Amateur angler Luke Dal Pozzo lands record-breaking 82cm Murray cod at Lake Burley Griffin

What followed was a comical race against time to land a record-breaking fish that required strength, patience and an SOS call to his fiancée back home in her pyjamas.

"It was an absolute calamity trying to get that thing landed because it was a good 20-minute fight at least," Dal Pozzo said. "When it hit, it hit like a train."

Dal Pozzo's catch isn't the biggest monster we've seen emerge from the depths of Lake Burley Griffin.

Marie and Tom Haalebos reeled in a 130 centimetre, 70 kilogram giant Murray cod two years ago.

But Dal Pozzo's 82 centimetre competition effort was still impressive (although they didn't weigh it) and beat the Canberra Native Cup record, which was held by Canberra on the Water fishing league owner Adam Samios.

Samios set his record 10 years ago with an 80 centimetre catch in the competition that runs over several months.

"I'm glad it's been broken," Samios said, with no hard feelings. "I feel like the monkey's off the back and hopefully now we'll just keep rolling and the record will continue to get broken."

Dal Pozzo has been fishing for several years in freshwater and on the ocean, but even he couldn't quite believe the size of what was on his line.

The cod whipped Dal Pozzo's 2.8 metre-long, motor-less kayak around the lake until he was able to hold onto a branch by the shore and anchor his vessel. He then gave the fish more line to reduce the chance of getting tangled or snagged in the fight.

"In a little, light, 17 kilogram kayak it was pretty difficult to get that thing landed," he said.

"No other people would even know in the comp, but I actually called my fiancée up about 15 minutes in. We live in Curtain and she didn't have the car with her, so I said, 'Get in a taxi, I need your help'. Because to do it safely and get decent pictures I needed her help.

"Her reaction to me was a classic. She said, 'Are you for real? I love to accompany you while you're fishing, but you're absolutely mad.' I told her she had to come and see this to believe it."

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After an awkward explanation to her Uber driver about why she was headed to a random spot at Lake Burley Griffin late at night while still in her PJs, Dal Pozzo's fiancée Sabina Vedric arrived on the scene.

The additional curveball was that the evening competition was held between 6.30pm and 9.30pm, and in order for the fish to be recorded, sent to officials and count towards Dal Pozzo's overall Canberra Native Cup points tally, they had just 20 minutes left on the clock.

"It was really down to the wire. I paddled to shallow water in Acacia Inlet, got to tie off the kayak and managed to safely land the cod," he said.

"Sabina had to clamber down a rock wall in her pyjamas. She was happy for me but she also could have strangled me at the same time. She braved it and took some photos and a video.

"I felt like I'd gone to the gym and done leg presses the next day, it was that intense, but I was definitely elated. Hands down that's the biggest fish I've ever landed. I've had 3.5 metre hammerhead sharks and that wasn't as hard."

The night ended with a late McDonald's run and a few celebratory drinks, with a sensational fishing yarn that won't soon be forgotten in the Dal Pozzo-Vedric household.

"I threw her dinner plans out, and she doesn't usually drink a beer, but that night she wanted one for herself."

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