Man wins $2,000 during 18th annual trout derby
CHAMBERSBURG >> Though he was not available for comment, there is reason to believe that Donald Brown's weekend peaked at about 9 a.m. Saturday morning.
That's when, according to Chambersburg Lion David Mummert, local resident Brown turned in a tagged trout at the Trout Derby command center in town and discovered he had one $2,000.
Yes, he caught that trout.
It wasn't an especially big trout, said another Lions official. It just had the right tag.
The 18th Annual Chambersburg Noontime Lions Club Trout Derby launched Saturday at 6 a.m. as 940 registered contestant filled the trouts' watery world with baited hooks and lures, each angler looking to hook one of 580 especially tagged trout released into local waters at 11:30 p.m. Friday.
As of noon Saturday, only 75 tagged fish had been turned in for prizes, said Mummert.
The Trout Derby features more than $25,000 in regular prize money in addition to the 600 money fish, with payouts ranging from $25 to $2,000. There also is a $30,000 Pre-Owned Vehicle Contest sponsored by Forrester Lincoln and a BIG TROUT Contest with estimated payout of nearly $2,000, a 50/50 Contest and raffle held at noon on Sunday, May 3 with over $3,500 in prizes.
Several anglers working the Conococheague at Falling Spring said they were having moderate luck catching trout, but none finding trout with tags.
Greg Fisher of Newville was taking a break with his grandson, Jordan.
Fisher, who is 50, laughed and said Jordan, 10, was outdoing him in the angling.
Another fisherman, who did not identify himself, said he had not had any luck catching tagged trout, either, though he knew they were in there.
"I was here last night when they released them," he said. He pointed a ways upstream from the falls. "I saw a really big one go in right up there."
Mary Groff, 49, of Chambersburg, took her ease on a folding chair on the bank above where her husband, George, daughter Melissa, her boyfriend David and family friends Jeff and Jimmy, combed the creekbed without a lot of luck as far as tagged fish went.
Still, she said, she couldn't have asked for a nicer day to be where she was.
In addition to the Noontime Lions, Derby sponsors include M&T Bank, Franklin County, the Strickler Agency, Office Suppliers, Forrester Lincoln-Mercury, Dilly's and Lock Haven Lures & Spinners.