Sarah Bartlett-Pears, Director of the Planetarium at the Neuseway Nature Park and Aryana Vielma, 7, took part in the ‘Take a Kid Fishing’ event. Photo by Kristy Bock / Neuse News

Despite the rain, the children came out to fish.

Neuseway Nature Park and Neuse Sport Shop co-hosted a free fishing event on Saturday for children under 15-years-old at the park’s main pond which was stocked with catfish.

The event celebrates National Fishing and Boating week and is one of more than 30 statewide fishing events supported by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, in partnership with Neuse Sport Shop and the U.S. Forest Service.

Paige Terry of Neuse Sports Shop said she thinks the event is awesome.

“It gets kids out of the house and away from televisions,” Terry said.

Participants can register at the event to enter a statewide drawing for a chance to win one of more than 100 fishing-related prizes. The grand prize is a lifetime sportsman’s license, which includes freshwater and saltwater fishing privileges, as well as hunting privileges donated by Neuse Sport Shop in Kinston.

First prize is a lifetime inland fishing license, donated by Triangle Fly Fishers. The drawing will occur at the end of June and a list of winners will be published at ncwildlife.org in July.

On Saturday, the children were engaged and excited. Seven-year-old Aryana Vielma, who is about to enter second grade, caught a fish as the event started. Though she smiled from ear to ear at catching a fish on her birthday, she wasn’t about to touch it.

Her advice to other young anglers was, “Do not touch a fish, it’s nasty.”

Six-year-old Liam Dorr-Baker, a rising first-grader, did not agree with Vielma’s sentiment. He said he wanted to touch a fish because, “Fishing is so fun!”

The threat of rain did not deter these young fishermen, as they cast their lines in and out of the water. Adults were on standby to keep everyone safe.