RALEIGH — While Grifton angler Brooks Grady may have caught only one tiny sunfish at the Neuseway Nature Park kids’ fishing event on June 11, he reeled in something much bigger at the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s business meeting Thursday – a lifetime unified sportsman license.

The license, valued at $450 and donated by Neuse Sport Shop of Kinston, was the grand prize in a random, statewide drawing for participants in 40 kids’ Fish for Fun events, held in May and June in celebration of National Fishing and Boating Week 2016.

Wildlife Commission Chairman John Litton Clark presented the lifetime license certificate to Brooks during the Commission’s meeting in Raleigh. Brooks, who is 7, was accompanied by his parents Lynnette and Alan Grady, his grandmother Rosie Dudley, and other family members. Brooks’ license will provide him fishing and hunting privileges in North Carolina for free for life — even if he moves out of state. These privileges include fishing in all public waters — from the mountains to the coast — as well as hunting for big game, hunting on game lands and waterfowl hunting.

Aden Parnell, 8, of Mt. Gilead won the first prize — a lifetime freshwater fishing license donated by the N.C. Council of Trout Unlimited and valued at $250. Aden’s license gives him fishing privileges in all public inland waters in North Carolina, including designated mountain trout waters, trout waters on game lands and joint waters. He participated in the Fish for Fun event at King’s Mountain Point on June 11.

In addition to Brooks and Aden, 150 other young anglers across the state won fishing-related prizes — from rods and reels and tackle boxes courtesy of Neuse Sport Shop and Shimano to mini-tackle boxes, fishing towels and fish playing cards from the Wildlife Commission. Download a list of winners, their ages, hometowns and prizes.

The Commission, along with the U.S. Forest Service, Neuse Sport Shop, Trout Unlimited, Shimano and many other local sponsors, supported 40 free fishing events celebrating National Fishing and Boating Week to promote fishing as a fun, outdoor activity the whole family can enjoy.

“Both Neuse Sport Shop and Trout Unlimited have been tremendously supportive of the Wildlife Commission for years and now we’re glad to be working with Shimano to provide prizes for the National Fishing and Boating week annual prize drawing,” said Christian Waters, chief of the Commission’s Inland Fisheries Division. “These kids’ fishing events are great opportunities for families to spend time together enjoying the outdoors and learning the basics of fishing.”

http://www.bladenjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_license1.jpg