Katherine teenager Keegan Payne has reeled in a $1 million Barramundi, making him the first grand prize winner of the NT’s Million Dollar Fish competition, just days before the ninth season comes to a close.

Mr Payne, 19, was fishing with family and a friend on the Katherine River early Sunday, when he made the lucrative catch, which he did not notice at first.

“My little sister actually asked what it was in the fish and we told her, and yeah, we were freaking out,” he said.

“Nearly crashed the boat getting back to the boat ramp.”

He called the hotline at 1am, which confirmed the tag was the million dollar prize.

Mr Payne has seven siblings and said the winnings will go a long way to helping the entire family, including his parents’ home loan.

“The whole family was shocked,” he said. “They’re all proud of me.”

Mr Payne said while he would be helping his family with his winnings, he would also be buying a new boat later today and had his eye on possibly a new car.

“It’s pretty hard going for us at the moment with money, but after winning a million dollars, don’t have to complain about it,” he said. “We’re actually planning a trip to go to America [too], [but] we’ll be staying in Katherine. Born and bred.”

Asked what the best part of fishing in the Territory was, Mr Payne responded: “Catching a million dollar barra.”

The $1 million prize money will be paid by Million Dollar Fish sponsor Sportsbet.

The annual Wet season fishing event was started in 2015, with season nine extended from the usual cut-off date of March 31, to the end of April this year.

More than a hundred red-tagged barramundi are released every year in Darwin, Katherine, Arnhem Land, Kakadu and Tiwi Islands waterways, with some worth a million dollars and others worth $10,000.

Eight people have reeled in $10,000 fish this season, including one who benefitted from an extra “double the dough” promotion.

The government said in a statement that since the competition began in 2015, Sportsbet has given away more than $1 million in prize money. The government estimated the promotion has generated “over $70 million in extra spend” in the Territory in 2023 and attracted “more than 10,000 visitors”.

The Million Dollar Fish season ends at midnight tonight. The government had pledged to ensure someone won the million dollar fish this year, but it was unclear how.

Chief Minister Eva Lawler said her and Major Events Minister Brent Potter had spoke about a “contingency plan” in the event nobody caught the million dollar fish this season, but she did not explain what that plan was.

“We said, no, let’s just wait and see, let’s wait until Monday,” Ms Lawler said. “And lo and behold, on Sunday … about 1am, Keegan caught the million dollar fish. So, we haven’t had to worry.”

Ms Lawler said the competition would be back next year and said it was an “absolute good news story that we’ve got a Territorian, a young Territorian, [who] is now a million dollars richer”.