Fisherman reels in a one in 10 million golden Barramundi
When 30 knot winds kept a fisherman out of his favourite spot he didn’t know it was a twist of fate that would lead to a ‘one in 10 million’ golden catch.
Cairns
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When 30 knot winds kept a fisherman out of his favourite spot on Easter Sunday afternoon he didn’t know it was a twist of fate that would lead to a ‘one in 10 million’ catch.
Nona Nona was fishing with his wife Merissa in Trinity Inlet when he gave himself another five minutes to see if he could land one last fish.
“It is not my usual spot, I usually fish by the leads out of the inlet a bit, but it was too windy so we went up the river,” Mr Nona said.
“I have a new sounder so we found a little deep spot and sat there.
“We had only caught a couple grunters but that was about it.”
To his surprise it was his small hand reel baited with a prawn that picked up what he first thought was a Fingermark.
“It jumped at first and I thought it was a fingermark because of the way it was behaving,” he said.
It was only when he got the fish on board the boat that he realised it was a rare and stunning golden barramundi.
“At first I thought the fish might be sick, I though here we go the water is getting so bad it’s turned the fish,” he said.
“Once I had a good look I realised it was a barramundi, it was such a beautiful fish, about 67 centimetres.
“He went straight back in because he was way too spectacular to eat.”
It wasn’t until he went onto some fishing forums that he found out how special his catch was.
“Apparently they only occur at one in 10 million in the wild, someone said they have been trying to work out how to breed them, but in the wild they are very rare,” he said.
“I was surprised he was alive to be honest because he is so bright I thought a predator would have nabbed him.”
Mr Nona said this fish would stay with him as his number one catch.
“I’ve caught some big barra before but this takes the cake, it’s something really special.”
In January this year champion angler Alan Macdonald reeled in another exceptionally rare barra on Lake Tinaroo, a 90cm all white albino barramundi.
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Originally published as Fisherman reels in a one in 10 million golden Barramundi
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