The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said Sunday that Blake Russ of Fruitland Park should have won $1,000 for bagging the longest Burmese python.

Joe Cavaretta, Sun-Sentinel

Steven Wolf, two, keeps an eye on the Albino Burmese Python August 12, 2001 during the third annual Snake Day at the Miami Museum of Science in Miami, FL. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

That's the catch in Florida's 'Python Challenge': Even experienced hunters with special permits to regularly stalk the exotic snake through Florida's swamplands are having trouble finding them for a state-sponsored competition.

That's the catch in Florida's 'Python Challenge': Even experienced hunters with special permits to regularly stalk the exotic snake through Florida's swamplands are having trouble finding them for a state-sponsored competition.

Joe Cavaretta Sun-Sentinel

Tiffany Trent, a biologist at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge grabs a boa constrictor as part of a training program Thursday. Photo by Joe Cavaretta, Sun-Sentine.

This Aug. 24, 2009 photo released by the Florida Museum of Natural History, shows Burmese pythons, left, and an African rock python, center, that were removed from the Florida Everglades. A juvenile African rock python, right, from its native range is seen coiled on a tray at the Florida Museum of Natural History laboratory at the University of Florida. Photo by Kenneth Krysko, University of …

Shawn Heflick, a biologist with the Conservation Rainforest Trust, holds a Burmese Python that was captured during a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission nonnative snake hunt training session on February 22, 2010 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Burmese Pythons are placed back into a box as they are used for demonstration purposes during a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission nonnative snake hunt training session on February 22, 2010 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle, Getty Images News

United States Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar uses a snake snare to hold onto a Burmese python during a briefing on invasive species control before getting a tour of the Everglades on an airboat on May 28, 2009 in the Everglades, Florida. Photo by Joe Raedle, Getty Images News.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers use a catch pole to secure a non-venomous Burmese python from Indiantown Road near Sierra Square Plaza in Jupiter Farms in October. Photo courtesy of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Brian Jones (L) and Ismael Vasquez hold a Burmese Python that was being used for hands on training during a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission nonnative snake hunt training session on February 22, 2010 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)