They were scared. This is the only explanation. The fish were afraid.

Those good fin-finned friends of Gloucester Harbor must have heard through the fish vine that Team A was going to chase them on Monday morning.

Obviously, they didn’t want to be part of young Marco Mateo and three children Juden – Lyla, Daniel and Colton – who were on the hunt for strippers as part of the Kops-N-Kids fishing program’s maiden voyage. from the Gloucester Police Department.

This turned out to be all the more true as on the day’s lunchtime excursion – with a different group of young fishermen – there were strippers all around. This is how it goes. You take what the fishing gods give you.

After about 90 minutes around Gloucester Harbor from Eastern Point to Cripple Cove and intermediate points, the score for the first trip was Fish 4, Kids 0.

The laundering mattered little. The children were mostly beaming on the way home despite the final count and the rain pouring on.

And Constables Joe Parady and Pete Sutera accomplished what the program is supposed to accomplish: provide children the opportunity to interact with the police in relaxed community activities that could help bridge the traditional gap between the forces of the order and the communities they serve.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Lisa Olson, Marco’s grandmother, who also tried her luck with the cane. “It’s good for them to get to know the officers when they’re not in uniform.

The fishing program, designed by the department’s Community Impact Unit, is designed to engage children in contact with their Inner Gloucesterite by learning the basics of saltwater fishing and safe boating.

Along the way, they also work on valuable life skills, such as patience, preparation, and humility.

“But this experience is really a way to give children, young children, a positive experience with the police,” said Lt. Jeremiah Nicastro, who heads the Community Impact Unit.

The police boat left the docks around 10 a.m. for the first trip, with children wearing life jackets and hats that were among the equipment donations from Three Lantern Marine on Parker Street, Nelson on Main Street and Bass Pro Shops in Foxborough.

The harbor was covered in gray, from sky to water, and little was moving. The view beyond the Dog Bar was just a curtain of fog.

As Parady steered the boat toward Smith Cove, Sutera took care of helping the children bait their lines. He also made a slightly untimely prediction:

“Everyone is going to have one today,” he said.

As Parady slowed down, Sutera made his first pitch from the starboard side of the stern and handed the rod to Marco.

He baited the second and passed it to members of Team Juden.

The Juden children – Lyla, 6, Daniel, 5 and Colton, 3 – had previously been on boats and had fished in lakes. But not on the ocean.

“They were so excited,” said Dan Juden, their father. “They’ve been talking about it since we told them on Friday that they were going to be able to go. We probably should have waited until yesterday to tell them.

Once around Smith Cove, Parady piloted the boat to Cripple Cove, then returned along Everett R. Jodrey State Fish Pier, past Coast Guard Key Largo and fishing boats Lucy and Princess Laura.

Then he passed Ten Pound Island and crossed over to Eastern Point. The lines were still in the water. Just like the fish.

“We’re just trying to practice your patience skills,” Parady told the kids.

And then a little in a low voice: “Come on, fishy, ​​fishy, ​​fishy. Come on. “

There was a snack near Black Bass Rocks, but the hook never set in and it was time to head. The day, however, was not over. Nor wasted.

Once at Solomon Jacobs’ wharf, Parady and Sutera led their team of fishermen to a corner of the wharf, where a line led into the water.

With Marco’s help, they put together a lobster trap teeming with lobsters. They explained to the children how the traps worked and described some lobster basics.

And then the Gloucester Police Department’s inaugural Kops-N-Kids fishing program was on the books.

Contact Sean Horgan at 978-675-2714, or [email protected] Follow him on Twitter at @SeanGDT