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Fishing helps ease her ills Viral affliction doesn�t stop derby winner By Mark Freeman GOLD BEACH � Something about fishing among the salty spray, stiff breeze and penetrating sun of the Southern Oregon coast makes Ashley Peterson�s leaky heart and frail immune system surge. Though a chronic case of the Epstein-Barr virus often leaves her too sick or weak to attend Gold Beach High School in the winter, the 17-year-old Ashley feels her physical and spiritual best while trolling for salmon on sunny summer days in the Rogue River bay. "Getting the sunlight, breathing the minerals from kelp and doing something I love definitely makes me healthier," Ashley says. "Fishing is definitely in my blood. I love it." DERBY WINNERS Here are the winners in the fourth annual Summer Salmon Roundup on Aug. 26-27 sponsored by the Curry Guides Association. All the winning fish are fall chinook salmon caught while trolling on the lower Rogue River bay at Gold Beach. GRAND PRIZE � Ashley Anderson, 36 lbs. ADULT MEN FIRST PLACE � Everett Lawless, 35� lbs. SECOND PLACE � Matthew Zlatec, 28� lbs. THIRD PLACE � Calvin Douglas, 26� lbs. ADULT WOMEN FIRST PLACE �Joy Young, 32� lbs. SECOND PLACE � Debi Urie, 26 lbs. THIRD PLACE �Patty Andreson, 24 lbs. 12-16 YEARS OLD FIRST PLACE �Tim Young, 23 lbs. SECOND PLACE � Tyler Hunt, 14 lbs. 11 YEARS and UNDER FIRST PLACE � Paul Melsness, 17 lbs. SECOND PLACE � Devon Bezoff, 14� lbs. Ashley�s physical and economic health both took a dramatic turn upward recently when a day of fishing chased away the Epstein-Barr blahs and replaced them with the joys of succeeding where many men have failed. Ashley caught the largest salmon of her short fishing career Aug. 26 in the Rogue bay, beating out 208 other contestants for $1,000 and top honors in an annual two-day salmon derby at the mouth of the Rogue in Gold Beach. Ashley, a wannabe river guide, bummed a free ride on local guide Mark Van Hook�s boat that day, then hooked and landed the 36-pound fall chinook, whose size held on to win the two-day event. "It was 36� pounds," she says, "but they wouldn�t give the other half a pound." But the Curry County Guides Association, which runs the derby to raise money for fishery-enhancement projects in South Coast fish streams, did give her a $1,000 check and a $20 gift certificate to a local Mexican restaurant. The money is in the bank, the free food is in her belly and Ashley is wearing the honor on her sleeve. "For a lot of guys, this would be a big thing," Ashley says. "But for me, a young girl wanting to be a river guide, this is a really big thing." Local river guides, a tight-knit group that competes fiercely for big-fish bragging rights that can lead to more customer bookings, are also reveling in the teenager�s new success. She is something of a mascot among local guides, who offer to take her fishing for free if they have room in their powerboats. Most take her because they like her, yet few know of her health problems and how a day�s fishing helps keep her doctor away. "She doesn�t make one bit of noise about that," Van Hook says. "She�s a real nice little gal, and she really wanted to win that prize so she can buy a new motor for her boat. "She can go fishing with me any time she wants." And time counts dearly to Ashley. She was born with a hole in her heart, and open-heart surgery cleared that defect when she was 2 years old, says Dennis Peterson, her father. But she still ails from a leaky heart valve and a chronic case of a strange virus that her father believes is tied to her compromised immune system stemming from her frail heart. The Epstein-Barr virus is most commonly tied to mononucleosis and can be generally cleared by antibiotics and time. But those like Ashley who suffer chronic cases have the virus in their blood, and it can trigger regular sickness and fatigue. For Ashley, that means she does not have the strength to attend her high school classes full-time from fall through spring. But she seems to thrive in summer, when vitamins from sunlight help keep her virus at bay. "She never seems to get sick in the summer when she�s fishing," says Dennis Anderson, who operates the Banshee, a 32-foot charterboat that runs bottomfishing trips out of Jot�s Resort. Consequently, she has grown to love fishing, whether it�s jigging for lingcod with her father or chasing salmon in the bay as they head upstream. "I�ve saved a Corvette forever for her to drive, but she�s more concerned about having her boat in the water than getting her driver�s license," her father laughs. This drive enticed Ashley to pay her $40 entry fee and join the two-day derby. "One of the most memorable photographs I have of Ashley is when the Rose Festival queen from Portland visited her in the hospital," Dennis Peterson says. "Now, I have this one here, with her big fish." Staff writer Mark Freeman covers the outdoors for the Mail Tribune. Call him at 776-4470, or e-mail him at [email protected] ) Outdoor Journal Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA