For the past ten years, Kiang (Daniel) Lo has been fishing in Darwin waters chasing a red-tagged fish, and last week, his determination finally paid off. Two days before his birthday, on the night of Thursday 21 November, Mr Lo reeled in a $10,000 red-tagged barramundi, fulfilling a decade of dreams and enjoying early birthday celebrations.
Mr Lo, who was meant to fly to East Timor that night decided to delay his flight to give the Million Dollar Fishing competition a go, decided to try his luck off Fannie Bay Foreshore. He arrived around 6pm, caught some live bait and within the hour he felt a pull. The bait was gone, but with the second mullet on the line he soon caught the red-tagged 58cm barramundi.
Mr Lo was so excited he began screaming and shouting - he could not believe it. The many hours dedicated to fishing and delaying his travels back home to East Timor to make sure he's fishing during Million Dollar Fish season, have finally paid off. As a keen fisho, Mr Lo goes fishing regularly, often for 5 or 6 hours at a time, sometimes coming home in the early hours of the morning.
Last year he hooked a red-tagged fish that got away. He saw the red-tag as the barra jumped out of the water, but the fish went under the boat and snapped the line.
Mr Lo will be using the prize money to go home to East Timor in December. He is looking forward to finding a way to preserve the fish and frame it as a special memento.
There are now 83 barra with $10,000 red tags and 10 fish sporting a million-dollar tag, once one of the big ones is caught all million-dollar tagged fish revert to $10,000 fish until the end of the season.
As the official charity partner, Cancer Council NT receives $1000 for every $10,000 tagged fish caught, bringing the total contribution to the charity to $16,000 so far. A total of $176,000 has been paid out to fishos and Cancer Council NT since Season 10 began on 1 October.
Million Dollar Fish Season 10 runs until 31 March 2025, you must be registered for S10 to claim any prize money. Delivered by Northern Territory Major Events Company and supported by Sportsbet the competition is open to people aged 18 and over, with free registration. Simply by registering you are entered into the monthly prize draw valued at $79,000. Register for free at milliondollarfish.com.au/register
Quotes from Northern Territory Major Events Company Acting CEO Trevor Cox:
"Million Dollar Fish Season 10 has put a smile on another fisho's face, guaranteed $16,000 to Cancer Council NT and continues to enrich the lives of many Territorians.
"This is the first red-tagged fish of the season to be caught in Fannie Bay, which goes to show there is a chance to catch the lucky barra anywhere across the Top End.
"There are still four months left in the season, leaving interstate fishos plenty of time to travel to the Territory and book their fishing trip of a lifetime."
Quotes attributable to winning fisho Mr Lo:
"I go to East Timor every year, but when the competition starts, I have to be out fishing. Finally, I caught it. I was so excited I couldn't sleep last night."
"All my friends say, 'Mr Lo, how come you catch a lot of barramundi but you don't have the tagged one?' I tell them, 'It's not my luck!'
"Now I finally caught one, but I'm still not going to give up - I'm still going to try for the million-dollar barra."
Quotes from Sportsbet NT Operations and Partnerships Manager Thijs Bors:
"This season of Million Dollar Fish has been unbelievable! Congratulations to Mr Lo who has reeled in the 16th Season 10 fish.
"It is so wonderful to see a determined fisho like Mr Lo catch a red-tagged barra."
