The reel deal

Susan McCormack

Parents are usually proud of their children for bringing home good

grades, playing nicely with others and maybe even excelling in sports.

But Brent Mazur has a special reason to boast about his 4-year-old

daughter: she set a world fishing record this summer.

Alexandra Mazur, now 5, caught an 11-pound, 4-ounce channel catfish this

summer at Laguna Niguel Lake. Channel catfish usually range from one to

five pounds, but can reach weights of more than 30 pounds.

The International Game Fish Assn. in Florida last month recognized

Alexandra for her achievement and confirmed that she had set a “junior

angler world record.”

According to her certificate, the record is for “a catch of the heaviest

fish of a species, and that the catch was made in accordance with

international angling regulations.”

The association’s regulations are to “promote ethical and sporting

angling practices” and include specifications for fishing line materials,

rod lengths and hooks.

“I’ve been trying for records all my life and she gets one on her first

try,” Mazur said.

Fishing was not entirely new to Alexandra, who said she has practiced

casting with her child-size fishing pole in her backyard pool many times,

once getting it stuck in a nearby tree. She had caught a few little fish

when angling with her father at Irvine Lake, but she had never used an

adult-size fishing rod before.

On the catfish’s fateful day, Alexandra could not find her small fishing

pole, so she used her father’s 7-foot Sensilite rod, Mazur said.

Toward the end of the day, Alexandra’s line became heavy. Mazur said he

thought she had just got it stuck in seaweed, but realized it was

something else when Alexandra began struggling to reel it in.

“Dad, dad, dad, the bobbers going up,” she recalled telling her father,

alerting him to the fact that there was something animated on her hook.

“I wrapped my arms around her waist to make sure she didn’t get pulled in

the water,” Mazur said, adding that it took about 20 minutes to land the

catfish.

“I thought it was a some kind of little fish that was really strong,”

said Alexandra. “When I saw whiskers, I knew it was a catfish.”

Mazur said witnesses were required to certify that Alexandra had indeed

caught the “heavy, slimy” fish herself. Then the statistics were sent to

the fish association.

Though she also enjoys ballet, soccer and swimming, Alexandra’s success

has kept her focused on learning more about fishing. Her father said her

next lessons will be in deep-sea fishing.

Fishing is a “her and daddy thing,” said Alexandra’s mom, Kayla Turney,

who said she does not even like to eat fish.

For Alexandra, her record was not the biggest reward for catching the

catfish.

“The best part is that you catch fish that is good to eat,” she said.