Three gold-tagged fish, each worth $10,000, have been caught at Bemm River, 425km east of Melbourne.

The lucrative Victorian Golden Tag fishing competition kicked off on March 1 to help fire-affected communities benefit from fishing tourism in Victoria’s East Gippsland and north-east Victoria.

The first 10 fish caught carry a $10,000 prize, and the 990 others are worth $2000 each.

More than $2 million is up for grabs, with the event running for 12 months until February 28, 2021.

The tagged fish include black bream, dusky flathead and spotted whiting in East Gippsland, and murray cod, brown trout and rainbow trout in the northeast.

Towns including Mallacoota, Cann River, Bemm River, Orbost, Marlo, Lakes Entrance, Lake Tyers, Omeo, Dartmouth, Mitta Mitta, Corryong, Tallangatta and Bright are the focus of the campaign.

For more information the official website is here.

A catch report here.