Casting lines at the annual Cops and Bobbers with Dickinson Police officers
Jun. 6—DICKINSON — One might assume cops and donuts go together, but so do cops and bobbers. As a way to hook on to the free fishing weekend, the Dickinson Police Department had more than 200 people come out for their annual Cops and Bobbers event.
With still waters and a calm North Dakota atmosphere, every bank at the Dickinson Dike on Saturday was occupied by families and police officers, including members from the Stark County Sheriff's Office and North Dakota Game and Fish Department, all casting their lines for the biggest catch of the day.
Dickinson Senior Police Officer Taylor Peters coordinated the event for the second year to boost community relations.
"It's really important to have events like this where we come into contact with members of our community to where we can talk to them in a situation where it's laid back and not more of an enforcement role," Peters said. "And it's just really great where we get to know the people in our community, they get to know us, get to have a little bit of fun together and it's just great. Love it."
Free fishing weekend, which began on Saturday and ended at sunset on Sunday, is always weather dependent, Peters noted.
"We know in North Dakota, the weather can be a little bit different at times (and) challenging to plan an event for one day," he said, noting that, "During free fishing weekend, it's perfect because we don't have to worry about any of the different licensing or anything like that. We just get out here and all have a good time together — the police and the members of our community."
Six-year-old Trinity Weyer was casting lines with her brother Turner and dad Trey, who's a detective for the Stark County Sheriff's Office. During Saturday's event, Trinity Weyer noted that she had caught about three fish. Her favorite moments during Cops and Bobbers was being able to "pet the fish and when we get 'em."
Amy Samples and her husband came down to the Dickinson Dike with their son Grayson, 6, along with his grandparents.
"Grayson likes to fish with grandpa and we came to hang out with them for the weekend and he loves the officers too and we know quite a few of them," Amy Samples said.
As he was about to cast his line, young Grayson Samples said that he also caught three fish throughout the morning.
"Two we let go — two little ones. We caught one little one on the hook, but then we let it go. And then I caught a huge one," Grayson Samples said.
During the event, members of the Dickinson Police Department could be spotted helping out young boys and girls casting their lines and offering some fishermen advice.
"It's just nice to see their presence in the community too. And when they do the Coffee with Cops and different things like that too, just events that they do for kids in the community," Amy Samples said.
Naming off the types of fish he caught from largemouth bass to trout, Grayson Samples said that he loves the sport. As he set his fishing pole down, Grayson Samples went for the cooler, pulling out his two catches of the day with a big smile.
In order to make the event a success, Peters said that it took local sponsors and the time officers spent engaging with children and their families to pull it off.
"We're very fortunate to have extremely good community support in putting this event together," Peters said. "We did it based off of 100% donations from some of our event sponsors that'll be listed on our Facebook page. It's been an absolutely excellent turnout and we just love any event where we can connect to the community."
