Lana Walding
Lana is 11 years old and lives in Santa Cruz, California. She started fishing as soon as she was old enough to hold a rod. Determined to keep up with her brother, Lana would insist on coming along for every fishing adventure. Proficient in both fly and spin, Lana enjoys catching Redfish, Snook, Tuna, Mahi, Halibut, Rockfish, King Salmon, Trout, and Bass. Lana’s favorite saltwater fish to land is Snook and currently has a personal best of 39 inches. Lana enjoys being active and participates in junior lifeguards, competitive soccer, her middle school cross country and surf team, and is a grey belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. She also enjoys backpacking, playing guitar, and traveling. One of Lana’s favorite things about traveling is meeting other girls her age who share her passion for fishing.
When did you first get involved with Salt Life?
I first got involved with Salt Life in 2019 when I was 9. I like the performance fishing shirts, sweatshirts, t-shirts and hats.
What is your favprite sea creature? Why?
My favorite sea creature is a Harbor Seal. They are super cute and very playful in the water. Harbor Seals will swim right up to you then dive quickly down and pop up on the other side. It seems like they are playing a game of hide and seek...
Is there something on your bucket list that you’d like to accomplish?
I'd love to catch a Tarpon and a Sailfish. I've watched them being reeled in on TV and they look majestic and really fun to catch. I would also love to travel to South America so I can fish, snorkel, and surf in the warm water.
What is your craziest salty adventure?
My craziest salty adventure was last summer on a Tuna trip out of Half Moon Bay, California. The Bluefin Tuna were unusually close to the coast so my dad, brother, and I went out to try our luck. After a long day without much action, we finally got the bite we were hoping for. For the next 2 ½ hours we all took turns fighting the giant Tuna. At one point I thought it was going to pull me over the side of the boat! Just as we were finally getting the fish close to the boat, we spotted a Blue Whale heading in our direction. The whale came within 30 feet of our boat before it took a deep dive under the boat. I couldn’t believe it didn’t swim into our fishing line or the boat! In the end, we landed a 155lb Bluefin Tuna. We shared the fish with all our friends and neighbors.