BY DENNIS YAMAMOTO
Steve Fukuto once again memorializes the first director of Friends of Rollo, aka Captain Rollo’s Kids at Sea
Keeping the memories of a great person alive is Steve Fukuto’s mission in donating the Eldorado sportfisher out of Long Beach Sportfishing to introduce our new generation to the wonderful world of sportfishing. After a year off to deal with the devastation of Covid-19, Captain Rollo’s Kids welcomed the Mariner’s church group from Irvine led by Amy Cochran.
Captain Jeff Villapando made an abrupt stop on the way to the 150 when he metered a nice spot along the route. As helpers Howard, Ronnie, John, Valerie and Tom assisted the kids, they immediately began to haul up quality reds, sculpin, sand bass and sheephead. The leftover live squid probably had something to do with the excellent bite, but as the kids got used to baiting their own hooks with the finger grabbers they had an absolute blast. The kids also built up a healthy appetite and scarfed down cook Brian’s burgers, dogs and burritos, including an open soda bar!
As we finally got to the 150 spot on our half day foray, we immediately began hauling up limits of delicious sculpin for the frying pan. All of these church goers were stoked to have such a beautiful, sunny and relatively windless day of socializing together and enjoying a day on the water. After limits were achieved for the entire boat, Captain Jeff headed for the barn with a bunch of happy teenagers thanks to the generosity of Steve Fukuto and his Eldorado Sportfishing and Long Beach Sportfishing operations, as well as Captain Rollo’s Kids for selecting this deserving group of courteous teens. Also included were free rental rods, tackle, fish cleaning and tips for this polite group of church-going youngsters. Thank you Amy!
