HARRISBURG, PA — For the third consecutive year since the start of Cabela’s nationwide “Fish for Millions” tagged-fish contest, Pennsylvania was the top state for angler participation. More than 71,000 registered anglers took part nationally, and more than 9,000 of them came from Pennsylvania. More than 1,500 tagged fish were available in 22 states where the contest was held; of those, 313 tagged fish were caught for a total of more than $250,000 in prizes being awarded.

The contest started May 4 and concluded July 7, and on Thursday, August 15, the two top prize winners received their awards at the Cabela’s store in Hamburg. The top prize, a $60,000 Ranger bass boat, went to Raymond Biddle Jr. of Jefferson Hills, whose tagged largemouth bass was caught in Keystone Lake, Keystone State Park. A check for a $5,000 shopping spree went to Wayne Ziegler of Butler who caught a prize-winning tagged crappie at Lake Arthur, Moraine State Park.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) is responsible for waters selection and tag distribution throughout the state. Contest waters in Northeast PA this year included Lackawanna Lake in Lackawanna County and Lake Wallenpaupack, with shoreline in both Pike and Wayne counties. Tagged fish caught in these two lakes included largemouth bass in Lackawanna Lake and both smallmouth bass and largemouth bass in Lake Wallenpaupack.