CHOC held the 27th annual fishing event at Irvine Lake this Saturday. Volunteers from Irvine Lake and various fishing clubs joined forces in taking the patients out on a fishing adventure. Alisha woke up at 7am because she did not want to be late, wait and/or miss the boat for fishing. We arrived a few minutes after 8:30am when the event commenced and saw a line at the dock already. We sped through the registration process hoping that we weren't going to end up waiting too long. As we stood in line, a boat carrying about a dozen or so people had already left the dock. When we were gearing up, a fancy boat pulled up on the other side of the dock. We thought one of the two groups in front of us were going to board, but the boater waved for the four of us to board...we got lucky.
After a slow boat ride (speed limit was 5 mph), we stopped near the buoys by the dam and the boat owner, Eric commenced to teach the girls a trick or two about fishing (tying knots, baits and weight on the fishing rods). Fish loves to hide in the trees underwater to ensure a better chance of getting away if it is caught. There were a few times that the fishing hooks were caught in the twigs. After a few fish escaped their demise, Alisha finally caught her first fish - a bass. At Irvine Lake, bass is catch and release fish rather than catch and take home such as catfish and trout. We took several photos while Eric encouraged the girls to feel the teeth (felt like sandpaper) and the crushers of the large-mouth bass. Eric was brave and kissed the fish for good luck and ended up helping the girls catch another two.
On the ride back, Alisha and Ashley got an opportunity to drive the boat to the dock. The Irvine Lake included a play structure and a huge area for kids to run around, so the girls worked up an appetite for barbecue by climbing up and down the play structure. Fishing on the boat whet Alisha's appetite for more, so Uncle Craig attempted to secure a spot on the shoreline to teach the girls more about fishing. We had no idea fishing was such a popular past-time and the shoreline was completely occupied. We walked toward another dock hoping we can hear some miraculous consent of being able to fish off the dock and coincidentally ran into Eric. He kindly offered to take us out onto the boat again after he grabbed a bite.
CHOC presented Irvine Lake and various fishing clubs gigantic thank you cards from the patients for this wonderful event and gave the patients and siblings each a certificate for the event. Photos were taken and we were about to head back for more fishing when Eric privately presented Alisha with a brand new Shimano fishing rod. Alisha was so thrilled to receive her new gift and couldn't wait to use it. Our second trip out on the water was not as eventful as the first until Eric reeled in a 5 lb. 10 oz. mommy bass. We were all elated to see such a big catch, which was about half the length of the girls. Although we were all exhausted from the sun, it was a great adventure and the girls cannot wait for
their next fishing trip!
That's a big fish she caught! It was no wonder Alisha was so excited to tell me the fishing story. :D
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