though were chasing more than beer.
They wanted the $80,000 up for grabs for the largest Murray Cod caught on the day.
That honour went to 18-year-old Jono Moore who had been fishing for just 20 minutes when he made the catch.
Moore told the ABC he had been fishing with his dad from before he could walk, and he's kept it up in the ensuing years.
"Me and my mates, we go out pretty much every weekend just fishing everywhere from Mitchelton all the way down to Murchison," he told the ABC.
His 105 centimetre catch certainly gave him a run for his money though.
"It was pretty hectic. It got me on the snags for about five minutes, and the heart was going," he said.
"Then I got it up next to the boat and got it in the net, and me and my mate looked at each other and thought, 'Oh, it's not going to go a metre'."
He was then had an anxious night when he confronted with rumours that someone had made a bigger catch.
By Sunday morning though, he had confirmation he'd won.
"My mate and I, I said we'd go 70-10 if we win," he said.
"And he was like, 'No, we'll go 75-5', because he thought he was going to catch the bigger one.
"But he was more excited than me that I won."
Moore has dreams of using the money to buy his dream boat, however he told the ABC his mum wants him to invest in property.
Either way, he said he'll be back at GoFish next year.
Vivienne Kelly