Make It Matter: Fishing as an Alternative to Drugs

Robert Moody diverts young lives away from danger with a simple fishing pole.

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Photographed by Karen Ballard/Redux

Moody talks to kids while they cast for fish.

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Photographed by Karen Ballard/Redux

Moody talks to kids while they cast for fish.

"As long as I can remember, I've fished," says Robert Moody, a detective with the Delaware State Police. "I remember my grandfather and my dad taking me out fishing."

And after 26 years of police work, much of it in antidrug and antigang programs in the public schools, Moody, 52, knows that many kids aren't so lucky. So in 1991, he decided to do something about it. He invited small groups of kids to spend summer mornings fishing with him on his day off. Afterward, they'd go somewhere for lunch, then tour a state trooper building. "I wanted them to see that police officers are pretty good people," Moody says.

"I remembered him," Moody says. "I'd taken him fishing back when he was in fifth grade." Moody found the kid's photo in his office and brought it out to show to him. "All his buddies were laughing, making fun of him," Moody recalls. "And he looked at me and said, 'You know, that was one of the best days of my life.' That touched me very deeply."

Moody decided to formalize the trips in 2002 by creating Reel Expectations, a foundation that introduces kids ages 8 to 14 to the basics of fishing in five-day summer camps. "As a state trooper," says Moody, "I saw that where there was violence, drugs were always somewhere in the background. I started to see the devastating impact on the kids. I became a lot more compassionate."

Turning kids on to fishing was his way of presenting an alternative. "When you're sitting there waiting for a bite," he says, "you can't help but talk to each other—and that conversation can be pretty deep."

Michelle West, 17, would agree. She participated in the first Reel Expectations program. "Talking about drugs helped prepare me for the peer pressures in high school," she says. "And I was able to help my little brother, Michael, avoid drugs."

The children are recruited through the local Boys & Girls Clubs and the YMCA/YWCA. To pay for it all, Moody says, "I beg, I send out letters, and I get turned down a lot." But thanks to donations from fishing equipment manufacturers and small grants here and there, he's been able to offer the camps free.

Moody faces mandatory retirement in three years, when he hopes to run Reel Expectations full-time, funds permitting. "I have three healthy children, a wonderful marriage, and a job that I love," he says. "I have a responsibility to my community to give back. If I teach a kid to fish today, he can teach his brother to fish tomorrow."

Inspired by Robert Moody's story,the Reader's Digest Foundation awarded $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, specifically for antidrug and antigang programs. For more on Moody's nonprofit, Reel Expectations, go to reelexpectations.org or call 302-736-0284. Submit your Make It Matter story today.

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