Where is Diamond Jim?
Friday, May 31, 2013
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The fish is called Diamond Jim, because more than 50 years ago the organizers of a Chesapeake Bay fishing contest put a diamond in him.
Now, there's no diamond, but the Department of Natural Resources is offering a hefty prize – $10,000 – for anyone who catches a striped bass tagged with his name.
Fisheries spokesman Joe Evans says more than 200 stripped bass have been tagged and released into the Bay as part of the 2013 Fishing Challenge, and they're all worth prizes. Anglers just need to look for the bright yellow tags.
"It's called a spaghetti tag, because it looks just like a piece of spaghetti,” Evans explains. “And it's a tag – it's actually inserted in the fish. It doesn't harm the fish. It's very obvious."
The annual contest is intended to raise awareness of the Chesapeake Bay and of Maryland as a sport fishing destination.
Every month that passes without anyone catching Diamond Jim, the prize goes up another $5,000 until it reaches $25,000.
Evans says the fish could be anywhere in the Bay and its tributaries.
"The hot spots, really, only the fish really know for sure," he says.
Just five of the tagged fish were caught last year, and each angler who found one got $5,000.
No one caught Diamond Jim.
Link to fishing challenge entry: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/challenge/
Joe Evans: 410-260-8307
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