Photo courtesy of www.VisitOceanside.org
Recent news out of Oceanside, CA says that the junior anglers are eager to get their lines in the water. The IGFA 2011 Oceanside Pier Kids’ Fishing Derby, held a couple of weeks ago, entertained entrants ages 6-15, and was nothing short of fantastic. Many of us in the fishing community would agree that a Saturday of fishing is probably something we look forward to the most, but these kids do a wonderful job of bringing us back to the pure joy of this sport. They provided free equipment and lunch for the 109 entries as well as their parents. The IGFA supplied an atmosphere that welcomed many kids who will undoubtedly be a new generation eager to enter the world of fishing.
Although the fishing was a little slow, the anglers, many who were fishing for the first time, managed to pull in a nice variety of SoCal. The winners were: 6-year-old Carlos Cruz, 7-year-old Emily Dipitro, 8-year-old Kathryn Oh, 9-year-old Riley Bryant, 10-year-old Angel Flores, 11-year-old Elvis Rivera, 12-year-old Claire Christy, 13-year-old Mikey Pugh, 14-year-old Edward Dizon, and 15-year-old David Hernandez (who was the grand champion in 2010). The Grand Champion this year was Mikey Pugh. Each of the winners received a new rod and reel, an autographed copy of Pier Fishing in California, and a beautiful IGFA certificate.
Quotes and pictures courtesy of http://www.bdoutdoors.com/story/igfa-kids-derby/
