Mariners members take Minnie Street students on a sea-worthy adventure

Once the nearly 40 students had filed into the boat, Irvine resident Randy Pierce stood before them to ask a question.

“How many of you have been fishing before?”

Only six children raised their hands.

This confirmed for Pierce and several other members of Mariners Church in Irvine that they had chosen the right kids to take on an all-day fishing trip Tuesday. They were boys and girls ages 9 to 17 from the Minnie Street outreach center in Santa Ana.

“Randy’s an avid fisherman,” Minnie Street Site Coordinator Meredith Miyake said. “He reached out to us because he really wanted to provide an experience for our kids to learn the sport of fishing.”

The group set sail at 12:30 p.m. from the Balboa Pavilion in Newport Beach.

By their return at 5:30 p.m., the newly trained fishermen had caught and released 300 calico bass, 100 blue perch fish, 100 mackerel, 25 sand bass and 15 blacksmith perch fish.

“I’ve never learned how to use a fishing pole or how to catch a fish,” student Josefina Castaneda, 17, said. “I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go out and explore the sea.”

The Minnie Street center is a ministry of Mariners Church. Many of the students who attend the community center’s after-school and summer programs come from the Santa Ana Unified School District.

Pierce heard of Minnie Street through his friends in Men of Mariners, a group based at the church. He ran the idea for a youth fishing trip past Miyake in February.

“I was really honored he chose us,” Miyake said. “For some kids, this is their very first time on a boat.”

Once Miyake agreed, Pierce began planning the trip. His comrades in Men of Mariners, who are also skilled fishermen, agreed to join in the outing and help gather fishing reels, hooks, bait and a boat the students could ride in.

For the trip, they were able to bring 40 light spin cast reels and have a 75 foot boat, the Western Pride, take them out to sea.

In addition to teaching students the basics of how to hook bait and cast reels, the Men of Mariners also were keen to share information about the environment.

“All fish we catch will be released because it’s a good lesson in habitat conservation and taking only what you need from the ocean,” Men of Mariners member George Garrett said.

Their ride on the Western Pride got them up close and personal with the sea life — they cruised alongside a pod of dolphins and a family of sea lions on the way back to shore.

“I’ve never really gone out to any place like this, not even for school field trips,” student Janet Vazquez, 16, said. “For a lot of us, our parents work and don’t always have the time to do things like this with us.”

Pierce and his friends said they were enthused about guiding the children. But by the end of the trip, they said they’d found something even more exciting — seeing the students master the art of fishing.

“We coached them a little but they were baiting and casting all by themselves in the end,” Pierce said. “After a while, we just became part of the background but that’s exactly what we wanted to happen.”