Kids, cops and catfish: How a hot day on the Anacostia became a great one

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On a blistering day, even along the Anacostia River, where there was no helpful breeze to be found, there was still excitement and joy about being outside.

The heat was brutal, but swimming underneath the water were a bunch of catfish who were hungry, and willing to risk it for the piece of bait fish attached to the end of a fishing rod. On the other end of the fishing rod was a child, who’d never gone fishing before.

The D.C. police’s Summer Youth Academy took a trip to the docks of the D.C. police Harbor Patrol in Southwest to go fishing on Tuesday. Equipped with rods and reels from the Department of Energy and the Environment, as well as volunteers from the nonprofit , it was with great trepidation that most of them plopped their lines into the water and waited.

鈥淵o! There’s no fish over here,鈥� yelled out 9-year-old Kylie, one of the few kids who had gone fishing before. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no fish in here.鈥�

Then, no less than two minutes later, her mood changed.

鈥淚 got something,鈥� she called out. 鈥淚 got a fish!鈥�

Soon after, more and more of the kids were saying the same thing.

鈥淐atching a fish was very, very fun. It was my first fish that I’ve ever caught in my life,鈥� said 7-year-old Lathan Roberts. 鈥淚 feel very awesome.鈥�

What he didn鈥檛 feel was the fish though. For many of the kids, grabbing the slimy blue catfish was a bridge too far.

In fact, another girl named Dakota didn鈥檛 even want to get too close when she pulled in one of the biggest blue catfish of the day. But she was happy to talk about how she caught it.

鈥淚 was very brave. And I started yelling that I need a net,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 liked how I stayed confident. And that’s how I feel. I feel very good. I’m very proud of myself that I got a fish.鈥�

For Lt. Andrew Horos, who is part of D.C. police’s Harbor Patrol, it鈥檚 the same sort of joy he feels when he goes fishing, which is one of his main hobbies when he isn鈥檛 working.

鈥淎 lot of kids in D.C. have never fished before,鈥� Horos said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really rewarding to see the children snag a fish, land a fish, and get that experience.鈥�

The is a six-week program that gets backing from the D.C. Police Foundation. It works with kids between 7 and 12 years old. This was the second year the kids came to the Harbor Patrol鈥檚 pier to go fishing.

鈥淭hey’re having so much fun. I think you will have seen a lot of the youth were a little uneasy starting, because they may have not experienced fishing before,鈥� said Rebecca Schwartz, with the D.C. Police Foundation. 鈥淚’ve never seen so many kids catch fish before. I think this is a very successful day, and you have quite a few who were very nervous coming in, who are very proudly taking photos with their first catch today.鈥�

She described the scene as 鈥渢repidation to just pure elation鈥� 鈥� especially considering the size of some of the blue catfish that were getting pulled out of the water. The hope is those joyful moments will make a mark and a lasting memory.

鈥淎ll of the programs focus on building a positive relationship between law enforcement and youth and community,鈥� Schwartz said. 鈥淚 think for kids to see that officers are people too, and they fish and they have fun 鈥� a lot of them are parents 鈥� and 鈥� helping them achieve something that they can share about with their family.鈥�

It鈥檚 the kind of experience that the Woodbridge, Virginia-based nonprofit WeFish2 likes to bring to kids throughout the D.C. region.

鈥淲e鈥檙e trading Xboxes for tackle boxes,鈥� Joshua Brown, the nonprofit’s CFO, said. 鈥淲e want kids to go outside and play and interact with this beautiful thing called nature.鈥�

So far this month, Brown’s group has helped introduce over 150 kids to fishing around the region. It鈥檚 a mark they try to hit every month.

鈥淲e’re sitting on a multitude of bodies of water that we don’t take advantage of,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淭he first time you hear a kid catch a fish, and they had that first fish in their hand, it鈥檚 priceless.鈥�

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