Jared, a 9-year-old boy suffering from leukemia, had never caught a fish before other than trout purchased at a trout farm with his family. His wish was to fish for trout on a lake with an experienced guide.

He got his wish this Labor Day weekend when The Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Sacramento and Northeastern California teamed the boy up with Ken Hembree of Sparks, who is ill with terminal liver cancer.

The foundation is a charitable non-profit organization whose purpose is to “grant wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.”

Ironically, the boy’s first trip in a boat with a guide would be Ken’s last fishing trip to Eagle Lake. Since this trip, his doctors have restricted Ken to hospice care and he is not able now to travel the long distance to Eagle Lake from his home in Sparks.

“This trip meant the world to me because it was my last ever fishing trip,” said Ken. ”It gave me something to focus on. I focused on getting my boat and gear ready to help Jared to catch his first ever Eagle Lake trout.”

The trip also meant a lot to Jared. “My Make-A-Wish trip at Eagle Lake with Ken was awesome,” he recounted in a short article that he wrote and sent to Ken. “ I even got to drive the boat! We caught lots of Eagle Lake trout and had a beautiful cabin by the lake. This trip was like a dream come true,” said Jared.

Due to their respective illnesses, they had to play “cat and mouse” over setting up a date for the trip. “Because of his illness, we had to cancel his trip three times, but we finally were able to set the date for the trip,” Ken said.

Finally, Ken and the young angler found a time when both of their families and them could go to the scenic northern California lake. The trip took place several days. On the trip were Jared, his seven-year-old brother, James, his 16-year-old sister, Jordan, his mom, Carmen and his dad, Eddie.

The fishing on the lake was tough at first, but after they found the fish, Jared caught his first-ever rainbow trout on a lake, a 21 incher. “It took some time to find where the fish were. Guide Tim Noxon helped me out by calling me on the radio to inform me where he was catching fish,” Ken related.

The weather and the fishing were both very good during the trip. The young man and his family nailed 3 trout and 2 tui chub the first day while trolling with Needlefish and F7 Rapalas.

Over the next three days, the family members got up at 5:30 am every morning to get out fishing. Ken showed the young angler how to drive the boat, work the GPS, fish with the rods and clean the fish. They also taught Jared and his family how to distinguish between the bite of the trout and Eagle Lake’s monster tui chub.

“Three of the tui chub were over 5 pounds,” Ken emphasized. “All of the chub were holding at 25 feet while the trout were holding 5 to 7 feet above and below the chubs. I showed Dr. Lee Weber from the University of Nevada in Reno (Dr. Stressor on the Fish Sniffer message boards) the photos and he couldn’t believe the size of the chubs, since the big ones at Pyramid only go up to 2 pounds.”

During their trip, they caught a total of 15 trout and 8 tui chub. The family fished mainly by the breakwater at the marina and in the middle of the lake across from Eagle’s Nest.

Ken’s wife, Terri, his wife, Arlene, and his daughters, 16-year-old Brianna and 18-year-old Danielle, went up to Eagle Lake to support him during the fishing adventure.

A year before the trip, Ken had 80 percent of his liver removed to eliminate three tumors. His liver grew back, but the tumors came back also, and he had those tumors removed. Then right before his trip with Jared, the Stanford Medical Center informed him that 5 new tumors had appeared and his condition was inoperable.

When Ken first called the Make A Wish Foundation to volunteer his services, he was surprised to find out that there were no fishing guides between Anchorage, Alaska and Bakersfield that would take a kid fishing. Since Ken posted an appeal on this website for guides to volunteer with the non-profit organization, a number of guides have signed up.

“Now I’m done with guiding and fishing, but there are five guides in northern California and another two in Nevada signed up with the foundation,” the 46-year-old said. “All of these guides came out of the Fish Sniffer magazine and website.”

Ken noted, “Jared and me hit it off right away. The hardest thing was getting the dad to clean fish, but he did it anyway. The family brought a bunch of steaks with them to eat. However, after I showed them how to clean and prepare the trout, they didn’t end up eating as much steak as they did trout during their trip.”

Jared was also enamored with his fishing experience with Ken. “Our fishing guide, Ken, took us out on his boat each day to go fishing. We had to get up at 4:00 in the morning. I got to drive the boat while we were going really fast! When the boat is going fast, the front, or the bow of the boat bounces up and down.”

He continued, “My sister, my brother and I had lots of fun catching trout. Once my sister caught a tui chub, the main food of the trout. One night we ate trout for dinner, and it was delicious! Eagle Lake Trout tastes much better than normal trout.

The cabin that we stayed in at Mariner’s Resort had a barbeque and a fire pit so we could make s'mores outside. The cabin also had a small kitchen, a loft with a bed, one bed room, a living room with a pullout couch, and of course, a bathroom. We had a beautiful view of Eagle Lake and the mountains from our cabin window. It was perfect!

My trip to Eagle Lake was the best thing that happened to me since I’ve had cancer. This is a trip my family and me will never forget,” Jared concluded.

Ken operated a guide business, Bite Me II Guide Service, for four years.

“I was lucky enough to be able to give a fishing seminar at the Pyramidfest on October 13,” he stated. “I’m not a guy who likes to hide something. I’ve never kept anything secret from a kid, even though I’ve been chewed out by other guides and anglers for revealing locations and techniques while fishing.”

The Make-A-Wish Foundation® was inspired in 1980 by the love that family and friends had for a seven-year-old boy named Chris, who had leukemia. Chris dreamed of becoming a police officer for a day, and his family and friends in the state highway patrol made his wish come true - complete with his own helmet, goggles, badge and a regulation uniform tailored especially for him.

Chris' mother and those who helped to grant his wish created Make-A-Wish Foundation® in his memory, enabling his legacy to live on. Make-A-Wish Foundation® is the largest wish granting organization in the world. There are 71 Make-A-Wish Foundation® chapters nationwide.

For more information, contact the Make A Wish Foundation, www.makeawish-sacto.org, 3841 N Freeway Blvd # 185, Sacramento, CA 95834, 888-828-9474.

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