Right now there are 10 lakes across Florida where pink-tagged bass worth big prizes are swimming right now. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has tagged 10 trophy-sized largemouth bass to celebrate 10 seasons of the TrophyCatch program. Each person who catches and documents a pink-tagged bass will score a $5,000 gift card to Bass Pro Shops, $1,000 to shop at AFTCO, with a chance to win an additional $10,000.
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“Our freshwater biologists tagged 10 huge bass across the state–just about everyone is within a day-trip’s distance to fish for one of these tagged bass from a boat, kayak or even the bank. Now comes the fun part for anglers!” said KP Clements, Director of FWC’s TrophyCatch program. “Get out there and catch one! Tag, you’re it!”
Here are the 10 locations:
- Newnans Lake in Alachua County
- Lake George in Putnam & Volusia Counties
- Lake Talquin in Gadsden & Leon Counties
- Lake Walk-in-Water in Polk County
- Tenoroc Fish Management Area in Polk County
- Lake Trafford in Collier County
- Lake Istokpoga in Highlands County
- Lake Griffin in Lake and Orange Counties
- Lake Rousseau in Levy and Citrus Counties
- Johns Lake in Orange County
Learn more about the lakes and their locations here.
What is the TrophyCatch program?
The TrophyCatch program helps the FWC’s freshwater fisheries research and management. It provides reward incentives to encourage people to catch, release and report trophy-sized (weighing 8 pounds or more) largemouth bass in Florida. The program develops public-private partnerships to protect trophy bass, promote fishing and support fisheries conservation programs. Participants receive rewards from program partners while FWC biologists learn more about producing and sustaining the best trophy bass fishery in the world.