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When Kev鈥檝an Young shouts, 鈥淔ish on,鈥� it鈥檚 all hands on deck and then some.
The self-proclaimed 鈥淐atfish King of the Occoquan鈥� is now in his fourth season producing fishing videos for his YouTube channel of the same name.
A native of Paris, Tenn., Young averages 35 to 50 episodes per fishing season, which lasts from late March to November, wrapping up a few days before Thanksgiving. The channel鈥檚 episode total is currently in the 150s, with a little over 1,000 subscribers.
On an overcast August morning, InsideNoVa joined Young and his crew on their weekly fishing trip aboard the 鈥淨ueen Ida,鈥� a boat named after Young鈥檚 mother.
Years ago, the crew started in a 14-foot jon boat before transitioning to their current vessel, an 18-foot boat classified as a 16-foot bass buggy, Young said.
Every Saturday around 7:30 a.m., the crew lifts the anchor from Occoquan Regional Park and sets forth on a new expedition, with the fruits of its labor often devoted to a worthy cause: helping to feed the congregation at Harvest Life Church in Woodbridge during fish fry events.
Helping hands
Each fitted with their own custom shirts and nicknames, the four main crewmembers are Young, the 鈥淐atfish King,鈥� 60; Jimmy 鈥淭he Voice鈥� Benjamin, 55; elder statesman John 鈥淛.C. Raider鈥� Crocker, 64, who has been fishing with Young for around 20 years, and the youngest of the bunch, Atonial D. 鈥淎.J.鈥� Hyatt Jr., 42, whose principal nickname is 鈥淒.G.F.鈥� for 鈥淒amn Good Fisherman鈥� 鈥� though Hyatt insists he has too many 鈥渁ka鈥檚鈥� to count.
The four friends are all veterans, three of whom were in the Army 鈥� with Hyatt being the only Navy veteran. Everyone refers to Young as simply 鈥淐atfish,鈥� his signature moniker.
Young and Benjamin both live in Woodbridge., with Benjamin having grown up in Baltimore. Hyatt lives in Waldorf, Md., and Crocker is a Stafford resident.
Equipped with a 鈥淰ideo Editing for Dummies鈥� book gifted from his wife that is so thick he is rarely inclined to read it, Young has nonetheless become an editing aficionado and routinely uses his GoPro camera while on the water.
鈥淲hat inspired me to start the channel is basically I had cameras, and I was like, I鈥檓 gonna just go out there and make some videos,鈥� Young told InsideNoVa. 鈥淎fter a while, everybody鈥檚 like, 鈥榃ell, you need to make a channel.鈥� At that point, I did not know anything about putting anything on YouTube 鈥� but after a while, I started getting a bunch of content together. I said, 鈥極K, let me learn how to edit my own video.鈥� And then that鈥檚 when I said, 鈥極K, come up with the channel name鈥� 鈥� and start putting it out there.鈥�
Season One, Episode 13 鈥� Benjamin鈥檚 first trip on the water accompanying Young 鈥� has been the channel鈥檚 most-watched episode thus far at 13,000 views.
As for musical accompaniment, Young鈥檚 son-in-law lives in Atlanta and helped produce beats for the YouTube channel鈥檚 theme song, which opens every video. A key lyric proclaims, 鈥淓arly in the morning by the break of dawn | Headed to the river, gonna have some fun.鈥�
This is precisely where the friends find themselves shortly past dawn earlier this month, with the sun still not quite peeking out from behind the clouds.
The day鈥檚 route takes the boat underneath the Interstate 95 and Route 1 bridges all the way to Belmont Bay in Woodbridge 鈥� as well as a stone鈥檚 throw from the state Route 123 bridge in the trip鈥檚 early going.
鈥楤arber shop on the water鈥�
Asked about his favorite part of each weekend鈥檚 excursion, Hyatt had fishing analogies aplenty.
鈥淚 feel like you get to turn everything off,鈥� Hyatt said. 鈥淔or a couple hours, maybe four or five hours, you get to turn off anything that you was going through all week, waking up in the morning, anything like that. This is your time, your time to yourself 鈥� time to have fun with the fellas. It鈥檚 like the barber shop on the water.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just like family time, you know what I鈥檓 saying. It鈥檚 almost like we have Thanksgiving every Saturday.鈥�
The crew follows safety protocol at every turn, notably by saying 鈥淐asting鈥� 鈥� to announce that one is casting his line 鈥� and also declaring 鈥淔ish on!鈥� whenever a fish catches on the bait and it鈥檚 time to reel it in.
What鈥檚 the go-to bait? Young and his crewmates said they prefer near-expired meat and chicken breast, which tend to be the cheapest at the grocery store. Young then marinates the chicken in Kool Aid and garlic for optimal fish attraction.
Reeling them in
Young typically catches various types of catfish: 鈥渃hannel cats,鈥� 鈥渇latheads,鈥� blue cats鈥� and 鈥渟wamp cats鈥� 鈥� with the 鈥渂lue cats鈥� generally kept for cooking.
On the August morning, Young and his mates catch a flathead, several blue cats and a channel cat 鈥� with the day鈥檚 higher-end weights generally around 8 to 12 pounds.
According to Young, the boat record is 37 catfish in one day, which the crew stored in a large cooler and bucket.
To date, Young鈥檚 personal best is a 44.8-pound fish caught on the James River. On the Occoquan, the record is 27 pounds.
鈥淭he Occoquan record, the person that鈥檚 caught the biggest catfish 鈥� her name is Miss Beverly,鈥� Young said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 a member of our church. She hadn鈥檛 fished in over 30 years, and she said she wanted to come fishing, so I brought her out, and she caught the very first fish.鈥�
Young continued, 鈥淚t ran us around the boat, underneath the boat.”
