Randy Robbins’ photo wins California Trout’s People’s Choice Award
Local nature photographer Randy Robbins’ photograph Kayak Fishing Lake Almanor at Sunset won the People’s Choice Award in this year’s photo contest sponsored by California Trout, a San Francisco organization that lobbies for California fisheries and waterways to ensure a healthy fish population.
Robbins explained the process. The organization received about 700 entries this year, and it narrows the field down to 25 finalists. Those photographs are placed on the organization’s website for a public vote. That vote narrows the field down to nine, and the Grand Prize winner is selected from those nine. The top vote getter wins the People’s Choice award, assuming it has not already been selected for the Grand Prize.
“I won the Grand Prize last year in the 2019 contest with a photo of a bald eagle catching a trout, so I was not expecting to be selected for that again this year,” Robbins said. “I was honored to be in the top nine again, and I was thrilled to win People’s Choice award. I don’t think anyone has ever been selected as a winner in that contest two years in a row.”
As last year’s Grand Prize winner, Robbins received a Sage fly fishing rod and reel and Patagonia jacket, a CalTrout membership and a feature in CalTrout’s magazine called “The Current.”
As this year’s People’s Choice winner, Robbins said he received a YETI cooler (the company was one of the contest’s sponsors), some Patagonia gear, another CalTrout annual membership and another feature story in “The Current.”
“I’m sure I received a lot of votes from local folks via social media, and I’m super thankful for that,” Robbins said.
Go to caltrout.org/photo-contest/winners to view the other winning photos.
