One fortunate Australian teenager had his complete life change because of a single forged into the Katherine River on Sunday. In the course of the wee hours that morning, Keegan Payne was out together with his sister and a good friend when he caught a fish value 1,000,000 {dollars}.
The tagged barramundi was a part of a government-sponsored marketing campaign to spice up tourism within the Northern Territory. The annual competitors been underway for about 9 years, and several other anglers have caught barramundi (recognized domestically as “barras”) with $10,000 tags in that point. However Payne, a 19-year-old Katherine native, is the primary particular person to land a million-dollar fish.
Payne’s 11-year-old sister informed ABC News that her brother thought he’d landed a catfish at first. Neither of the boys within the boat observed the crimson tag protruding of the fish’s again till she pointed it out.
“We weren’t anticipating a tagged barra on the time, till my little sister requested what it was within the fish,” Payne informed the information outlet. “We have been freakin’ out. We practically crashed the boat getting again to the boat ramp.”
Payne’s barramundi reportedly measured 26 inches in size. It’s unclear if the fish was weighed, and no official weight was given.
The Northern Territory Main Occasions Firm, which organizes the Million Greenback Fish marketing campaign, explains in a press release that Payne referred to as the hotline round 1 a.m. to report the barramundi he’d caught. Officers visited him and his household at their dwelling in Katherine later that day, they usually awarded Payne the massive verify in entrance of a crowd on Monday. Sportsbet, which sponsored the competitors, paid out the lump sum.
“That is loopy for us, we’re an enormous household, there’s eight of us,” Payne informed 9 News on Tuesday. “That is more cash than we might ever ask for.”
He stated he was going to purchase a brand new boat, and that he plans to make use of a number of the cash to assist his mother and father repay their dwelling loans.
This 12 months marked the ninth straight season of the Northern Territory’s Million Dollar Fish competitors. The marketing campaign started in 2015, when 76 tagged barramundi have been launched in numerous places throughout the province. Of these fish, just one carried a million-dollar tag, and the remaining carried tags value $10,000. Extra tagged barramundi have been launched yearly since, and this 12 months the NT authorities launched greater than 100 tagged fish into the Darwin, Katherine, Arnhem Land, Tiwi Islands, and Kakadu waterways.
Learn Subsequent: Marlin Anglers Win $6 Million in Largest Fishing Tournament Payout of All Time
“There at the moment are 24 Million Greenback Fish swimming round Prime Finish waterways,” the NT authorities introduced when the competitors began final fall. “As soon as any of the 24 Million Greenback Fish are caught, the remaining 23 revert to $10,000 fish.”
Season 9 kicked off on Oct. 1, 2023, and was purported to run till March 31, however that deadline was extended till April 30. Which implies Payne landed his big-money barramundi simply two days earlier than the competitors closed.
“It means loads, we’ve bought cash, we will go locations,” he informed reporters earlier this week. “We’re truly planning a visit to America.”
