WOW, once again I was privileged to participate in an extremely rewarding charity event, benefiting so many deserving and special people. It was an honor to be able to attend.
Kudos once again to Cooch for becoming involved with this event, and there was (as usual) a whole lot of hard work behind the scenes to make it a successful and enjoyable experience for all who attended, whether as a child angler, a proud parent, or one of the many voluteers. Great job partner - thanks for asking me to join in!
It was obvious from the start that this was a unique experience for those of us not affiliated or familiar with the organizations which were putting the event on. When we were gathered at Russo's awaiting the early morning run over to Brannan Island KOA to meet up with all the participants and get the party started, Leroy Boren (President of CalBASS) had some 'words' for the volunteers - he is deaf, and speaks via sign language. With the help of an interpreter, the message was conveyed and we were off.
Once over to the facility, we docked and walked up to the clubhouse to meet with everyone and get some early morning sustenance by way of doughnuts, orange juice and coffee compliments of the event organizers. As we walked into the clubhouse, it appeared to be nearly vacant as there was no audible indication that anyone was inside. As we rounded the corner into the main clubhouse, we were amazed to see a very large group of kids and adults assembled! Most were busily and excitedly communicating largely via sign language - it was quite a sight to behold!!! That was the very first tug at the heartstrings, but certainly not the last by a long shot.
As the guys rounded up the two pontoon boats that the organizations were renting from Sugar Barge for the day, we were able to prepare ourselves for the day's activities. They assembled the kids into the front room for a unique seminar experience hosted by Andy, again with full interpretation for those who were hearing-challenged, and it was very funny to watch the interpreter try to mimic and convey Cooch's message in the spirit it was intended! Judging from the faces, I believe he nailed it dead on!
Once the seminar was complete, the boaters adjourned to the docks to await their angler assignments. They paired two to three anglers per boat, and ensured that an interpreter was aboard for those taking out deaf anglers. Many of the anglers were hearing-challenged, and some were children of deaf parents. One commonality was loads and loads of smiles all around as the anglers were anticipating the experience of the day.
I had three lovely young ladies aboard for the first session, and all three were able to hear, so we were off and running. As we took off, they were asking if we could go fast! I told them about the no wake zones and the buoy markers, so as we got to the end of the boat docks they were cajoling me into "going fast". As I was the first boat out, they had no precedent for which to guage what to expect, and as I hit the throttle and the bow rose out of the water I heard lots of screams and giggles, all enjoying the moment very much. I eased off the throttle as we got on plane, as I didn't want to get going too fast and scare them, but looking over all I saw were smiles and eyes lit up in excitement.
We made the turn into Sevenmile slough, and as the wind was blowing pretty well and we only had an hour for this session I opted to turn into the first set of docks and let the boat float against the dock so we could get them set. None of them were 'anglers' in the typical sense, so I started off showing them how to work my spinning gear and explaining what to target, then casting for each of them to demonstrate. Over the next 15 minutes or so, they gradually got comfortable with the gear and were able to cast and retrieve themselves. We moved over to the next set of docks, and went back through the same routine, this time with them handling the rods all by themselves.
I wanted to head back into Sevenmile, but a glance at the clock revealed that our hour had passed quicker than I could imagine and I told them it was time to head back, unfortunately. They protested, but I said we had to as it was only fair for the others waiting to go out.
As we started out of the docks, I spotted a little channel (only about a boats'-width) which led behind the tule island across from the docks. I told them we could duck back there and try for a few minutes, and they shouted out in agreement. We pulled through the opening, lined on one side with extremely shallow grass, and there was a little channel along side the back of the island. We used the trolling motor to navigate the shallow water and thick elodia clumps, and there were two boat-sized cuts in the tules which looked promising. I pitched the first Senko into the cut nearest the front of the boat, then the other two into the cut near the rear, and about the time the third hit the water my angler in the front was saying "it's stuck!". I looked and saw that it was in fact moving and told her to "WIND, girl, WIND!!!" She did a great job and had the fish beside the boat, almost flipping it into the boat in the process. I told her to hold it there, and lipped a very fine 15" 1#10oz. largemouth bass which promptly went into the livewell. On the way back in, I spotted a huge fish of likely 10# or more, and showed the girls. Unfortunately it tucked under a periwinkle mat, so we proceeded back to the docks. After a little talk about how we protect our fish with livewells and proper caring and handling, we hit the 5MPH bouy and the girls insisted we "go fast again!!!" We got on plane, and were back at the dock in no time. After photos and getting the weight on my Cul-M-Rite, many of the kids at the dock were gathered around looking at the first bass brought back. Gary (Hubspinner) hopped on the deck, kneeled at the livewell, and one by one each kid climbed aboard and learned to lip a bass and get a photo. We also took another opportunity to demonstrate fish care, as Gary was very careful to let a couple of kids get photos, then submerge the bass back in the livewell to catch its breath, then pull it back out for the next round of photos. Once the photos were complete, the last lesson was to let her release her bass back into the water to grow larger for the next angler. Great stuff!
