Four local fishermen are in hot water after they were ticketed for illegally catching a 30-pound carp Saturday in a reservoir, and then trying to enter the same fish in a derby with a $3,000 prize the next day, state officials said Wednesday.

The saga started in the early morning of June 1, when someone tipped off state Environmental Conservation Officer Brian Canzeri that a group of men were illegally driving a 23-foot-powerboat in the Tomhannock Reservoir, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said.

The reservoir, located in Pittstown, Rensselaer County, is a 1,700-acre public water supply that serves Troy and surrounding communities. To protect the water quality, boating is not allowed, and there are strict rules for fishing and other activities.

When Canzeri arrived at the reservoir, he waited in the dark and surprised the carp bow fishermen as they came off the water, the DEC said. He ticketed the men for illegally boating on a reservoir, failing to have proper reservoir permit and taking fish contrary to regulations.

Bow fishing — a method that uses archery equipment to shoot and retrieve fish — is not allowed in the reservoir.

Canzeri also measured, weighed and photographed the two carp the men had brought to shore and advised them to dispose of the fish properly, the DEC said.

Because one of the carp weighed more than 30 pounds, Canzeri worried the men would try to enter it in a nearby fishing derby, the DEC said. The officer called a judge for the Springfling Bowfishing Tournament on Saratoga Lake, and also notified two environmental conservation officers who patrol Saratoga County.

Those two officers, Mark Klein and Steven Shaw, went to the derby and found the four men, who were not named, trying to enter the illegal carp into the contest, the DEC said. Had they been successful, they would have been awarded the tournament's $3,000 prize. However, the men were disqualified and another team was awarded the money.