A third Northern Territory barramundi worth $10,000 has been caught just four weeks into the NT Government’s Million Dollar Fish competition.
Daly local, Kurt Baumann, reeled in the 60 centimetre prize-tagged barra while fishing with his two nephews at the Daly River crossing around 9 o’clock last night.
“Congratulations Kurt on hooking a $10,000 barra,” said Tourism NT Executive Director of Marketing, Adam Coward.
“It’s fantastic to see our very first tagged barra caught from one of our regions after the first two $10,000 fish were caught in Darwin Harbour.
“And Kurt’s catch goes to show all you really need to do is wet a line to be a winner with his tagged barra caught without boat.
“The Million Dollar Fish competition will help lure more visitors to the Territory in our off-peak tourism season, which coincides with one of the best times to fish for barramundi.
“With 73 $10,000 barras and the prized million dollar fish yet to be caught, there’s still time to register on www.milliondollarfish.com.au and book a holiday to the NT.
“I encourage all Territorians to tell their family and friends interstate and overseas to spend their summer up here in the fantastic Northern Territory. There’s no better time to visit with the potential to win a million dollars.”
Mr Baumann heard about the Million Dollar Fish campaign from his friends and registered on www.milliondollarfish.com.au a couple of months ago to take part in the competition.
The father of two and Youth Coordinator for Catholic Care said last night was his first attempt at landing one of the prized barra but it wasn’t immediately clear he’d been successful on his first go.
“It was dark and we couldn’t read the tag on the fish properly but once we got it home under lights we saw that it was one of the red Million Dollar Fish competition tags. I was trying to keep calm until after we called the hotline but there was a lot of excitement in the house,” he said.
Mr Baumann’s partner, Nikita Jason, said the family was in shock by the catch.
“Kurt’s mum started screaming because we were all hoping it was the Million Dollar Fish,” she said.
While five year old son, Kurt Junior, thinks the $10,000 prize may be going on a few new toys, Mr Baumann said he would more than likely use the cash to pay off the household bills.
Matt Tripp, CEO of competition major sponsors CrownBet, said he was happy for the third Fisho in four weeks to reel in a coveted $10,000 prize Barra.
“Congratulations to Kurt, he's landed a monster 60 centimetre Barra and he’s another smart Fisho who's hooked $10,000 cash out of CrownBet,” Tripp said.
“These Fisho’s are reeling in the cash fish faster than we thought and it looks like we will payout more prizes before Christmas.”
To date more than 35,000 people have registered for the Million Dollar Fish competition, which is an initiative of the NT Government to boost visitor numbers to the Northern Territory and build a $2.2 billion visitor economy by 2020.
The competition runs from 1 October 2015 – 29 February 2016. Participants must register online at www.milliondollarfish.com.au.
Photos attached: Kurt Baumann with winning $10,000 barra caught at the Daly River Crossing and with family including partner Nikita and son Kurt Junior.
ENDS
Tourism NT Media Contact: Lisa Andrews, 0401 115 634
CrownBet Media Contact: Rob Cumbrae-Stewart, 0411 304 862
