A solo fisherman who has amassed a following of more than one million on an online video platform has celebrated his achievement and vowed to keep on creating in honour of his dad.

Tiago Bizarro’s Off De Hook YouTube channel hit the milestone in August.

The Portuguese-Bermudian uploads unscripted videos where he handlines fish off the rocks at various locations across the island. He then breaks down techniques and gives tutorials.

“I’m literally fishing off de hook,” Mr Bizarro said, explaining the channel’s name.

He added: “I put [the achievement] into perspective and it’s pretty wild.

“It can be life-changing if I take the right steps from here. I would love to make YouTube be able to pay all of my bills.

“I have been fishing since I was 2½ years old; my father used to take me as a kid.

“Around Covid, I wanted something to do. I started watching other people making videos and thought, ‘hey, I can do that’.

“I had to build some confidence speaking to the camera. I was trying to make some extra money on the side.

“I literally owned one camera for my first year and I just pressed play.”

Sometimes the 42-year-old will be up through the night editing footage, before waking up to go to his full-time job at Tucker’s Point Golf Club where he has been a golf attendant for 23 years.

His videos attract an international audience and he also believes they have sparked an interest in fishing among young Bermudians.

His ambition remains to turn YouTube into the main focus.

Mr Bizarro said: “I want to open a land-based charter. I have hundreds of people who e-mail me regular. They want to fish with me off the rocks.

“I want to take that to the next level. I think that will bring people here and give me more free time to do what I’m passionate about.

“I see kids running around with fishing rods that I have never seen before; it’s amazing to watch.”

Another goal is to buy a boat so he can hop around the islands.

On the fishing front, Mr Bizarro said: “I love to catch the big black grouper and we do it right off the rocks with handline. They can reach over 100 pounds.

“My biggest fish has been over 100 pounds, off the rocks.

“We catch hogfish, snapper, bonefish, big jacks and little jacks — Bermuda has everything.”

His increasing online fame has led to more people recognising him when he is fishing, while a number of “fake accounts” have popped up on different platforms.

Mr Bizarro is committed to growing the channel further and showing viewers more of what he was taught by his dad, Amaro, who passed away last year.

“I got the silver play button in one month — that’s 100,000 subscribers — then it took me two years for the gold,” he said.

“The next one, platinum, is ten million. I have to go for it now. I’m going to try my best.”

He added: “I was born in the Azores. My father came here 40 years ago; I was 2 years old.

“He came here trying to make a better life, to try and make some money to move back home.

“He taught me so, so much. Not just fishing, but how to be a man.

“I have not even taught half of what he taught me and it deserves to be seen.”