What do you call a 100 year-old angler still catching rockfish in Weldon each year? 

(Hank Dewald of Lake Gaston Today contributed this story)

Without a doubt, we called him, “Sir,” but for Howard C. Brown Sr., just plain ‘Howard’ is fine.

In fact, he seemed just a bit shy Wednesday afternoon, having everyone making such a fuss over his annual fishing trip to Weldon, his former hometown. If not for local Fishing Guide Mike Shearin’s casual remark to Weldon Mayor Julia Meacham last week, no one would have even noticed.

Once Meacham discovered the centenarian was coming to fish with three other generations of Browns on the same boat, word spread quickly and as the Brown family arrived at Weldon’s River Falls Park Wednesday afternoon they were greeted by a small entourage of writers and photographers.

The family with Meacham.

Shearin, who owns Roanoke River Rentals and Guides, has been taking the Browns out on charters for years. Well, actually one of his other captains, Steve Ciccarello has been running the Brown’s charter, but Shearin knows them all well.

“They are all real fishermen,” Shearin said as the group motored away from the Weldon boat landing on his 24-foot pontoon Roanoke II. “The last two years they’ve been here it rained. They didn’t blink an eye, just pulled out ponchos and climbed aboard. They weren’t about to cancel.”

Meacham wasn’t about to let the Brown’s visit go unnoticed and certainly not unrewarded. “I think it is a special story for this family to keep coming back each year and fishing. Mr. Brown remembers when locals fished the river with nets. He has seen it go both ways, from boom to bust and back again, so, yeah, it is special,” she said watching the boat depart.

She would have quite a surprise for the oldest of the Browns upon their return, having had a special Key to the City plaque custom made and passing a special Resolution of Appreciation for him. She would have done even more, but the family was in a bit of a rush to get back to Raleigh before dark.

Thanks to the age of cellular phones, our waiting ‘delegation’ learned the Browns had a rather uneventful half-day trip. “For some reason the water level was dropped by one foot last night,” Shearin said as he hung up from talking with Ciccarello, “When that happens, the fish turn off like someone turning off a light switch, so they caught some, but only one keeper.”

The eldest Brown with his key.

As the Roanoke II came into sight, the crowd made its way down to the dock and waited as Shearin assisted two of the eldest Browns off the boat. 

Finally all the Browns, from Howard, Sr., son Graham Max Brown, grandson Charles Graham Brown, to great-grandson Max A. Brown and great-granddaughter Catlin Brown gathered facing the mayor and a passel of media types.

Young Max held up the keeper striper, cameras clicked and Mayor Meacham made her two presentations, which led to smiles and handshakes all around, but before Howard Brown left that dock, he asked Ciccarello to pencil them in again for next year. As Shearin followed them all up the steep ramp to the parking area he glanced over and quietly said, “I already had.”