Three gold-tagged fish, each worth $10,000 in prize money, have been reeled in at Bemm River, 425 kilometres east of Melbourne. But there are still many more to be caught.

Key points: The Victorian Government's Golden Tag competition hopes to bring anglers to fire-affected East Gippsland and north-east Victoria

The Victorian Government's Golden Tag competition hopes to bring anglers to fire-affected East Gippsland and north-east Victoria The first 10 fish to be caught each carry a $10,000 prize, and the remaining 990 are worth $2,000 each

The first 10 fish to be caught each carry a $10,000 prize, and the remaining 990 are worth $2,000 each The tagged fish were released at Mallacoota, the Gippsland Lakes, and Lake Tyers in East Gippsland

Exactly 1,000 tagged fish have been released into rivers, estuaries, and inlets in fire-affected parts of East Gippsland and north-east Victoria to lure tourists to hard-hit towns.

The first 10 fish to be caught each carry a $10,000 prize, and the remaining 990 are worth $2,000 each, in the Victorian Government's Golden Tag competition.

Ray Cooper from Cranbourne East was fishing for bream from a kayak at Bemm River with his wife when he hooked the first winning catch — a 48-centimetre perch.

"Once I netted it and got it into the kayak I saw the tag, and at first I thought it was a research tag," he said.

"But when I read the tag I fist-pumped the air a couple of times and yelled out 'you beauty'!

"He didn't catch the biggest bream but he did catch a stonking estuary perch, and it had a golden tag in it, so he is absolutely over the moon," Victorian Fishing Authority chief executive officer Travis Dowling said.

"What that means is that there are 997 more fish still out there which could have $10,000 in your name written on them."

Mr Cooper said he had barely had time to celebrate after being inundated with television, radio, and other media requests.

"I've donated the perch to the pub. Young Deb said she would like it so she can have the first $10,000 fish on the wall so people come to Bemm River," Mr Cooper said.

Mr Dowling said it was not surprising that the first three $10,000 fish were caught at Bemm River where anglers had been reporting great catches for the past week.

"For some reason the fish are on the chew at that spot," he said.

"There's something going on there, some sort of water or bait movement, because the fish are on the bite at Bemm River."

Mr Dowling said there were many other tagged fish released at Mallacoota, the Gippsland Lakes, and Lake Tyers in East Gippsland.

$10,000 catch for once-a-year fisherman

Andrew Fleming from Northcote was fishing at Bemm River with his mate Peter McGrath and his father Keith when they reeled in the second $10,000 tagged fish.

They made a pact to share the earnings three ways.

Speaking from Bemm River on Tuesday, he said that they caught the "fairly unimpressive 33cm bream" in the channel entrance in appalling weather.

Andrew Fleming goes fishing once a year and this week hooked a $10,000 bream in the Golden Tag competition. ( Supplied: Andrew Fleming )

"We had very strong storm fronts coming through, we were sheltering from the wind, the terns were working pretty hard to steal the prawns from our lines," he said.

"In fact, a tern dived on my prawn after casting, picked it up and took it from one side of the boat to the other side of the boat resulting in a bit of a tangle. And while we were trying to untangle the line the tagged fish hooked itself onto my line!"

Mr Fleming said the three men had planned a longer stay in East Gippsland to support bushfire-affected towns.

"I am a once-a-year man. The long weekend is coming up and my father comes down from interstate and we generally go fishing for a few days. But this particular year due to the bushfire recovery we decided to spend 11 days," Mr Fleming said.

To claim the prize money, anglers must ring a telephone number, fill out a statutory declaration, and return it with a photo and the tag.

The first 10 tagged fish caught by fishers of 1,000 released will win $10,000. ( Supplied: Victorian Fisheries Authority )

In north-east Victoria, tagged Murray cod, brown trout, and rainbow trout have been released into rivers and dams at Dartmouth, Mitta Mitta, Tallangatta, Corryong, and Bright.

The Victorian Fisheries Authority has confirmed three anglers caught tagged fish before the competition officially began on Sunday and were honest enough to admit to the timing.

They will be given prizes for their honesty.

Fishing Minister Jaala Pulford said she was not concerned about potential rorting of the competition.

"There's a whole lot of rules on the Golden Tag website," she said.

"This competition is about giving people that extra reason to come and visit East Gippsland and north-east Victoria, to help these communities get back on their feet."