CRESCENT BAR - A 12-year-old girl by the name of Isabel was the winner of the Quincy Valley Tourism Assocication's first annual Northern Pikeminnow Fishing Derby held last weekend between Wanapum and Rock Island Dams. Her last name was not recorded

Isabel's prize-winning fish weighed 3.1 pounds. It brought her $250 in cash and a $50 gift certificate. No one caught either of the tagged fish worth $5,000 of $10,000 in cash.

"We were hoping somebody would catch one, but nobody did," said Pat Curran of the QVTA.

According to Curran, there were 135 participants in the derby, and the QVTA "made some money." She said the derby will be held again next year.

"We just haven't decided if it will be earlier in the year or the same time of year," she said.

Curran said the Grant County PUD and Native American tribes who were involved in the sponsorship were "happy" with the collective catch of more than 980 fish.

One purpose of the derby was to thin out Northern Pikeminnows, which feed on salmon fingerlings. The carcasses from the derby were sent to a Quincy area organic farm.

"We had a great time and got some people down there and interested in the project," Curran said.

Some participants made the derby an outing. One group aboard the Ross and Stephanie Clemenshaw 27-foot pontoon party boat included the Clemenshaws, Fred and Ardith Holmes, Bob and Margaret Linder and Dave Rickey and Don Wetsch.

Admittedly, this crew had more fun than success. Over two days, their total take was 7-8 fish. They did talk to a pair of fishermen who caught 16 fish on Saturday.

"We named Ross the king of the Columbia," Holmes said. "He caught six of our fish."

Clemenshaw was also credited with catching the biggest human on the lake. One of his casts hooked Rickey by the seat of his pants.

"His cast went all the way around the boat like a big C and caught Dave right in the butt," Holmes said.