HG4 in one word= AWESOME

[manuel149]

First off thanks to Arthur and the rest of SWAT for making this event possible. Never would have thought it would be greater than the last.
It’s such a good feeling to see so many strangers come together and do what they love.
As for fishing it was a really slow morning and kind of difficult with all that salad out there. Marissa was having a hard time bringing in nothing but salad so she started to play around in the sand.
I managed a few BSP when my wife came back to find me and says we just got 6, Thanks Andrew for pointing them in the right direction. So we go back that same spot and we all got our 10+ bsp each. Marissa was very excited that she landed her first Walleye Surfperch.
Then comes the fish off wow what a nail biter :Applause: to all the winners. Special thanks to S.P. Dan for helping the kids in the fish off you really encouraged them.
When the trophies were being handed out I was admiring those phenix rods thinking the derby winners would get those and lo and behold we come home with one WOW. Now I’m in the market for a reel to compliment the rod.
Once again thanks for the memories.
I am still on the HG rush, so I will see some sand this week. Hope I can run into some of you out there.

[Which Way Out]

Manuel I am so glad that you and your family had a great time at the event.


Sorry we didn't get to talk to each other, some other time soon I hope.
Late in the day I saw your daughter walking with the Rod Holder and it put a smile on my face knowing she won something special. Good luck to you and your family fishing with it.
Please post any photos you can get of her catching fish on HER new Rod.:Wink:.. I hope she lets you borrow it from time to time..:Razz:

Take Care
WWO

[bachiboy]

Hey Manuel,

I can't tell you how happy I was to see your daughter win that rod after losing the coin flip. Probably no where near as happy as she was of course...especially by the look on her face when she was carrying it back to the car at the end of the event. It was a VERY fitting raffle win for her and I hope she gets years of great use outta that rod. Thanks to you and your family helping make this an incredible event.

Don

[blackwater]

Awesome is right, this event just blows people away. :Big Grin:
Congrats on scoring a nice Phenix rod. :Envious:

[SP Dan]

Hi ya manuel149

As far as I''m concerned....you and your family should be on an "FNN Poster" for having the correct spirit of "Families, Friends, Fun & Fishing" at this year's HG-4 Event!
It's quite evident that you and your wife are deeply involved in teaching your daughter Marissa some of life's simple but most important values along with having fun and surf fishing!

One in Particular that I noticed was: while I watching you and your wife's involvement and all of the total support that you poured into Marissa during the Juniors Derby fish-off, it had me feeling so proud of her (and your whole family) as you helped to keep her focused on her tasks at hand..... fishing in the Derby and having fun! :Big Grin:
Marissa never gave up, she hung in there...she fought hard....through the severe 6-ft+ incoming pounding surf, the terrible salad filled surf and cold weather conditions...she persevered through it all...up to the end!
She finished what she had begun.....WTG Marissa! :Thumbs Up:

When I had to sadly announce the end of the Juniors Derby fish-off :Fishing Hole: due to lack of time and that third place was going to be decided by a coin toss.......my heart just fell :Crying: .....knowing that one of these two beautiful children was going to have loose after having poured there hearts into the Derby with grand hopes of winning at least the 3rd place position.

After the champion was decided by the coin toss for the 3rd place position ................." and this is the part that just ached my heart" :( ........during the celebration of the winner, I looked over and I saw Marissa turn to her mother...she didn't make a sound...she just pushed her face into the comfort of her mom's lap as her eyes whelped up with tears for not having won :Crying:. My heart had also whelped up after seeing this. :Sad:

Life's lessons are not always easy or kind!
You guys were there to help Marissa, to help her understand that the agony of defeat can some times really hurt....but that it's also equally important to celebrate with our friends in their victories as well.
She was able to rebound quickly and got herself back to having lots more fun!

Added note: seeing the proud smile on Marissa's face while she was standing up there in front of every body, getting her picture taken while holding the new fishing rod in hand was just priceless! :Dancing Banana: :Big Smile::Applause: Marissa is the living proof...."that everyone does come away as winners"! Marissa had come to the HG-4 Event and spent all of her time with her family fishing, she won some new friends with her smile, she's gained lots of good memories and she had a fun day catching lots of fish! :Big Grin: It just doesn't get much better than this!

I look forward to watching you again Marissa in next year's HG-5 Juniors Fishing Derby!

Thank you Manuel for sharing your family with all us at this year's Dana Rea Memorial / HG-4 Event! :Cool:

SP Dan <"))><

[Badbeat]

AWESOME is the word. Looks like you and your family had fun out there and that's what it's all about. :Big Grin:
very nice Phenix rod that you guys won in the raffle. I had my eyes on that thing. :Envious:

[Wingnut]

Manny, always a pleasure to see you and the family at an HG event. Good times! :Big Grin:
Congrats on the nice raffle wins and we will see you guys again at HG5. :Wink:

[flyngby]

Manual,

Great to see you return for the event with the family! I was up at the grill frying up the last burgers listening to all of the ooo's and aaaaaaah's of the Junior Derby fish-off and finally made my way down to the soapy zone to watch Marissa working the zone hard with all of the folks standing on higher ground cheering for for her and Blake respectively!

Marissa was a trooper thru the coin toss but 1 picture stands in my mind. Marissa modeling off her great new surf fishing rod and carring case! Priceless!!!!!!!!!!!

Look forward to seeing you on the waters soon!

Steve

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