Second red-tagged $10,000 barra of Season 9 caught!

Just two weeks into Australia’s richest fishing competition, the second $10,000 barra of Million Dollar Fish Season 9, underwritten by SportsBet, has been caught. Andrew Russell from Wagait Beach is the lucky fisho.

Season 9 is set to be the biggest season ever, with someone guaranteed to win a million dollars this year thanks to a range of initiatives that will be introduced throughout the season. The first was the release of not one, but two fish worth a million dollars released for Season 9. That means there are now 11 fish carrying tags worth a million, as all the big ones from previous seasons remain eligible to be caught.

Andrew’s 73cm barra was caught on Thursday, 12 October at Woods Inlet, five kilometres away from where it was released at Cullen Bay. It follows the first $10,000 barra caught off the rocks at Stokes Hill Wharf by Zain Lopez on 1 October, just hours after Season 9 began. With two $10,000 fish caught, there are 98 $10,000 fish left.

“I was out on my boat with my neighbour. He’s also called Andrew and we’re always fishing together. We were on the last two casts of the day when I snagged a barra and saw the tag. I was pretty nervous reeling the fish in, but lucky for me I landed it,” Mr Russell said.

“I’m going to split the cash with Andrew and get out onto the water as soon as possible to hopefully catch one of the 11 fish worth a million dollars out there.”

Every time a $10,000 barra is caught, the fisho gets to donate an extra $1000 to their Million Dollar Fish charity of choice. Andrew chose Cancer Council NT.

Cancer Council NT CEO Tanya Izod said Cancer Council NT was very grateful to Andrew for choosing us as his charity.

“This donation will go directly to our nurse-led oncology clinics and services for Territory cancer patients,” she said.

“Eighty-three per cent of our annual funding comes from fundraising events like Million Dollar Fish. Like Andrew, every person who attends an event, volunteers on our programs or sponsors our work becomes part of the fabric that supports cancer patients down their path to wellness. Our services are available to anyone touched by cancer. Thank you again Andrew for supporting our valuable work.”

Season 9 of Million Dollar Fish runs from 1 October 2023 to 31 March 2024. To claim any prize money from a tagged barra, you must be registered for Season 9 of Million Dollar Fish. This also automatically enters you into the Lucky Prize Pool, which includes thousands of dollars’ worth of prizes up for grabs including holiday and flight packages, and fishing and camping merchandise and equipment.