Before even catching a fish, Rochelle Barcenilla has quite a fish story.

Barcenilla, a mother of three who resides in Waipahu, won an online contest last month that could lead to a $1 million prize.

Barcenilla won the "Reel in a Million" contest through early times.com. She received a trip to North Carolina, and will get a chance to fish in Lake Norman on June 27.

One bass in that lake will be marked with a $1 million tag. If Barcenilla can reel in that fish, she wins $1 million.

"I did the research — it's highly unlikely," she said. "But at least I get to try. It should be fun."

There will be 24 other fish tagged with prizes, including a new boat.

"I'll be happy with anything," Barcenilla said.

The irony? Barcenilla doesn't know how to fish.

"I've been watching videos of bass fishing," she said. "It's a different technique from fishing over here. You can't just throw a line out, stick the pole in the sand and wait for the bell to ring. It's going to be hard, I know that."

The odds may even be greater than a million to one.

For starters, Lake Norman is 34 miles long (roughly the distance from Honolulu to Wai'anae) and eight miles wide. In the previous two years of the contest, not one of the tagged fish has been caught.

"It's a big lake, there's a lot of fish, and you have to figure out where to go to find them," contest spokesman Svend Jansen said. "It will be an accomplishment just to get one of the prizes, let alone the $1 million."

But Barcenilla will receive some professional assistance. Kevin Wirth, a pro angler, will be her partner for the contest.

Barcenilla and Wirth will both be allowed to fish — but out of the same boat — for an eight-hour period. Considering the size of the lake, they may spend much of the time trying to figure out the location of the $1 million bass.

Jansen said the 25 tagged fish are dispersed throughout the lake, but the swimming patterns of the bass are unpredictable.

Still, anything Wirth catches will go to Barcenilla.

"I'm just going to listen to him," she said.

Barcenilla said she found the contest by chance while surfing the Internet. She was told by contest officials last month that she won. Since then, she has been practicing her casting technique with her husband, Jake.

"She's getting better," Jake said. "Hopefully she can just get lucky when the time comes. She was lucky just to win the trip, so maybe she can do it again when we get there."

Barcenilla, who works as an estimator for a contracting company, said she has also received numerous tips from family and friends.

"Everything from how to cast, where, what time, what kind of bait," she said. "A lot of my friends are more excited about this than I am."

Barcenilla does have one concern.

"I tend to get seasick," she said. "We're going to be standing on that small boat for eight hours, so I just hope I make it. I would hate to get sick and not even get to fish."

In any case, Barcenilla said she already considers the upcoming trip a success.

"It's a free trip to North Carolina for four nights, and I've never been there," she said. "We'll have a couple of days to see and do things besides the fishing, so I feel like I won something big already."