IN what was once a male-dominated sport, women are the early winners in Australia’s richest fishing competition, Million Dollar Fish in the NT.
Within just 10 days of the competition launching, Darwin women Sharna Brennan and Nicole Soltesz have scored $30,000 between them.
Brennan was the first lucky fisho to find herself $10,000 richer after reeling in a red-tagged barramundi at Manton Dam last week.
Sharna said the experience was very exciting, with a “few screams” on the boat when they saw the red tag.
“We’ll put the money away in a bank account for now, but it will probably end up going on some new fishing equipment,” she said.
Just four days later, Soltesz bagged a double cash bonus after a fishing trip with friends at Hardies Lagoon. The $10,000 fish was worth twice as much as part of a National Gone Fishing Day promotion, with competition underwriter SportsBet pledging to “Double the Dough” for any fish caught on Sunday, 9 October.
The catch, worth a cool $20,000, was even more special being the first barra Nicole ever caught.
“It was a big surprise, we all looked at each other in shock when we saw the red tag,” she said.
“I’ll spend some of the winnings on a holiday and put the rest away for another time.”
The unique, free Northern Territory initiative sees prize-tagged barramundi released across the Top End’s five main fishing regions each year – Tiwi Islands, Darwin, Katherine, Kakadu and Arnhem Land.
Million Dollar Fish Season 8 has the largest purse of prize money in the history of the competition. There are now nine barramundi worth $1 million to be caught and 98 x $10,000 fish left Every time a $10,000 fish is caught, the fisho can donate an additional $1,000 to an official Million Dollar Fish Charity Partner.
For the million dollar fish, $10,000 will be given to a charity partner. Last season saw $160,000 paid out to winning anglers.
Season 8 runs until 31 March 2023, so there’s still plenty of time to visit the Territory and hit the water for the chance to become a millionaire.
More info at www.milliondollarfish.com.au.
