ANNAPOLIS – The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Fisheries Service announced last Thursday that John Baranski of Philadelphia, PA caught a Diamond Jim tagged striped bass in the 2nd Annual Maryland $1,000,000 Fishing Challenge: The Return of Diamond Jim. On Sunday, August 6, Baranski was fishing with 10-pound test spinning tackle from the beach at Tolchester Marina, located on the Chesapeake Bay in Kent County, when he caught a 38-inch rockfish bearing the Diamond Jim tag. The large fish would have been worth $25,000 if caught in the specified timeframe; however, the eligibility of the tag expired two days earlier, at midnight on Friday, August 4. The big striper was originally tagged off the Hooper Islands, 65 miles to the south of where the fish was caught.
The 2nd Annual Maryland $1,000,000 Fishing Challenge ends September 4 with the closing ceremony to be held Saturday, September 16 at 10:30 a.m. at City Dock in Annapolis. Grand prize winners will be selected during the closing ceremony, and additional prizes will also be awarded.
The following is a list of additional anglers who caught qualifying tagged fish in the Fishing Challenge:
o George Bush, Upper Fairmont, MD: Atlantic croaker, Manokin River (7/28)
o Eddie Simmons, Hoopersville, MD: striped bass, in the Chesapeake Bay (7/31)
DNR Fisheries staff released the eleventh Diamond Jim striped bass between the Hooper Islands and Drum Point (mid to lower bay). The $25,000 fish, sponsored by Boater’s World, becomes eligible at 5 a.m. Saturday, August 12 and expires midnight Friday, August 18. The first person to catch a winning Diamond Jim will also win a pair of one-half karat (0.50) diamond earrings courtesy of Zachary’s Jewelers in Annapolis. For more information about the prizes, rules and where to fish, you can visit http://www.dnr.maryland.gov/fish4cash/.