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Judge Takes Troubled Teens Fishing
 

Sep 11, 2006 03:23 PM PDT

 

Grandview, Idaho -- In less than an hour on the waters of CJ Strike Reservoir, 16-year old Heather has caught herself a beauty.

"I've never caught a fish before! And that was the second fish I caught today," the teen said.

But the real beauty is what's happening inside the boat. Heather, and about 30 other kids on juvenile probation, are learning the ins and out of competitive bass fishing from real-life pros.

"He's helping me a lot," Heather said about her mentor, Jim Price. "I'm like,  'c'mon. Give me a bit man!' "

"I'm getting skunked! (The girls on my boat) are out-fishing me," Price said.

Price and the other mentors are old fishing buddies of Ada County Juvenile Judge John Vehlow, or Judge "Bubba" as he's known in this crowd. Sunday afternoon, he spent some one-on-one time with 13-year old Ashley.  But the idea for the trip came back in 1999, when Vehlow promised an 11-year old boy in his courtroom that if he stayed out of trouble, he'd take him fishing. Little did he know the impact that fishing trip would have on the boy's life.

"He looked up at me and said 'Judge Vehlow, I want you to know this has been the greatest day of my life' and to this day, I can't hardly tell that story giving speeches without getting emotional," reflected Vehlow. 

Now the fishing trip has turned into a full-blown tournament for kids determined to get their lives back on track.

"I've actually been clean a year and my probation officer offered to sign me up," Heather explained.

"I'm just excited to be here," said Christian of Boise.  "I'm glad I got up this morning."

A lot of the kids had never been on the water before, and volunteers were eager to bond with them, doing what they love to do best.

"I think it's great. Anytime you can pull a kid out and show them, there's a lot more to life than what they're thinking," Price said.

"I'm a retired educator. I taught junior high for 30 years, so I've seen the other side too," said volunteer J.C. Worthen.  "This is just an awesome program!"

The fisherman talked a lot about how fishing is a life-long sport and they encouraged the kids to continue beyond Sunday. In order to do that, local businesses donated enough fishing poles and equipment for all 34 teen participants. 

"(The pole) is really awesome and it's actually really nice," Heather said.  "I don't think I've even had a fishing pole this nice!"

There is talk about taking the program nationwide now that other juvenile corrections departments have caught wind of the tournament and started calling Ada County for information.

 

 

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