All People Need To Fish
by Don Allphin
August 13, 2007
The annual C.A.S.T. (Catch A Special Thrill) was held on Rockport Reservoir this past Saturday. C.A.S.T. events bring together volunteers including members of the Utah Bass Federation, the BASS Federation Nation, and others who take physically challenged children fishing. This year 34 children were involved. Each of these events is special but the memories of this particular one will stay with me the rest of my life.
My fishing partner was a diminutive looking boy approaching his fifth birthday. His name was Emery Robinson. Emery and his father Jeff Robinson boarded my boat at roughly 7:30 a.m. Jeff explained that Emery was deaf and had never been on a boat before. I sat Emery on my lap, started the big motor, and we headed out onto the water.
“Emery likes to drive,” Jeff Robinson said after just a few minutes in the boat. “He’s all smiles.” It took us about an hour to locate some feeding smallmouth bass, but as soon as I hooked the first one, there Emery was, ready to reel in the fish. When the fish was hoisted inside the boat he wanted to hold it and put it in the live well. He had no fear, he just beamed each time he had the opportunity to handle the fish.
“Emery is our Primary child,” Jeff said. “He spent the first 80-plus days of his life in Primary Children’s Hospital. He was born a month early and had severe problems. Even now, he still can’t swallow. We feed him through a tube hooked to his stomach.”
You’d never know the health problems Emery has faced in his short life by watching him in my boat. Several times during the day, he held his two hands in the 10 O’clock and 2 O’clock position with both thumbs up and acted as if he were driving. “He wants to drive the boat again,” his father said.
At one point, Emery hugged my leg while I was using the foot pedal to maneuver the electric trolling motor, and as I looked down, I realized he was hugging my leg for balance as he tried to operate the foot pedal too.
Emery caught 14 smallmouth bass, and drove the boat around and around the small reservoir. In the process, he also drove home the importance of exposing all children to the outdoors. This young boy, even with his health challenges, enjoyed every moment on my boat, and I felt enormously privileged to have been a part of his life for a few hours. Thank you Emery!
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