RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - When Kids Fishing Day unfolded at Clementia Lake on May 3, it was the same family-friendly event as always … with one exception. 

The Kiwanis Club of Rancho Murieta, which hosts the event, renamed it the Joe Mazzoni, Sr. Memorial Kids Fishing Day. Board President Bill Kinney said the new name honors Mazzoni, who died last summer.

“He started the Kiwanis fishing day program and drove the boat for 20 years,” Kinney explained.

After the fishing event, the Kiwanis Club also dedicated a bench at the Clementia boat dock in Mazzoni’s memory. See the separate story in the May 23 issue of the River Valley Times.

Despite predictions of rain earlier in the week, the event unfolded without needing raincoats, although the skies remained cloudy. Approximately 100 children aged 12 and under, along with numerous siblings, parents, grandparents and family dogs, turned out to fish.

After youngsters began checking in at the registration table at 8 a.m., Kiwanians loaned out fishing rods and bait to those without and a couple of hours later served several nearly 200 hot dogs for lunch. A half-dozen past fishing club members were also on hand to help the children catch, weigh and clean their trout.

Kinney estimated that the youngsters caught more than 200 pounds of fish, although not everyone brought their trout to the cleaning station. The volunteers weighed 167 pounds of fish. 

The Kiwanians also awarded prizes consisting of fishing poles and gift certificates to the kids who caught the largest fish. 

The winner of the Boys’ Division was Pharooh Mosley-Allen, who landed a trout weighing 2.92 pounds. 

Brinley Pierce won the Girls’ division with a trout weighing 2.14 pounds.

Two days before the event, the club stocked 500 pounds of high-quality rainbow trout in Lake Clementia after the Rancho Murieta Association Maintenance Department installed a net to keep the fish confined to the swimming area. 

The Maintenance Department also supplied the barbecue, tables and chairs for lunch. 

“They were great,” Kinney said. “I tell you: The community would not be the same without the Maintenance Department.”

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife supplied the loaner fishing poles, and Bass Pro Shop donated the gift certificates.

Kinney expressed great satisfaction when asked to reflect afterward. 

“It’s a wonderful event that brings kids out and introduces them to fishing,” he said. “We hope that a few of them get the fishing bug. It’s something we want to pass on.”