Waipahu's Rochelle Barcenilla didn't catch a $1 million fish, but she did have a priceless experience at North Carolina last week.

Barcenilla and pro angler Kevin Wirth could not find the $1 million bass in Lake Norman, N.C., last Saturday. They had eight hours to navigate the large lake and try to reel in the one bass that had a $1 million tag attached to it.

"I wasn't disappointed at all," Barcenilla said. "I had a great time fishing with Kevin and everything Early Times Kentucky Whisky did to put on the contest. They treated us awesome."

Barcenilla won the trip — and the opportunity to fish for $1 million — through a contest on the www.earlytimes.com Web site.

Lake Norman is 34 miles long and eight miles wide. Twenty-five bass were tagged with prizes, including one with the $1 million tag, and dispersed throughout the lake.

Barcenilla and Wirth did not catch any of the tagged fish.

"It felt good out there," Barcenilla said. "It was a great learning experience as I got to fish with a pro like Kevin and I had never bass fished before."

Barcenilla was able to catch a bass, just not one of the tagged ones.

"My main goal was catching a fish, and I got to catch a fish," she said. "I was happy about that."

It was the third year of the contest. No tagged fish have ever been caught in those three years.

"She has a little ways to go, but she learned quick," Wirth said. "We've had three contestants so far, and she's actually been the best of the three ... the other two were males, so that says a lot."