Double the Dough back for Season 9 as fifth fish caught!

Pack your tackle box and get ready to hit the water this weekend – Double the Dough is back for Million Dollar Fish Season 9, supported by SportsBet! The return of Double the Dough comes after a fifth $10,000 fish was reeled in on Wednesday by lucky fisho David Anker.

Double the Dough is a favourite among fishos. The initiative means whoever reels in the first $10,000 Season 9 red-tagged barra between 12am on Saturday, 18 November and 11.59pm on Sunday, 19 November 2023 will receive $20,000 instead of $10,000. The fisho MUST be registered for Season 9 and Double the Dough does not apply to the 11 fish carrying tags worth a million bucks.

David, who moved to the Territory from New South Wales with his family in January, was fishing on his own at Woods Inlet when he bagged his 85cm barra sporting a red tag. The fish was released at Milne Arm in Bynoe Harbour, a whopping 78km away. David said he was excited to show off his prized catch to his southerner mates about to visit.

“It’s really exciting I almost see it (winning $10,000) as a bonus, I feel like you don’t need a huge amount of incentive most of the time to be fishing up here, because the fishing is amazing but also if you’re not catching fish there’s so much amazing stuff to see. I’ve seen some incredible wildlife out there even when I’m not catching fish,” David said.

“It’s a pretty nice bonus to have $10,000 for catching a fish and it’s actually the biggest barra I’ve caught even without the tag. When I pulled it in I was excited about the fish before I saw the tag and even without the tag it would have been a great day.

“Probably the first thing that went through my head was that it might cover my fuel bills for burning across the harbor all year in an old two stroke.

“I think that’s the other reason why some of my Darwin friends will be particularly excited is because I’m not a great fisherman. I’ve spent so many hours out there not catching fish, but I do love it anyway. This (winning $10,000) does mean that I might break even for a year of fishing.”

Every time a fisho catches a $10,000 barra, they can donate an extra $1,000 to the Million Dollar Fish charity of their choice. David chose Shoreline.

Five lucky fishos have now bagged themselves a $10,000 barra since Season 9 began on 1 October 2023. There are still 95 red-tagged $10,000 barra out there, plus the 11 sporting the big million-dollar tags. Tagged barra have been released in each of the Top End’s world-class fishing regions including Tiwi Islands, Darwin, Katherine, Kakadu and Arnhem Land.

Registering for Million Dollar Fish is free and easy. Anyone who registers automatically goes in the monthly Lucky Prize Pool to win thousands of dollars’ worth of prizes. To register or find out more, visit www.milliondollarfish.com.au.