Written By Del Brunning:
On Wednesday, June 9th, 20 kids from Olive Crest, their counselors and FIB’er volunteers met at Newport landing for a 1/2 day fishing trip. The day was overcast and it was “sprinkling” on us. Not a pleasant beginning. To add to the day, the traffic from Riverside County delayed most of the participants such that we didn’t depart, on the Agressor, until after 8:00 AM. The kids were excited as we left the Bait receiver and Captain Brian headed the Aggressor South down the coast anticipating some great fun and fine fishing. The swells were up a bit as the wind pushed against us. The kid’s were enjoying the ride. It was great! Shortly, we arrived near Crystal Cove and set anchor off some kelp on a rock pile and set our lines in the water. Fishing started off slow and remained that way for most of the day. We used a combination of live bait and squid and fished on the bottom. Squid seemed to be the better bait. The currents were moving pretty good in the area and there were times when fish would move in and around the rock pile and then move on. During those times, we managed to land a good number of fish with a few quality ones in the mix. This gave us encouragement to keep our lines in the water. We moved further South, one time, to try some deeper fishing with about the same results. All-in-all, the kids had a wonderful time and the Aggressor crew was great as they treated each participant to a breakfast sandwich and drink. The sun finally came out as we headed back to the landing and the kids played with the bait (always fun to watch). Captain Brian made a circle around the bell buoy and the kids enjoyed watching the Sea Lions on it. For such a “gloomy day” start, we had a “fantastic” ending. Final fish count: 1 Calico bass, 17 Sand bass, 1 White fish, landed. Also, 50+ Mackerel and 1 White Sea Bass (16”) released. Praise goes to God for the opportunity to bring love into the hearts of these kids on trips like this. Thanks go to the FIB’ers volunteers who unselfishly give of their time and are blessed for it; Floyd Spangler, Don White, David Weeks, Phil Faubert, Jerry Bent, Mike Kaneen, and Rick Chalmers.
