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Fishing Tales
Making memories to last a lifetime
shares his passion for fishing and lessons learned with his 7 -year-old son, Nicholas. The grid-like canals designed and built by Urrutia caught the fishing bug about 10 Imperial County’s forefathers bring life to its years ago after catching a small flathead human population, but the waterways teem catfish in a canal off Forrester Road. “I caught the fever after fighting the first with life of another kind, luring anglers from one,” an 8 -pounder, U rrutia said. “I didn’t all walks of life to their banks. know what it was, so I Googled it and As temperatures warm in summertime found out it was a and bug life flathead,” Urrutia resurfaces with a said. “I came across "Look for structure, rocks, vengeance, so do the West Coast Cat the fish beneath the fallen trees, areas that don't Masters site run by murky, seemingly Cummings look too well-fished or well- Brian calm surfaces and learned they of local canals, used. I've caught fish in slow did tournaments rivers and lakes. So I started current to fast.¨ – Ernie Urrutia Jr. here. Those, in turn, bring networking with out anglers like people like Morgan Christian Moreno and Ernie U rrutia, J r., Blake and Anthony Cardenas of the and their families. Borderline Catfishing Facebook page, who Moreno has been fishing for as long as both served as mentors for me and who he can remember. H is earliest memories are respected catfish anglers in their own are of fishing with his grandfather and right.” These days U rrutia’s catches are an uncle, now deceased. These days he
By Peggy Dale
6
Summer 2018
TOP: Christian Moreno casts a lure with his fishing rod at a canal in Heber. CENTER: Alma Moreno catches a bass at the All-American Canal Hydro-Electric Plant, Drop 4, east of Holtville. BOTTOM: Christian Moreno uses a small bluegill bait to catch bass at the All American Canal Hydro-Electric Plant, Drop 4 east of Holtville. -Photos by Joselito N. Villero See more on pages 26-27