Video: Nine-Year-Old Calls In Help to Catch Big Barracuda

Hector Medina and his older brother Emmanuel, 11, had never been fishing on the ocean, until last year when then they ran into the Philip Friedman Youth Outdoor Program and Newport Beach-based Wallace Air Cargo Group.

The brothers, from Wilmington, made their first trip on the Toronado out of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach, courtesy of Wallace Air Cargo Group and fell in love with fishing and the sea. They have gone from knowing little about the ocean and all of its wonders to developing an insatiable appetite for learning about the sea and its creatures.

A recent exchange between a longtime ocean angler and Hector, 9, illustrates just how far he and his brother have come.

“Killer whales are members of the whale family,” the angler told the boys.

“Excuse me sir but killer whales are members of the dolphin family; in fact they are the largest of the dolphins,” Hector said.

On Friday the brothers were on another fishing trip on board the Tradition out of Redondo Sportfishing when Hector hooked something very big. You’ll see Hector fight a fish that had him begging for help and selfless Randy Crowell from Pink Fishing come to the rescue.

“I can never thank all of the people who have helped my sons to become great fishermen and develop such a love for the sea,” said Gabriela Medina, the boys' mother. “You have changed the direction of my son’s lives forever.”

Ned Wallace from Newport Beach and Wallace Air Cargo Group has been the driving force for much of what PFO Youth has been able to accomplish.

“It’s an honor to support you and all of your adopted kids,” Wallace said.