The province is calling on local anglers to help collect data on cutthroat trout in Comox Lake and it’s offering a reward in return.

Government staff are attaching orange tags to 200 adult cutthroat in the lake. Each tag has a four-digit identification number on it along with the phone number for the ministry’s regional Fish and Wildlife office in Nanaimo.

Anglers who catch a tagged fish are asked to contact the office to provide the date and time of catch and confirm whether the fish was kept or released. The data will help inform decisions on fishing regulations and the management of cutthroat populations in the lake.

Everyone who calls in a catch report will receive a $20 gift card that can be used at a local tackle shop.

Staff will be tagging trout until early 2017.

Comox Lake supports one of the highest use lake-fisheries on Vancouver Island, with most of the angler effort focused on large-bodied cutthroat trout.