Winners named in DNREC fishing photo contest
DNREC's Division of Fish & Wildlife recently announced the first-place winner and other top entries in the 2017 Delaware Fishing Photo Contest. The winning photo will be featured on the cover of the 2018 Delaware Fishing Guide, with the other four photos displayed inside.
First place was awarded to Chad Betts of Milton for his photo titled "Small Boat - Big Fish," featuring his son Cohen holding his striped bass catch on Delaware's Inland Bays.
The other contest winners are:
Second place: "Big Bass, Big Smile" by George Sapna II of Seaford, for his photo of his grandson George Sapna IV on the Nanticoke River.
Third place: "Wacky for Bass" by John Kwoka of Newark, for his photo of his wife Ruby Kwoka fishing in Portsville Pond.
Honorable mention: "Summer Fun Fishing" by Paul Garcia of Smyrna, for his photo of his son Dominic Garcia at a pond in Smyrna.
Honorable mention: "Trolling Off Bowers Beach" by Jay Little of Bowers, for his photo of a friend aboard a boat at Bowers Beach.
The winning entries are posted on the Fish & Wildlife photo contest webpage, along with information about the annual photo contests.
Three judges – Division of Fish & Wildlife Director David Saveikis; Jake Mathews, Fisheries Section environmental control technician; and Rebecca Hoover, licensing assistant and photographer – selected the top five entries. Judges were looking for well-composed photos that best portrayed this year's contest theme, Catch a Memory.
"Our fishing photo contest encourages anglers of all ages to participate in healthy outdoor recreation, especially children, who are the next generation of conservationists," Saveikis said. "These images portray anglers enjoying Delaware's great outdoors, and we hope they will inspire others to enjoy the great sport of fishing. We encourage other Delaware photographers to enter next year's contest to capture their angling experiences."
Details for the Division of Fish & Wildlife's 2018 Fishing Photo Contest will be announced in April 2018.
The Division of Fish & Wildlife's annual Hunting Photo Contest is accepting entries through Wednesday, Jan. 31. For more information, contact Jennifer Childears at 302-739-9120 or Jennifer.childears@state.de.us.
