The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources has announced the names of 34 lucky anglers that have been selected as prize winners as part of this year’s West Virginia Gold Rush giveaway. The event was held March 29 – April 9.
Ethan Kile of Upper Tract was one of the lucky fishermen. He won a state park cabin stay.
Out of the 34 giveaway winners, five anglers won a West Virginia lifetime fishing license, 10 won a state park cabin stay, 10 won a West Virginia State Parks gift card and nine won a WVDNR gift bag.
This year marked Gold Rush’s fifth anniversary. In commemoration of this milestone, the WVDNR and Gov. Jim Justice announced that Gold Rush would be bigger and better than ever.
The WVDNR stocked 50,000 golden rainbow trout in a record number of lakes and streams around the state to give anglers from across the country a chance to reel in this prized catch. The governor announced that any anglers who caught one of these trout would be eligible to receive a special coin commemorating Gold Rush’s fifth anniversary. Out of the stocked fish, 100 had a numbered tag that could be entered to win a major prize.
“Governor Justice always pushes us to go further and make this program better every year. We’ve never had a governor who has been so personally committed to maximizing what we’re doing to make West Virginia’s great outdoors even greater, and that’s exactly what we’re doing with our Gold Rush program,” said Brett McMillion, WVDNR director. “Gold Rush was a huge success this year and it’s just one of the ways we’re making fishing in West Virginia something that people from all over the world want to be part of.
“I want to congratulate our lucky winners and thank the thousands of anglers who participated this year.”
