Hardtimes Bassmasters Annual “Cat Fishing Kids” Event

By: Keith Wright

June 1, 2002

The guys all had their boats in the water and tied together at 8:00 am when the van from the Metropolitan Police Boys and Girls Club pulled up to the ramp at Marshal Hall on the Lower Potomac.  The van doors burst open and a swarm of smiling kids dashed for the ramp.  We had a quick safety meeting and made sure all their life jackets were fitted properly and all boats were supplied with bottled water. We then assigned the kids to their various boats for the day.  With the weather report forecasting temperatures in the 90s and people already water skiing, we knew we were in for a scorcher.  That didn’t seem to dampen the kid’s spirits any.  If smiling were an Olympic sport there wouldn’t have been a score of less than 9.75 from any judge when the boats all got up on plane. 

We ran about a mile or two south of the ramp into Pomonkey creek where we dropped anchors and broke out the chicken livers.  The tide was coming in through the little channel where the cats have been known to gather.  It was only a few minutes before the first screams filled the air “I got one, I got one”, and the echo of that scream went on for the rest of the trip.  That first fish was caught by an 11 yr old boy named Josh Fisher (hmmm, makes you wonder).  We continued to bring in the cats for the next couple of hours till the bite slowed down. 

 With the heat beating down we thought it was time to get out of the creek and turn the AC on out on the main river.  We changed to some lures and tried our luck at a little bass fishing.  This time the groups director was the first to give the “fish on “ call.  Shonda Sheppard landed a nice largemouth on her lure of choice, the blue flecked worm.

 Every one met back at the ramp after that, where we presented the kids with rod and reel combos and tackle boxes supplied by Galyan’s.  Both the kids and Hardtimes would like to thank Galyans for their support of this event.  We would also like to thank Debbie Muth, the Nation’s Capitol Bass Federation’s youth director, for her help in organizing this event.  Hopefully, the tackle they took home with them will keep the day alive for a little longer.  Who knows, our 2012 Bassmasters Classic champion could have been among the crowd.