Young anglers catch fish at derby
May 24—For the first time in two years, veteran and new anglers surrounded one of the town's oldest and premier landmarks, Ellis Lake, in Marysville for the 70th annual Jim Watson Youth Fishing Derby sponsored by the Marysville Kiwanis Club.
With the help of the Kiwanis Club and the city of Marysville, the lake was stocked with 766 pounds of live catfish, which is estimated to be about 800 fish.
Folks began finding the ideal spot and setting up their poles and tackle boxes before 7 a.m., hoping that early bird mentality would lead to a lot of trophy fish catches.
Leo Aristo, 6, was out with his mom, Gricel Oropeza, for the first time ever on Saturday.
Neither one had any prior experience with angling.
"No never," said Oropeza of Marysville, when asked if she knew how to fish. "He really wanted to learn how to fish and so I said, 'I need to take him somewhere, but I didn't know where.'"
So Oropeza, a single mom, began to learn quickly, and then found out about the derby and free opportunity for youngsters, like her son and many others, to get out and learn the art of fishing in a lake stocked fresh with plenty to catch.
The Marysville Kiwanis Club said the derby was created to allow participants to not only be eligible for prizes for the best catch, but also give people an opportunity to help clean up the lake by catching carp and turning it in for a cash prize.
Marysville City Councilman Dominique Belza said prior to the derby that money was being offered to encourage increased removal of the carp.
He said for those that catch the fish, a dollar an inch would be given by the city for every carp that is caught and turned in. He said the city would pay for each carp up to 24 inches.
"People can turn in multiple carp so long as they are under 24 inches," Belza previously said. "They can turn in larger (ones), but they're only getting paid for 24."
Veteran angler Khristian Thomas, who attended Saturday's derby with his family, said carp essentially will kill anything in a lake by eating the vegetation in the lake.
While Thomas hadn't heard about the deal from the city, he said anything to help clean up Ellis Lake was a good idea.
As for Oropeza, she was not worried about carp or how to catch it, she simply wanted her son to catch something.
The process started with building the fishing pole.
Oropeza began her research and learned some basic knowledge about the sport. She also received a lot of support from her fishing neighbors as she navigated the previous foreign territory for the first time on Saturday.
"It was a little bit challenging, but people here are really nice," Oropeza said.
Oropeza got the pole built, learned how to bait a hook and even began casting the line into the water, much to the delight of her son.
Oropeza said it's important to push through initial hurdles when approaching a foreign task.
"It's a perfect opportunity (because) you can always learn," Oropeza said. "Never let something like being a single parent hold you back from anything."
