When it comes to marketing schemes and fishing I reckon the NT has hit the nail on the head and cracked it big time. The million-dollar fish campaign is a bloody ripper. Northern Territory tourism has released not one but 76 barramundi across the state, all with a price on their head. Now 75 of those fish are sporting a $10,000 tag each, while one is carrying the jackpot, a whopping $1,000,000 tag. All you have to do is register and then simply catch it and you’re instantly a millionaire.
With a drawcard like this I headed straight up to the Top End recently to try my luck. However, I did have a secret weapon up my sleeve and that was cricket legend Matt Hayden. Now Matt happens to be a ‘Mate of the Territory’ and an ambassador for the million dollar fishing campaign, so who better to give me the inside info on exactly where those fish had been set free. Well that was my theory but, alas, Matt was just as keen as I was to have a crack at the million dollar fish himself so he was no bloody help at all.
Still, we decided to team up and hit the water together.
Instead of doing it the normal way and setting off in tinnies, we stepped it up a notch and hitched a ride with Helifish that runs chopper-fishing safaris. Mark has been running this operation for several years and has become highly successful because it gets you into those remote creeks that are rarely if ever fished. A lot of people complain about the cost but in reality it is relatively cheap, and heck, we only live once!
The great thing about helifishing in the NT is the flight. Flying over endless flood plains, paperbark swamps and ochre red cliffs is a major distraction and by the time we reached the small creek I was totally distracted by the awesome scenery. However, I quickly snapped back to reality when I laid eyes on the huge school of mullet rippling and boiling with the incoming tide.
Working my ever-faithful Laser Pro 120 in gold we struggled initially before finally I hit pay dirt. The rod came alive in my hands then seconds later a chrome-plated barra burst through the surface. It wasn’t a monster and it didn’t have one of those all important tags, but still, catching a fish in such a spectacular setting only accessible by chopper was a real treat in its own right. And besides, it gave me bragging rights over my sporting legend mate who had yet to score – and believe me I told him about it too.
The beauty of chopper fishing is that you can leapfrog from creek to creek, so as the day wore on we fished a number of locations before finally calling it a day, but not without stopping at the pub where we parked the chopper in the beer garden.
Since Matt was no help with my devious plan to get some inside info, I decided I would do it alone next and headed down to see Stu from the Daly River Barra Resort and try my luck in the infamous Daly River. Instead of fishing lures, this time we were back to basics using live cherabin. This is a real favourite with grey nomads and is a great way to score a few barra outside the peak season in the run off.
Soaking these oversized freshwater prawns in the creek mouths we caught heaps of barra up to 65cm, but again, we failed to connect that very special one sporting that all important tag. Still, it was a relaxing and enjoyable way to fi sh and, better still, I took one back to Darwin for the hotel to cook up.
While the million bucks would have come in very handy it really was nothing more than an excuse so I could head back up to the NT, catch up with mates, enjoy a few beers and best of all catch a few barra. There really is something very special about the Top End that draws you back time and again, which is an even stronger drawcard than the million.