I then took a young brother and sister out, along with Mom. All three were deaf, but Mom let me know she could read lips and would interpret for me. We went and poached Gary's water, as he was still at the dock and I knew he had found some biters there the day before, and the little folks seemed to have a pretty good time in spite of not getting any biters. I finished up by slipping back behind the tule island to see if we could stick that 10, but a couple of blind casts came up empty and I saw no sign of her. I broke out my punch rig and fired off some shots at the periwinkle mat just in case, but again came up empty. At that, it was time to head back. Once again, all three had enjoyed a little speed through the speed zone on the way out, carefully watching the faces as we got on plane, so we got her back up to speed on the way back in. Mom let me know in her own way that she appreciated it, as did the two new anglers, and we said our goodbyes.
As I got back to the dock I was attacked by two of my first anglers, insisting that they wanted to go back out with me. I told them they'd have to check with LeRoy and Nathan as they were coordinating the boat assignments. They came back and said they were given permission, so I had them watch my boat and camera as I went up to grab a bite. The organizations had ordered pizza, and when I got to the clubhouse it looked like they had ordered maybe 40 - 50 pizzas for everyone! I wolfed down a couple of slices in the company of Scott (lawdog), then headed back down to go out for the third session. My girls were eagerly sitting in the boat (im)patiently waiting for me, and as we readied to go out they asked if one more friend could go. She was a really cute deaf angler, and looked eager to go. Also, she asked if her mom could go with us. Mom is deaf, and a really sweet and obviously caring mother, and I readily agreed.
One of the most heart-tugging moments for me came as we had gotten back to the dock for the first session. My angler was so excited catching her fish, and told anyone who would listen. As I was on the dock, I witnessed her explaining to her mom using sign language the full details of the fight from start to finish. Seeing this, and seeing the expressions on both her and Mom's face was one of those moments I will always cherish.
Back on the water, again they insisted that we "go REALLY fast!". We hit the speed zone, and I watched the faces of the two new passengers to make sure they weren't scared, and they were all smiles. We got to 50MPH before we got to the corner, and it was all laughs, screams and smiles all the way. This time I decided to go all the way back into Sevenmile, as I had scouted it on Friday and saw a bunch of nice fish cruising and hanging in the tules and wanted to get one of them to play.
We crossed under the bridge and past the old boat, and I opened it up to get near the end of the slough. As we got towards the end, I made a fairly tight banking turn and they girls were elated. Mom looked over at me and gave me a high five - they really liked the roller-coaster turn.
We fished along the tules, and given that we were near the bottom of the tide with a fair bit of wind, it was a bit challenging keeping the boat lined up and acting as deckhand. About half way down the row, the new angler was casting out into a little deeper water on the opposite side of the boat. I heard a squeal and looked just in time to see her rod bend. I told her to wind, and one of the girls told her using sign, and she proceeded to crank the fish right to the boat all by herself. Once again, she nearly bounced the fish in, but I was able to get her to hold it steady and a liplock had it onboard! A quick check indicated that this was a 14 1/2" fish, so after high fives all the way around we got back to it. I had picked up my flipping stick with a 7" Senko and started flipping out front of the boat, as my anglers were all doing great all by themselves, and after one promising pitch one of the girls had a problem with her rod. Once I got her straightened out, I picked up my rod and started to pick up the slack. As it came tight, I felt a quick pull followed by weightlessness and realized that I had a decent fish just spit my bait.
At that, it was past time to head back in. The girls were insisting they wanted to do another turn, and wanted me to do it the other way so that they were way up in the air. With that, I did a tight turn like the first, then countered with one in the other direction, and got another high five from Mom and lots of laughs and smiles from the girls. We headed back through the slow zone, and as we got closer to the speed zone the girls were insisting that they wanted to go really fast going back, so we got it up on plane and hit the throttle.
Back at the dock, Cooch weighed her fish and declared it to be 1#8oz. After photos and another angler release, we adjourned back to the clubhouse for the final awards. One young man had caught a bass weighed out at 2# even, suspicious as it was weighed on Cooch's scale (and EVERYONE knows about Cooch's scale!!!
), and my two anglers ended up finishing in second and third. I was really proud of the girls, as they actually hooked and landed the fish on their own and I'm sure are bit with the bug we have all caught.
I believe they are going to try to do this again next year, and I'd encourage anyone who can possibly come out and help to do so... this is priceless stuff and I certainly can't get enough. If you can help out as a boater, great. If not, come help on the pontoons, or dock coordination, or just in support - you CAN'T regret it!
I shot nearly 150 photos of the event - here's a link to the full slideshow I put together to share:
http://www.tunaman.org/pics/2011NCDC-CalBASS/index.htm
BEST REGARDS,
Roger
otherwise it would have been close to 3# 
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