OKLAHOME RETIREE REELS IN BIG WINNER IN TAGGED FISH CONTEST
SCA Pays the Big Prize at "CrappieFest 2001"
SCA paid out the big prize at "CrappieFest 2001" only a few weeks into the eight-week tagged fish event on Lake Eufaula in Eastern Oklahoma. Retiree Joan Leamy, of Stigler, OK, fishes the lake almost daily and buys a $5 ticket every year to enter the annual fishing event. She has even caught tagged fish before. But the tagged crappie she reeled in on the morning of April 17 was different.

When Mrs. Leamy turned in the tag to Randy Pinney, CrappieFest director, in order to claim her prize, she soon learned she wasn't going to get $25 like the last time. Pinney, who made sure she was sitting down first, told Mrs. Leamy she had caught the number one fish, "The Kiamichi Kid," the "star fish" of CrappieFest. Her catch was worth $50,000.

Mrs. Leamy reportedly jumped from her chair, threw her hands over her head and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness, I don't believe it!"

Pinney was excited too, because he didn't have to pay the $50,000. He was relieved that SCA was covering the prize and he promised to drive to Dallas with the tag and the sealed envelope with the winning number to personally pick up Mrs. Leamy's check. Mrs. Leamy and her husband moved to the Lake Eufaula area from Michigan 10 years ago and she says "fishing is our way to unwind. Other retirees around here have their favorite hobbies, such as doing crafts, quilting, maybe gardening - mine happens to be fishing." This was the first time in 14 years of tagged fish contests on ake Eufaula that the big prize fish was caught. And, because CrappieFest continued through May, Pinney was quick to remind everyone that there were many tagged fish still out in the lake, including several worth $500.