$25,000 Fish swims away

(Updated: Wednesday, May 07, 2008, 6:31 PM)

About 1,000 anglers showed up at Bass Lake over the weekend with dreams of catching that $25,000 trout in the annual fishing derby. “It almost looked like the old days when 1,500 people would show up,” said Leslie Cox of the Forks Resort, co-chair of the event. But the top trout — and the five $500 fish supplied by Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino — swam free. The committee gave out $3,000 for 96 tagged fish. Cox said there were no mishaps. “The fishing was great,” she said. “People were catching their limits.”