triangle.com | Home

Jenna Barrow, age 10, caught the First Shad taken by a Female Youth (age 12 and under) for the sixth consecutive year in the Grifton Shad Festival Hickory Shad Fishing Contest in Grifton, N.C. Nobody else of any age has ever won an award for six consecutive years. The fish weighed 15-1/2 oz. and was caught on Feb. 10. Awards will be given for the largest hickory shad entered in each of the four divisions: Male Adult, Female Adult, Male Youth and Female Youth. Deadline for entering the contest is noon on Wednesday, April 16, and there is no charge to enter. Only hickory shad are eligible. Fish must be taken on hook and line (not nets) and weighed and recorded at Stoney Creek Oufitters on N.C. 11 in Lenoir County just south of Contentnea Creek and the Pitt County line. Call owner David Godwin at (252) 524-9800 for fishing information. For other Shad Festival information, visit www.grifton.com and click on the drawing of a fish. Most of the 40 events will be on the weekend of April 19-20 but several are earlier, including a one-day Hickory Shad Fishing Tournament on Saturday, March 8.