FISH CAN'T ESCAPE TACKLE OF GRANADA HILLS' BEGLEY.Byline: ERIC SONDHEIMER Brandon Begley, a 15-year-old freshman football player at Granada Hills High School Granada Hills Charter High School (Granada Hills High School) is a public, charter, co-educational, secondary school consisting of students in grades 9-12. The school colors are green, black, and white. , has developed an innovative workout routine to keep him physically fit. Forget weight training, forget running, forget pushups - the linebacker's favorite cardiovascular activity is reeling in big, feisty fish. Last August, on a boat in Sitka, Alaska “Sitka” redirects here. For the tree, see Sitka Spruce. The City and Borough of Sitka is a unified city-borough located on the west side of Baranof Island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean (part of the Alaska Panhandle), in the U.S. state of Alaska. , Begley was trolling (1) Surfing, or browsing, the Web. (2) Posting derogatory messages about sensitive subjects on newsgroups and chat rooms to bait users into responding. (3) Hanging around in a chat room without saying anything, like a "peeping tom." for coho salmon Coho salmon oncorhynchuskisutch. when ``all of a sudden, a big one hit,'' he said. ``As soon as I grabbed the pole, I was going, `Oh my God, this is a big one.' When I saw the color, everybody was going, `It's unbelievable. It's a king salmon.' We brought it up and it was amazing. I couldn't talk, it was so big.'' Begley's catch was a 44-pound, 3-ounce king salmon that Sports Afield Sports Afield was founded in 1887 as a hunting and fishing magazine in 1887 by Claude King and is the oldest outdoor publication in North America. The first issue, in January of 1888, was eight pages long and printed on newspaper stock, out of Denver, Colorado. magazine has judged as the biggest chinook salmon chinook salmon or king salmon Prized North Pacific food and sport fish (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) of the salmon family. The average weight is about 22 lbs (10 kg), but individuals of 50–80 lbs (22–36 kg) are not unusual. caught in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. for 1996. (The all-time record for chinook Chinook, indigenous people of North America Chinook (shĭn  k`, chĭ–), Native American tribe of the Penutian linguistic stock. , as recognized by the International Game Fish Association, is 97-1/4 pounds.) On the same trip, Begley hauled in a 146-pound halibut halibut: see flatfish. halibut Any of various flatfishes, especially the Atlantic and Pacific halibuts (genus Hippoglossus, family Pleuronectidae), both of which have eyes and colour on the right side. that forced him to consume more energy than a football tackling drill. ``It was a 45-minute fight,'' Begley's father, Tim, said. ``The salmon is really fun, but the halibut is really hard,'' Brandon said. ``They're at the bottom. You have to bring them up 100 feet. They're yanking on you and your pole is bent. I went around the boat three times. You feel so good you go, `Oh my God, I can't believe I brought this thing up.' It was almost the size of me.'' The 5-foot-11, 145-pound Begley has lots of fish stories to tell his friends at Granada Hills. He has been going fishing with his father, a successful Northridge real estate agent, since he was 2. Last week, during Easter break, he spent five days surfing and fishing while camping out near Santa Barbara. He loves football, but fishing provides a special thrill. ``I'll probably be fishing my whole life and when I have kids, I'll be teaching them, too,'' he said. ``You got to have patience for fishing. In football, you get to hit people. Bringing up those big fish really gets me excited. After a couple downs in football, you're pretty tired. After bringing up one of those halibuts, it's pretty much the same thing.'' Begley has been fascinated trying to catch fish for years. His mother, Cindy, remembers the then 12-year-old Brandon pleading for her to take him two hours early for Junior Lifeguard training at Castaic Lake just so he could fish before everyone showed up. He'd rig up his own little fish line and soon he had other kids joining him. So many fish have been caught over the years by Brandon and his father that Cindy's appetite for fish has dwindled since she's the one who usually cooks the fish. ``I've filled the freezer too many times,'' Tim said. Said Cindy: ``I can never cook hamburgers and hot dogs. Everybody expects fish.'' Brandon's salmon catch was so big that it provided salmon steaks and salmon sandwiches for weeks. But Cindy has begun to tell the men of the house what to do with their fish. ``You have to start cooking it yourself,'' she ordered. Each year, Brandon goes fishing for rare golden trout along the South Fork of the Kern River near Mount Whitney. It's a true wilderness area only accessible with a four-wheel drive. ``There are no camp spots,'' Brandon said. ``You got to walk a half mile to where you catch them. They're beautiful. They're not as big as rainbow trout rainbow trout Species (Oncorhynchus mykiss) of fish in the salmon family (Salmonidae) noted for spectacular leaps and hard fighting when hooked. It has been introduced from western North America to many other countries. , but they're good for eating.'' Fishing in the wilderness far from civilization gives Brandon an invigorating in·vig·or·ate tr.v. in·vig·or·at·ed, in·vig·or·at·ing, in·vig·or·ates To impart vigor, strength, or vitality to; animate: "A few whiffs of the raw, strong scent of phlox invigorated her" feeling. ``There are no cars, no smog,'' he said. ``It's just open wilderness. You look up in the city and see nothing. You look up in the wilderness and you see every star in the universe. It's awesome.'' Brandon has been working hard in school because he needs to have good grades so he can leave at the end of the month with his father for a four-day trip to the Eastern Sierra trout season opener. It should get him in shape for spring football practice, too. Granada Hills football coach Brad Ratcliff, when asked what he thought of Begley's 44-pound salmon catch, said jokingly, ``I hope he can catch 44 touchdowns in a season.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Granada Hills High's Brandon Begley holds the 44-pound, 3-ounce king salmon he caught. Special to the Daily News |
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