New Cabela's million dollar fish plantings

troutdude
troutdude
Moderator
May 4, 2012

SALEM, Ore. -- There are now a million more good reasons to go fishing in Oregon this summer. That’s because one of three popular Oregon reservoirs could have a fish that’s worth a million bucks to the lucky angler who lands it.

Crane Prairie Reservoir in Deschutes County and Dexter and Blue River Reservoirs in Lane County have been selected as Oregon’s representatives in the “want to Go Fishing for Millions” contest sponsored by Cabela’s, the Outdoor Channel and fish and wildlife agencies from 19 states.

The contest starts May 5 and continues through July 8. Participants must register on-line at www.cabelas.com/fishformillions to be eligible for prizes.

Each of the participating water bodies have been stocked with eight to 15 trout tagged with a small “spaghetti” tag. The lucky anglers who catch these fish can claim their prizes by entering the tag number and other information on the Cabela’s website.

This is the second year Oregon has participated in the want to Go Fishing for Millions contest. Last year, tagged fish were placed in Henry Hagg and Detroit lakes and over 7,000 Oregon anglers participated in the contest. Seventeen anglers caught a tagged fish.

For ODFW, the contest is one more way to encourage families to get outside and go fishing, said Rhine Messmer, ODFW Recreational Fisheries Program manager.

This year, prizes include Ranger boats, Costa sunglasses, Rapala fishing tackle, Abu Garcia rods and reels, Cabela’s gift cards and, of course, up to $2 million in cash for one very lucky angler.

In addition to the chance to win prizes, anglers also have a chance to score a great day of fishing.

According to Brett Hodgson, ODFW fish biologist in Bend, fishing on Crane Prairie Reservoir has been on the upswing the last couple of years.

“We’ve made some changes in our stocking program, such as different stocks and bigger fish, that are starting to pay off,” he said. “Last weekend trout fishing was very good.”

Blue River Reservoir is in the McKenzie Recreational area and offers plenty of bank access in a picturesque setting.

And at Dexter Reservoir, about 20 miles east of Eugene, there’s plenty of access to good fishing thanks to a causeway that bisects the lake and a large fishing platform.

“It’s a great place to fish from, and to catch fish,” said Jeff Ziller, fish biologist in Springfield. “Who knows, maybe even a million dollar fish.”

All three locations are regularly stocked by ODFW and should provide great fishing well into the summer.

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Man Dexter and blue river are gonna get pounded , hope someone from Or gets it.
 
Kind of lame that the "grand prize fish" is only worth $1,000,000 if it is one of the first 10 fish caught.
 
Finneus Polebender said:
Man Dexter and blue river are gonna get pounded , hope someone from Or gets it.

They can have Dexter. I've driven by that lake hundreds of times, on the way to much better fishing. That lake has just never appealed to me in the slightest.

But, putting those fish into Crane Prairie is DUMBEST thing I have ever heard of! That's a GREAT place, and that contest is just going to royally screw it up.
 
Modest_Man said:
Kind of lame that the "grand prize fish" is only worth $1,000,000 if it is one of the first 10 fish caught.

It'd be a miracle, if it's caught that quickly. There are ONLY between 8 & 15 tagged fish in each lake...out of what Hundreds or Thousands of fish in each?
 
Modest_Man said:
Kind of lame that the "grand prize fish" is only worth $1,000,000 if it is one of the first 10 fish caught.
Hey, M_M when they ask who to make the check out to....give them my lame name. :lol: I could make good use of "only" $1,000,000. :D
 
x2 on the crane thing td.that is a very stupid idea...
 
Raincatcher said:
Hey, M_M when they ask who to make the check out to....give them my lame name. :lol: I could make good use of "only" $1,000,000. :D

ROTFL!

Thanks for the early morning chuckle Barb!
 
Once again, this will help keep the crowds away from my fishing holes. lol
 
TTFishon said:
Once again, this will help keep the crowds away from my fishing holes. lol

And that my friend...is ALL that counts!
 
They should do a tagged bass contest at Davis where they have to turn the fish in along with the tag.
 
Raincatcher said:
Hey, M_M when they ask who to make the check out to....give them my lame name. :lol: I could make good use of "only" $1,000,000. :D

I don't think you understood my comment. I didn't say it was "only" $1,000,000, I said it was only worth $1,000,000 if it is one of the first 10 fish caught.

This is their "MILLION dollar fish plantings" but if you catch the tagged fish that is "worth" a million dollars and it's the 11th tagged fish caught it's worth 10% of that million, and if it is caught after 100 other tagged fish have been caught it's worth drops to 1% of the million. How can it be a "MILLION" dollar fish plantings when it's worth that only if it is one of the first 10 fish caught?

It's just Cabelea's hedging their bet that they won't have to pay out as much money for the "Grand Prize" fish, which is fine but a bit misleading.
 
Modest_Man said:
It's just Cabelea's hedging their bet that they won't have to pay out as much money for the "Grand Prize" fish, which is fine but a bit misleading.

While I agree the chance is miniscule, I think it's better than last time where I believe that the $1MM fish had to be exactly the 3rd tagged fish caught...that was ridiculous!
 
Bahahaha cabelas and their silly competitions. They're pretty much guaranteed to not have to pay out on this one, their sponsors might dole out some prizes around the $50 mark but that's it. Still, like Ted said...it gives the masses something to do on water I don't fish :) Cheers to that!
 
I tagged 20 fish in a small lake recently, then they planted 3500 fresh pellet heads, and even with 120~ish people fishing it today, 500 fish banked and no one caught a tagged fish. So hopefully that puts cabelas contest into perspective. It was fun though, between my son and I we caught and released 40 fish.
 
I think it's a well intentioned event. It will get people motivated to get out fishing when they otherwise might not. Dexter is a short drive for many people which is important during these $4 a gallon and rising times. It gives people something else to focus on.

That said, I don't think there's much of a snowball's chance in hell lol.
 
fishinshawn said:
I tagged 20 fish in a small lake recently, then they planted 3500 fresh pellet heads, and even with 120~ish people fishing it today, 500 fish banked and no one caught a tagged fish. So hopefully that puts cabelas contest into perspective. It was fun though, between my son and I we caught and released 40 fish.

Which "small lake" were you fishing in? If it wasn't Blue River Reservoir, Dexter Reservoir, or Crane Prairie...then, NONE of the Cabela's fish were in your lake at all. Those are the ONLY 3 lakes, that have any of the Cabela's taggers.
 
troutdude said:
Which "small lake" were you fishing in? If it wasn't Blue River Reservoir, Dexter Reservoir, or Crane Prairie...then, NONE of the Cabela's fish were in your lake at all. Those are the ONLY 3 lakes, that have any of the Cabela's taggers.

He tagged fish...He didn't tag Cabela's fish.
 
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Modest_Man said:
He tagged fish...He didn't tag Cabela's fish.

Thanks, your correct.

I was trying to show how hard it is to catch an individual fish or three. The fish I tagged were for a private trout derby.
 
Ah hah! Reverse Osmosis!
 

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