A Darwin-based angler has pocketed $40,000 from Million Dollar Fish Season 11 after a gifted barramundi charter at Charles Point on the Cox Peninsula turned into a life-changing day on the water.
Chloe Frost hooked a 76-centimetre barramundi on Sunday 21 December 2025, fishing aboard an Offshore Boats charter that had been gifted by a family friend. The fish was the 18th red tag landed in Season 11, worth an automatic $10,000 — but Frost then had to wait out the rest of the month before confirming it was also December's largest tagged barra, a result that netted her a $30,000 Reel of Fortune bonus.
Frost said the moment the tag came aboard was chaos. She had initially thought she was bringing up a jewfish.
"I was screaming, like, 'pull it in, pull it in!'" she told organisers. "And then I was like, 'No, that's not a red tag. There's no way.'"
"When it came in and we realised it actually was a tag, there was just silence on the boat."
"I was shaking; the skipper was shaking. Everyone was very quiet for about an hour afterwards."
Frost's preparation was more organised than most. She had registered on the first day of Season 11 and had saved the tag-reporting instructions to her phone — a habit she credited with helping the team avoid any panic once the tag was confirmed.
"I'm a bit organised, so I registered as soon as they opened," Frost said. "I even screenshotted the post on what to do if you catch a tag."
"I thought my partner would be the one to catch one, but I wanted to have the info ready on my phone just in case we were out of service."
"It's been a long few weeks," she said. "I've had the most restless sleep because I was so excited."
"It's life-changing, really. I think I will put the money towards settling down in Darwin."
"We'd love to have a family up here and stay for as long as possible. We've been here for two years, and we just love it."
Million Dollar Fish has released 101 tagged barramundi across the Northern Territory's waterways for Season 11, with top prize money running to $1 million for specific tagged fish. The February Reel of Fortune pushed the prize pool again by offering a $100,000 bonus for the biggest March tagged barra.
For Territory fishing tourism, the run of back-to-back Reel of Fortune winners has been a bonanza — and for Frost, it has also been a practical one. With a Darwin house deposit on the horizon, the trip that was meant to be a casual day on the water has turned into the financial reset most weekend anglers only ever dream about.
