Trolling for Dollars

Contest gives Sacandaga anglers 50 fishy chances to win

By KAYLEIGH KARUTIS, The Leader-Herald
BROADALBIN — For the Great Sacandaga Lake Business Association’s second annual fishing contest, volunteers with the Great Sacandaga Lake Fisheries Federation tagged and released 25 rainbow trout at the Broadalbin boat launch on Friday.

Members of the GSLBA are sponsoring the contest. About 50 fish tagged with orange markers were released into the Great Sacandaga Lake at various launches on Friday. Anglers who are lucky enough to catch one will be awarded about $500.

GSLBA President Bob Campbell said last year, 18 of 50 fish were caught, resulting in about $9,000 worth of prizes given out. Businesses that are members of the GSLBA pay $10 to each angler who catches a tagged fish.

The Fisheries Federation annually stocks the lake with brown and rainbow trout and will release about 7,000 fish this year, said Chairman Randy Gardinier. The Federation uses its volunteers and works with the GSLBA to tag some of the fish during the annual stocking.

The contest is a way for the GSLBA to promote the region, Campbell said.

“Last year, we received a lot of good publicity,” he said. “We think it’s one of the biggest-purse fishing events in the region.”

Last year, Campbell said, a number of people said they changed from fishing in the Sacandaga River to fishing in the lake in order to take part in the contest.

“It’s just to promote the business association and our region,” Campbell said. “It brings people up here to the Sacandaga, and it’s a win-win situation for everybody.”

A variety of people caught tagged fish last year: tourists and locals alike were awarded the $500 prizes, Campbell said.

Fish were tagged with yellow tags last year; those fish are no longer valid. Only fish caught with this year’s orange tags can be redeemed for prizes.

Those who catch tagged fish this year can take them to various locations on the lake, including Fuller’s Store in Edinburg and Jim’s Bait Shop in Mayfield, to collect their prize money.

As a non-profit organization, the Fisheries Federation works solely with volunteers to stock the lake, Gardinier said.

It has been in existence since 1984 and started stocking the lake in 1988. Since then, the Federation has distributed around 90,000 fish at various points around the lake, at a total cost of about $420,000, Gardinier said.



Kayleigh Karutis covers rural Fulton County news. She can be reached by e-mail at ruralnews@leaderherald.com.