No $$$$, truck nor boat…

The suspense is over.  Local fisherman Jason Williams was in the game, but he didn’t win the million dollars, the new Ranger boat or Chevy truck prizes in Cabela’s “Fish for Millions” annual tagged fish contest. The local fisherman won a new fishing rod and reel combo worth about $200. He tried not to get his hopes up, but he hoped for more than that after reading up on the contest. I think any of us can feel his pain on this one! But he’s one up on the rest of us — at least he did win something in the contest because of his fishing ability!

Hey, it’s better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all. That’s what they say. That doesn’t make Jason feel any better.  I’m sure he is disappointed. So am I and all the folks that were pulling for him to win one of the biggies. As I said earlier, at least he was in the game.  For that, and for his patient attitude through all this, I say: CONGRATULATIONS!  I hope you’ll tell him the same thing.

Jason Williams shows off the tagged fish that put him in the running for some major prizes!

One thing Jason did do is bring a great bit of attention to the lake and our area and he just may have helped keep the lake on the list of lakes being used in the contest. I’m pretty sure that after three years of not hearing about anybody catching a tagged fish here, the LDWF folks were probably beginning to wonder if it was worth the effort.

And Jason has put his name on the “D’Arbonne Lake Fishing Hall of Fame”. It’s a pretty big deal to beat the odds and catch a fish like this! Jason has a dream to fish professionally one day and he was hoping one of the big prizes would give him his big break. It didn’t happen. But I hope he doesn’t give up on that dream. Maybe this will help him gain some needed recognition and pick up some sponsors to further that effort.

I also hope Cabela’s can publicize the contest better next year around the lakes that are included. We don’t have a store near here, so that could have been a factor. Nobody that I’ve talked to knew about it before Jason’s catch.  Had he pre-registered, it would have increased the value of his prize.

This year something seemed to make the tagged fish chase lures!  There were three other tagged fish caught in Louisiana this year, two largemouth bass on Toledo Bend and one bream on Chicot Lake in south Louisiana. All won $100 gift certificates. In the previous two years, no tagged fish have been reported caught in Louisiana.  About a dozen fish were tagged and released into D’Arbonne – including bass, crappie and a bream.   The contest can only get better in years to come for area fishermen thanks to his groundbreaking catch. I’ll do my best to let you know when it’s on! Here’s a rundown of this year’s winners, which was released late Thursday:

The contest concluded on Sunday, July 7. Nearly 71,000 anglers participated in this year’s contest with a record number of contest eligible fish caught. A grand total of 313 tagged fish were caught and redeemed in this year’s contest totaling more than $250,000 in prizes. Prizes included 2 Ranger 520Z boats, a new Chevy Silverado pick up, 100 pair of Costa sunglasses, gear and gift cards from Cabela’s.

The two Ranger boats were won by anglers from Pennsylvania (largemouth bass) on Keystone Lake and Utah (rainbow trout) caught on Rockport Lake. The Chevy truck winner was from Oregon (rainbow trout) in Hagg lake.

Parting casts from me. . .

OFF THE HOOK:  We found out late yesterday that the special grand prize million dollar fish was tag #134834 and was swimming around in Coventry Lake in Connecticut. That pre-determined fish has not been caught and redeemed, so Cabela’s is off the hook for paying out cash prizes this year.

I’D SCREAM:  Can you imagine pulling up to Coventry Lake one day this week, probably with your fly rod (I hear the delicate Hendrickson mayfly is popular there this time of year), and hooking into #134834, then finding out if you had caught it a week earlier, you’d have won a million dollars? AAAAARRRGGG!!!

NORTHERN BITE: I don’t have any hard facts, but after glancing at the winners at Cabela’s site (https://cabelasfishformillions.com/winners), I’d have to say that 90 percent of the tagged fish that won prizes seem to have come from what I’d consider the north or northwest. That seems strange. Maybe Northern fish are easier to catch….or it’s just easier to spot those bright red tags in crystal clear trout and smally mouth ponds…. just saying.

BAMA THROWBACK: I did hear that one other potential winner was disqualified. An Alabama fan allegedly caught a tagged mudcat, but threw it back thinking the red spaghetti tag hanging off the fish was because the catfish had worms.  Okay, just kidding. I made this one up (it is a fishing website, you know). I can’t help it. Football season is just six weeks away and I’ve got to get warmed up. Take that, Nicky…

HAGG LAKE: Okay, tell me that name didn’t catch your attention, too. I had to look it up. It’s managed by the U.S. Government in partnership with the local Elks Lodge. No kidding, the Elks Lodge. I was relieved to find out it was named after Henry Hagg, an Oregon Dairy Farmer, …and not his wife.  Okay, I’m done now. Really. You have a good day.