Australia’s richest fishing competition has four months left until the end of season 8. The Million Dollar fish season 8 kicked off on October 1st with 100 barramundi tagged worth $10,000 AUD and 9 barramundi worth a whopping one million AUD. Read on to find out how you can get in on the action.
What is the Million Dollar Fish
Sponsored by Sportsbet & Northern Territory government, anglers from around Australia can try their hand at taking home a cheque for $10,000 AUD or if you are lucky enough, you could be the first angler to catch that elusive Barramundi worth one million dollars. It has been running since 2014 and this season over one million fish were released.
Million Dollar Fish Season 8
Over the last seven seasons, $695,000 has been collected in prize money. Despite only two months since the season began, 14 lucky anglers have already collected $140,000 AUD, breaking all records.
How to Enter
Entry to the competition is free. Entrants need to be over the age of 18. Registering for the competition couldn’t be any easier, with a quick online registration form that can be found here.
By simply registering for Season 8, you will be automatically put into the draw to win monthly prizes from the partners. Prizes from holiday packages, fishing gear, gift vouchers and camping equipment are all on offer.
If you’re a a keen fisho, you won’t want to miss out on Million Dollar Fish: Australia’s Richest Fishing Competition! This competition runs until March 2023, and there are still 84 $10,000 fish waiting to be caught. In addition, nine fish have been tagged with a prize worth a million dollars!
“Season 8 is shaping up to be the best yet, with prime fishing conditions, strong registration numbers and more prize money up for grabs than ever before”
Coryn Huddy – NTMEC Head of Events and Operations
Locations
The 109 tagged barramundi are released through waterways over the five main fishing regions in the Northern Territory, Arnhem Land, Darwin, Kakadu, Katherine and the Tiwi Islands.
Charters
Darwin
When it comes to booking a trip to potentially catch one, you really want to book with the best. YNOT fishing charters can tailor a package for a private charter or you can jump on one of their shared charters. YNOT operates out of Darwin and their fishing lodge at Dundee beach.
Tiwi Islands
Fish in style at the Melville island lodge, with a fleet of 6 custom alloy 6.6m boats. You can rest assured not just a comfortable trip visiting the surrounding rivers but also a safe one.
Fishing in a remote area such as Melville anglers can expect not only good numbers of barramundi but the quality and size are off the scale.
Kakadu & Katherine
Fish the Heritage listed Kakadu National with DNA Barra Fishing, they are one of the few operators that have the correct permits to fish the heritage listed site.
DNA offers tailored packages from 2-14 days tailored to meet your personal requirements with accommodation, meals and fishing gear provided.
Arnhem Land
Dhipirri lodge located 350km north east of Darwin, is as remote as they come when it comes to fishing the top end. Dhipirri offers accommodation for up-to 15 anglers.
After a day of chasing meter long barramundi you can expect world class food from their in-house chef and a few cold beers from their licensed bar.
Charity
With every tagged barramundi caught an extra $1000 aud is given to one of three charities.
The Last Cast
With major support from partnerships with Sportsbet and Northern Territory Government along with many other partners, it seems that the competition will be here for the long haul.
Latest Million Dollar Fish Winners
Leon Danicic was pleasantly surprised landing a winning fish while fishing near the Vic River boat ramp on his road trip from Northern Territory to Western Australia.
His 59cm barra made him $10,000 richer, one of 55 tagged releases across the Top End.
Leon said it was “unbelievable” he had finally caught himself a Million Dollar Fish after so many years fishing across the Top End.
“I honestly thought I was hallucinating. I was already stoked about catching a barra, but my excitement had just gone to another level,”
Leon Danicic
Season 8 has proved to be a lucky one for Territorian Colin Carthew. Colin caught his barramundi near Talc Head at Woods Inlet and won himself $10,000.
The fish was landed on the last cast of the day with a mate from down south during a Top End fishing trip.
Colin plans to use his prize money to purchase new video camera equipment and continue pursuing his passion for fishing.
This unique Territory program encourages more people to visit Darwin’s Top End and experience the legendary fishing it has to offer through awarding of cash prizes for red-tagged barramundi.
The Darwin-based Colin Carthew said it was quite the challenge to catch the fish, but it was well and truly worth it in the end. “The tides weren’t very good but we decided to head out and try our luck,” he said.
“I couldn’t believe it when we got the fish on the last cast – we weren’t sure if it was worth $10,000 or a million!”
Colin Carthew
Season 8 has been a positive experience for not only Colin, but also many other lucky Territory residents and visitors.
Nathan Corpus is the latest to experience its reward. After tagging a 58cm barra at Daly River on 27 November, he won himself the $10,000 prize!
This brings the total number of Million Dollar Fish caught in the first two months of this season to an impressive 16 – that’s the same number of fish caught during the entire six months of last season.
With Million Dollar Fish making such big waves, it’s no surprise that so many anglers are trying their luck and celebrating big wins.
My friends were absolutely shocked when I told them about the fish caught. They couldn’t believe that a fish so valuable had been caught by me! We spent the rest of the day celebrating my incredible catch.
It was an experience I’ll never forget and a true story.
We can’t wait to see who will be next! Good luck everyone!
Want to keep up with the latest news from the water? check out our Fresh fish section here!
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