Test your fishing skills in Lake Apopka challenge

The biggest prize is $5,000 for catching the bass named “Jim Thomas.”

By Amy Quesinberry
| 4:12 p.m. January 22, 2021

West Orange Times & Observer
News

Friends of Lake Apopka has partnered with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to tag 500 fish in Lake Apopka, including largemouth bass, bluegill and black crappie, in the Lake Apopka Fish Tag Challenge.

The contest runs now through May 31 and offers anglers the chance to catch a tagged fish in the lake and return the tag to the FWC for a prize of up to $1,000. Additional prizes are available for those who submit their catch to the TrophyCatch program.

The angler who catches the largemouth bass, tagged No. 091 and nicknamed “Jim Thomas” after FOLA’s founder will win a cash prize of up to $5,000.

The return of tags from fish caught in Lake Apopka will inform biologists about how fish populations are recovering, how different species are moving about the lake and how often anglers are returning to fish in Lake Apopka, which before World War II, was regarded as Florida’s bass fishing capital.

The total purse of prizes in the Lake Apopka Fish Tag Challenge is more than $10,000. For contest rules and more information, visit fola.org.

author

Amy Quesinberry

Community Editor Amy Quesinberry was born at the old West Orange Memorial Hospital and raised in Winter Garden. Aside from earning her journalism degree from the University of Georgia, she hasn’t strayed too far from her hometown and her three-mile bubble. She grew up reading The Winter Garden Times and knew in the eighth grade she wanted to write for her community newspaper. She has been part of the writing and editing team since 1990.