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Seventh $10k barra caught on the Daly

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A DARWIN man has had a huge pay day after reeling in a $10,000 barramundi from the Northern Territory Government’s Million Dollar Fish competition yesterday.

Lindsay Grundon, a 50 year old self-employed concreter, was fishing with his long-time friend and business partner, Peter Dakis, at their secret spot on the Daly River when he hooked the 64 centimetre prize-tagged barra.

“I’m rapt, I still don’t believe it,” said Mr Grundon after his catch was verified today.

In a day to remember, the winning barramundi was one of 20 barra caught by the pair who said they were just in the “right place at the right time” at the popular Top End fishing spot.

“We didn’t really notice the Million Dollar Fish tag at first, it wasn’t until we put our glasses on that we could read what it said,” said Mr Grundon.

A regular fisherman, Mr Grundon registered for the competition last year and said he plans to pay off a few bills with his $10,000 prize.

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“I’ll probably celebrate by fuelling up and going fishing again,” he said.

As for the winning fish, it’s been filleted although it won’t be eaten by Mr Grundon – he doesn’t like fish – just fishing with his best mate, Peter, who couldn’t have been happier for ‘Grundo’.

“He’s a good mate, we fish together, we work together – I’m just happy it was caught on our boat,” said Peter.

The winning catch comes after record-breaking rainfall in areas of the Top End just before Christmas that led to the evacuation of the Daly River Community.

The monsoonal weather was predicted by fishing experts to see the early arrival of a strong “run off”, the time of year generally seen as the best for barramundi fishing.

“Now the flood waters have receded, conditions are ripe for catching barramundi on the Daly River which is good news for the more than 41,000 people registered in the Million Dollar Fish competition,” said Tourism NT CEO Tony Mayell.

“More than half of the registrations for the competition are from interstate (25,503) so we strongly encourage these people to get on a plane, get up here and wet a line.

“So far six of the seven $10,000 prize-tagged fish captured have been caught by locals, so with less than a month to go in the competition, the challenge is on for interstate anglers to get a bite of the action.

“Fishing experts have predicted the coming weeks could be the best barramundi fishing the Top End has seen in years so now is the perfect time to book a fishing holiday to the Northern Territory – it could leave you a million dollars richer.”

The Million Dollar Fish competition saw 75 $10k tagged barramundi and a $1 million tagged barra released at locations throughout the Northern Territory before the competition started on 1 October last year. A bonus $10k barra was also released after the first competition fish was caught, bringing the total to 77 prized-tagged barra.

The Million Dollar Fish competition ends at midnight on Monday 29 February. Participants must register at www.milliondollarfish.com.au to be eligible to win.

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