Jamie jags a winner off girlfriend’s boat

JAMIE Poniris may be one of the luckiest fishos in the Territory but he was always confident he’d reel in a winning barra

JAMIE Poniris may be one of the luckiest fishos in the Territory but he was always confident he’d reel in a winning barramundi as part of the Million Dollar Fish competition.

Spending a few days at Yellow Water, Kakadu with his girlfriend using an NT Government tourism voucher, Mr Poniris made it his mission to reel in a winning fish.

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“My girlfriend just finished a huge job and decided to take a week off work and we thought there was nothing better than to stay at Yellow Water for a couple of nights,” he said.

“We sussed it out, it wasn’t fishing so well so we stayed night and day, figured out where the fish were biting.”

But with time running out, his girlfriend returned to work leaving her boat, keys and hopes of catching a winning fish in Mr Poniris’ hands.

“She had to go back to work and I said ‘give me the keys, I’m going to go out and find that tag’,” he said.

“I went to battle – I was hitting a lot of fish but was dropping every second one. I thought I’ve got to tweak my lure there, gave it a touch up, cast it out and the next one was him.”

Unsure whether he’d jagged the winning fish at first, Mr Poniris was ecstatic when it finally sunk in.

Three of the Million Dollar fish were caught over the weekend with three lucky anglers taking home $35000 for their catches. Jamie Poniris caught a $10,000 fish in Yellow Waters after his girlfriend had called it a night. Photograph: Che Chorley

“It was covered in moss so I was using the moonlight and the crocodiles were really keen for fish too so they were rushing the boat … I had to try to get them in real quick,” he said.

“I didn’t want to get too excited when I first saw the tag in case it wasn’t a winner. When I found out it was legit, I couldn’t believe it – the chances of catching a tagged fish are so slim.”

Mr Poniris said he was looking forward to enjoying his winning prize money.

“The cash boost is wonderful and will come in very handy when planning my brother’s upcoming bucks party,” he said.

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“I don’t like giving away my fishing secrets but I’ll definitely be going back and trying my luck at catching the Million Dollar Fish at Yellow Water.”

For tips and tricks on how to catch the Million Dollar Fish, check out our 32-page guide inside today’s paper