Lucky Territorian David Ashfield has reeled in a red-tagged Million Dollar Fish worth a whopping $20,000 thanks to the competition’s special March Madness campaign.
To celebrate the final month of Season 6, in February underwriter Sportsbet announced they will pay double the money to the first registered fisho who hooked a valid tagged fish in March.
David is that fisho, and takes home $20,000 instead of $10,000. He caught the fish on a trip to the Adelaide River with a mate, and said he will split the winnings with his fishing buddy.
“I’ve signed up for Million Dollar Fish every season since it began, and can’t believe I’ve actually caught a tagged fish,” David said.
“It was a pretty ordinary day out on the water with a mate. We dropped four or five fish each, which was a bit rough, and we were stoked to finally get a couple in the boat.
“It was a fairly standard fight to land the tagged fish, and while I was busy trying to remove the lure my mate suddenly started yelling ‘It’s got a red tag!’. I didn’t immediately understand what he was on about, then the penny dropped.
“Initially I thought I’d missed out by a week, as I was convinced the competition ended in February. But my mate disagreed, checked the website and confirmed the comp was still on. You beauty!”
This is the 11th fish caught as part of Season 6, which has now paid out $115,000.
SportsBet External Affairs Manager Brad Fanning said they were delighted to pay out double the money.
“We wanted the final month of Season 6 to go with a bang, and David has made sure that happened!” he said.
“Remember, there’s still time to catch a tagged barra, so sign up now. And they really can be anywhere.
“David caught his fish not far from where it was released. Others have been caught many kilometres away. You never know where a tagged fish might appear.”
There are still 122 tagged barra to be caught, including seven fish with a $1 million tag. Once one of those fish is caught, the other six become $10,000 fish. Season 6 ends on 31 March 2021, but those seven $1 million tagged fish remain active year-round. However, if you catch one after 31 March, you can only claim the prize money if you registered for the competition by the end of Season 6. Register now at www.milliondollarfish.com.au.