Take a chance and catch a million-dollar fish
By JD McCarthy
For the Opelika Observer
Lake Martin is known for its great bass fishing but now there is one unique bass, the million-dollar bass.
The bass is part of 200 tagged bass that have been released into the lake as part of the Crank 4 Bank fishing event that will take place from April 1 to July 4. The event is put on by OGS Tournaments and will allow anglers who have registered a chance to win not only the million-dollar grand prize, but $1,500 cash, boats or a truck.
Unlike your typical tournament, this is designed to allow everybody to participate because it is about catching one of the tagged fish, not the biggest fish or the most fish, said Vivian Autry, who owns OGS Tournaments with her husband Mike.
“The whole concept is if you are in one of our fishing tournaments you basically have to have a really nice bass boat and it’s $130 for that one day. So, this tagged fishing event is really to entitle everybody to fish – the whole point is it’s for everybody and to bring families together.”
The only requirement for participation is that people register two hours before catching a fish and you must have an Alabama fishing license. Registration costs $75 or $100, depending on the ticket you choose. If you buy the $75 ticket, then each prize-fish is worth $1,000 and you are eligible for the boats and the truck. The $100 ticket makes each fish worth $1,500 and you are eligible for all of the prizes, including the $1 million grand prize and you will be entered into the virtual tournament. Participants can register at Crank4bank.com.
The most important part of the tournament is to ensure you are registered before you catch any fish, something 10 people learned the hard way a season ago, Vivian stressed.
The virtual tournament is another way the event will allow more people to compete. As the competitors catch untagged fish, they will take a picture using the Fishing Chaos app against a bump board to measure the length of the fish. There will be first through third place prizes for overall big fish as well a big fish prize each week.
The virtual tournament is just one addition from the inaugural event a season ago, they also increased the fish count from 102 to 200 and added the million-dollar grand prize, which Autry hopes will increase participation after being “pleasantly surprised” by last years.
There were 14 winners who all caught $1,500 fish last year, but no one was able to win any of the grand prizes.
The event is also a way for the couple to give back to the community as they have partnered with nine local high schools to help raise money for their bass fishing teams. For every ticket they sell they get to keep $10 which helps support the often-under-funded teams.
“Really it’s our way of giving back to the community to support a sport that we very much believe in,” Vivian said.
To learn more, visit www.Crank4Bank.com, or contact Autry at 678-427-5488.