A spontaneous night of fishing has turned into a $10,000 payday for Darwin local Otto Kainulainen, who has landed the second red-tagged barra of Million Dollar Fish Season 11.
Otto, from Karama, was casting a soft plastic prawn lure at Fisherman’s Wharf around 9.30pm on Thursday 2nd October when he hooked an 81.5cm barra carrying one of the prized red $10,000 tags. The tagged fish was one of those released by Minister Gerard Maley at Dinah Beach Boat Ramp before the start of the season.
When he spotted the tag, Otto’s reaction was instant: “Cha-Ching!”
The catch was completely unplanned, with Otto saying the trip came about on a whim. “It was very spontaneous. I was just trying to have a relaxing time and throw a rod in after a long day,” he said. “It was just a pure flukey. I'm not a brilliant fisherman by any stretch of the imagination.”
Conditions and terrain made reeling in the fish tricky. “It was a little bit difficult to get in. It was quite low tide, very rocky down there on that edge,” he said. “Getting it down from the rocks was the most problematic… I didn’t see the tag until the fish got very, very close, because it was dark and being red, it just blended into the background.”
Otto said the unexpected windfall will help fund future adventures. “We always like holidaying. And I'm sure it'll contribute to holiday funds,” he said.
Otto’s lucky catch marks the second red-tagged barra to be reeled in during Season 11 of Million Dollar Fish, Australia’s richest fishing competition.
With this catch, MDF’s official charity partner Surf Life Saving NT will also receive another $1,000.
There are still with 98 red-tagged barramundi worth $10,000 swimming around Top End waterways, along with 11 carrying a $1 million tag.
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