Carson student wins statewide Free Fishing Day poster contest

Mark Twain Elementary School sixth-grader Josephine Payan won this year’s Free Fishing Day Poster Contest held by the Nevada Department of Wildlife, a year after finishing as a runner-up.

Her entry featuring anglers at Lake Tahoe will be featured on the 2013 Free Fishing Day poster promoting Free Fishing Day and will be in the 2014-15 Nevada Fishing Guide magazine.

“After finally winning first place I felt flabbergasted and successful,” Josephine said in a news release. “I couldn’t believe that I finally won after competing again this year.”

This year’s runners-up were Joanna Ahlstrom, a fifth-grader from Caliente Elementary School in Caliente, and Asia Smith, a fifth-grader from Mound Valley School in Spring Creek.

“Josephine is an amazing young lady with many talents (one of them being art). I could tell when I announced the contest to my class that she was determined to win. She spent many hours at home creating her masterpiece,” said Tearra Bobula, Josephine’s teacher at Mark Twain Elementary.

Josephine will receive a framed copy of her artwork and a fishing rod and reel. She and her family will be treated to a guided fishing outing.

The theme of this year’s poster contest was “Wishing I Was Fishing.” It drew 290 entrants from 43 classrooms statewide.

Free Fishing Day is June 8. The statewide event allows anglers to fish any public fishing water without a fishing license or trout stamp. For more information, go to www.ndow.org.