Lahikiola Minamishin took advantage of his "Golden Ticket" to California like a kid in a candy store.

Minamishin, 11, received a roundtrip ticket from professional surfer Fred Patacchia Jr. to compete in the National Scholastic Surfing Association National Championships last week at San Clemente, Calif.

"It was a total blessing," his mother Celeste Minamishin said. "Financially, it's really difficult to make a trip like that."

Lahikiola took advantage of the trip by placing second in his age division. The NSSA National Championships is considered the biggest event in the country for amateur surfers.

Lahikiola will enter the fifth grade this fall at Kahakai Elementary in Kailua, Kona.

"This is his first year competing, so we didn't know what to expect," Celeste said. "We were happy enough that he won the trip. For him to get second place was totally unexpected."

Patacchia grew up on O'ahu's North Shore and is a former NSSA national champion. He is one of the top-ranked professional surfers in the world.

NSSA Hawai'i region director Bobbi Lee said Patacchia even wrapped the ticket in gold wrapping and called it "Golden Ticket" after the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie.

"A lot of our pro surfers who came up through the NSSA donate prizes for the kids," Lee said. "But Fred really went all out for this."

Lee said she chose Minamishin for the ticket based on "improvement, attitude, and family need."

Celeste Minamishin said the roundtrip ticket was worth more than $1,000. Because Lahikiola received a free trip to compete, his father, Alan, decided to travel as well. But not without a true fish story.

In an effort to make enough money to pay for his own ticket, Alan went fishing off the Big Island. He wound up reeling in a 156-pound 'ahi.

"We sold it and that gave us just enough money for (Alan) to go," Celeste said. "It's truly amazing how everything came together."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.