Second $10k Northern Territory barra caught
'' I was shaking so much I couldn't believe it."
22 October 2015
Darwin man Brendan Pringle has become the second fisho in just five days to reel in a barramundi worth $10,000 as part of the Northern Territory Government's Million Dollar Fish competition.
The 58 centimetre prize-tagged barra was caught in Darwin Harbour late yesterday afternoon after Mr Pringle decided to go out fishing on his day off.
"I almost packed it in and left twice because it was so quiet. Then I got something and I saw the red tag straight away and knew it was from the competition," said Mr Pringle.
"All hell broke loose after that. I had to sit down, I was shaking so much I couldn't believe it."
The 29 year old, who is self-employed, rang his wife Tessa on the boat, but she took some convincing to believe he'd actually landed one of the winning fish.
"He's always playing jokes on me, so I didn't believe him until he sent me a photo," said Mrs Pringle.
Mr Pringle said he plans to taxidermy the prize fish as a permanent reminder of his remarkable catch. He also has a good idea of just how he'd like to spend his $10,000 prize money too.
"I've wanted to re-fit my boat for a while now and had started talking to a few local guys about it. Last night I texted one of them and said: when can you start."
Fellow keen Darwin fisho, Jason Rogers, who was on the boat with Mr Pringle at the time of the catch, said it was a thrill to witness.
"We were pretty rapt when we saw the red Million Dollar Fish competition tag. There was a lot of jumping around and yahooing," he said.
Tourism NT CEO, Tony Mayell, congratulated Mr Pringle on his winning catch.
"The Northern Territory is the best place in the world to stay, play and fish. We're pleased to see the Million Dollar Fish competition is generating huge exposure for the Territory, especially now we have had two of the $10,000 fish caught in less than a week," said Mr Mayell.
"It just goes to show these fish can be caught and there are plenty more opportunities to reel in a winning barra with all 76 fish released right across the Northern Territory's regions.
"The competition will help lure more visitors here over what is traditionally our off-peak tourism season, providing a great boost for local tourism business and operators."
The first $10,000 tagged fish was also caught in Darwin Harbour by Darwin man, Liam Hale, last Friday. As a result of the early catch, just three weeks into the competition, Million Dollar Fish major sponsors CrownBet this week released another bonus $10,000 tagged barra into NT waters bringing the total number of $10,000 prize tagged fish remaining to 74 with the $1 Million barra also still up for grabs.
CrownBet CEO, Matt Tripp, said he was delighted to see the second barra caught.
"What a remarkable start to the Million Dollar Fish competition," said Mr Tripp.
"With over four months to run in the season, it seems the fishos have the odds in their favour. We've thrown them the challenge to reel in the Million Dollar Fish and if they keep on catching these prized barra, we could soon be paying out on the big one."
The Million Dollar Fish initiative is part of the NT Government's plan to increase visitor numbers to the Top End and build a $2.2 billion visitor economy by 2020.
The Million Dollar Fish competition runs from 1 October 2015 to 29 February 2016. Participants must register online at
.Brendan Pringle with his $10,000 prize winning barramundi in Darwin Harbour and with fellow $10,000 winner, Liam Hale.
