They say if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. But if you teach a man to fish at Strawberry reservoir, you might leave his wallet feeling a lot heavier. Strawberry reservoir is hosting a fishing contest, which runs until October 15th. There are about two hundred specially-tagged rainbow trout left in the lake and one of them is worth 25 thousand dollars.
'The first thoughts are always...what are your realistic chances of catching one? And then people start catching them and you hear about them and it's kind of fun,' said Curt Porritt, a regular at Strawberry. “I'm here probably twice a week all summer long. It's really good fishing. Strawberry is probably the best in Utah in my opinion.'
Strawberry Bay Marina released 300 specially-tagged fish into the lake this summer. So far, fishermen have caught around eighty winners. Officials say Strawberry reservoir is home to millions and millions of fish, so the chances of catching a tagged trout are just a little bit better than one-in-a-million. Time is running out for fishermen because tagged fish caught after the October 15th deadline will not be eligible for the prize. Still, Area Manager Glenn Hafen says results so far this year are encouraging enough to warrant an encore in 2013.
'It's been a very big success. We've had a tremendous response and people really seem to enjoy it,” said Hafen. “I've already put an application in and I’ve got verbal approval for next year.'
You can track the progress of the contest on Strawberry reservoir's Facebook page.