34 year old local Boilermaker Dave Povey has caught the 12th $10,000 barra of Million Dollar Fish Season 3 on the Daly River. 

Dave was enjoying his first day of R&R on Saturday, 9 December when he headed down to the Daly to try his luck. Within an hour he had nabbed a red tagged barra a couple of kilometres down from the Daly River Crossing.

The prize winning 63 centimetre barra was tagged and released in the Daly River and Dave who was land based fishing off the banks hooked it with a lure.

The Dad of three youngsters aged 5,6 & 8 along with his wife Melissa is stoked with his win and will be spending his winnings on a family trip to Bali.

Department of Tourism and Culture CEO Alastair Shields congratulated Dave on reeling in the 12th prize-tagged fish of the competition.

“The Daly River is a beautiful scenic spot between Darwin and Katherine and is well-known with Top End Locals and regular visitors as one of the best spots to catch a barra,” Mr Shields said.

“I encourage all anglers and their families to come to the Territory, try their luck at catching the Million Dollar Fish and enjoy our unique tourism experiences while they’re here,” Mr Shields said.

The Million Dollar Fish competition is a great initiative that has helped boost the NT’s reputation as the best place in the world to stay, play and fish and lure more visitors to the Territory during the wet season from October to February.

In Season 3 of the competition, 101 barramundi have been tagged and released across the Territory with 100 carrying $10,000 cash prize tags. That means there are still 88 $10,000 barra’s lurking and the prized Million Dollar Fish to be caught, plus a haul of prizes to be won just by registering for the competition.

Today marks Prize Draw 4 with a Territory Powersports Can-Am Hunting Edition Quad valued at $14,999, an Engel Fridge, a PB150 Icebox and 4 Shimano fishing kits valued at $500 each to be won. So if you want to wet a line on the chance you can win, register for free on www.milliondollarfish.com.au  and book a holiday to the NT today.

The Million Dollar Fish competition attracts approximately 40,000 interstate visitors to the Top End for fishing each year, as well as an additional 40,000 Territorians that travel to fish across the year.

CrownBet CEO Matt Tripp said he couldn’t believe 12 fish have already been caught in the competition.

“The record was broken earlier this month of the most fish caught in any season, we’re now up to a dozen fish. We’ve well and truly broken the record of the most fish caught in any season, and who knows… the million might be next!”

“Season 1 saw 10 prize-tagged barramundi worth $10,000 each caught, season 2 reeled in eight $10,000 barra’s and with this latest catch of number 12 for season 3 the competition has awarded a total of $300,000 in cash.”

Season 3 of the Million Dollar Fish competition runs from 1 October 2017 until the end of February 2018 and participants must register online at www.milliondollarfish.com.au for their chance to win a prized barra or one of the sponsors’ prizes.

For information on NT fishing regulations and best practice catch and release methods download the free Northern Territory (NT) Fishing Mate app on your smart phone.

Media contact: Department of Tourism and Culture 0428 052 647