If you've spent any time watching New Zealand fishing content online, chances are, you've already fallen down the rabbit hole that is The Lateral Line. But if you haven't... The YouTube channel co-founded by Milan Radonich and his mate Nathan has quietly built one of the most authentic, visually stunning fishing communities in the Southern Hemisphere. Just two blokes, a camera, and a love for getting out there.
We're stoked to announce that Desolve is now The Lateral Line's official clothing partner, and to celebrate, we had a yarn with Milan to dig a little deeper on how The Lateral Line came to be.
Milan and Nathan from The Lateral Line.
How did The Lateral Line actually come about?
It started with Nathan filming hunting videos for his partner at the time. He'd head out into the bush for a week, film his trips, then come home and show her what he'd been up to. Milan, who'd spent the previous decade alongside Nathan building Big Angry Fish into a TV institution airing across 44 countries, started watching the footage and couldn't look away.
Milan told Nathan: "Man, this is really good, bro. Why don't we make a YouTube channel?" The response was classic Nathan: go getit funded and we'll do it. So, Milan did exactly that, called in every contact he had, got everyone in a room, and they said yes.
They launched just as COVID hit, which turned out to be a blessing. With a few episodes already filmed and the country locked down, audiences were hungry for exactly the kind of content The Lateral Line was putting out. They went from zero to 7,000 subscribers in their first two weeks. Five years on, they're sitting just under 80,000.
You and Nathan are more like brothers than mates. How did that relationship start?
Milan moved to Morrinsville at 30 and started getting a sore back from long sessions shark fishing off the beaches. He walked into the local gym, which Nathan owned, looking for a trainer. Nathan wasn't keen. He was deep in bodybuilding prep at the time, training to become Mr. New Zealand, the last thing he needed was a fisherman interrupting his routine.
It took a couple of years before they really clicked. After Nathan won his title, Milan invited him out for a day chasing kingfish. They had a monster session, and from there, things moved quickly. Milan quit his job, put serious money into a new fishing show concept, and asked Nathan straight up: "Do you want to sell the gym and come make a fishing show with me?"
Nathan was unsure until a stranger walked into the gym the very next day and offered to buy it. Nathan threw out a ridiculous number. The guy said yes. Five days after Milan asked the question, Nathan had no gym and a fishing show to make. "It was fully a sign," as Milan puts it.
What made you walk away from Big Angry Fish after 10 years?
Put simply: it stopped being fun. At its peak, Big Angry Fish had 13 staff and broadcast across 44 countries, Milan had to generate sponsorship money to fund the operation. He had a ton of sponsors that he wanted to maintain relationships with, and Milan is the kind of person who actually wanted to have those conversations, so he became permanently attached to a phone.
"You weren't fishing anymore. You were only fishing to film. And it just wasn't enjoyable." So, he walked away. He took a year off, spent two years building his own house by hand, and collected timber with a mate. Then, when the time felt right, The Lateral Line was born.
What keeps you going back out there, even when the fishing's slow?
For Milan, that question almost answers itself. They pick a week, they go. Phones go in the side pocket and stay there. No calls, no social media. Just the two of them, good food, and the water.
"If we catch something, it's a bonus." The amphibious wheel boat they now run has opened up a whole new world, driving up creeks, pulling into bays, and beaching wherever they feel like it. Milan's a self-described food obsessive who tries to cook something different every trip. Nathan's the calm to Milan's chaos, disappears into the bush for weeks at a time to reset, then comes back ready to deal with Milan's energy for another week afloat. “It works!”
The amphibious wheel boat.
What's one of the most memorable moments that sums up what The Lateral Line is all about?
Without hesitating, Milan goes to a day off East Cape, where squid had come to the surface, Kingfish were spawning, and everything turned on. The bite lasted for hours, and in the end, we were driving home with kingfish still feeding hard behind us.
A pod of Bryde's whales were feeding on a massive school of pilchards, and Milan and Nathan drifted into the middle of it. "The whales came up underneath the boat and pushed us out of the water. Twice." Half a million gannets raining down overhead. Dolphins and whales feasting on all sides. They didn't even cast a line for the first two hours.
"It wasn't really about the fishing." What Milan and Nathan are really chasing is those David Attenborough moments... nature doing something wild and being lucky enough to have a camera rolling when it does.
Triumphant Nathan and Milan in their Helios Kingfish Hoods.
What are your on-water non-negotiables?
Plenty of food and water, life jackets with personal EPIRBs, no exceptions. Milan tells a story from their first year on Big Angry Fish that's stuck with him ever since. A woman approached them at an event and told them, "If you guys wore life jackets," she said, "I wouldn't have to convince my kids to wear them."
They've worn them without fail ever since. When they activated an EPIRB once on the water, a rescue helicopter was overhead in eleven minutes. "Things happen so fast out there. One minute you're cruising, the next minute you could be in the water. Having a personal beacon attached to you just gives you peace of mind".
Where do you want to take The Lateral Line next?
Slow and steady. The philosophy that shaped The Lateral Line hasn't changed, and Milan has no intention of letting it. They've deliberately kept their partner count small; YouTube keeps them going every month as they grow, and they've got a wheelboat that opens up places most people will never see.
The next evolution is less about scale and more about depth. They're investing in custom filmmaking gear (like a six-meter extendable Kevlar pole with an underwater camera on the end), to capture more of what's happening beneath the surface. And they've teamed up with a fine dining chef from Palate Restaurant (Hamilton), building a self-contained food trailer that comes on every trip. Pull up on a remote beach at dusk, set a table for ten, and invite whoever's walking past for a four-course meal cooked on the sand.
"A guy came up to us in the Far North once. Said he'd flown from Germany because he'd watched The Lateral Line. Imagine now being able to invite him for dinner." That, right there, sets the experience.
The Lateral Line living the dream.
And the dream fishing trip?
For Milan: overseas, freshwater. He's chased giant catfish and sturgeon around the world and still has a list, Bolivia's on it. Nathan, predictably, wants nothing more than to stay in New Zealand with a bow and a tree to sit in.
The contrast is part of the magic. One is always restless, the other always rooted. Together, they've made something quietly special, content that feels like you're actually there.
We couldn't be more stoked to kit them out on every adventure ahead. Keep an eye out for plenty of The Lateral Line x Desolve collaborations in the future.
— The Desolve Team & Lateral Line
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