One Last Teen Titan Thing

I just finished reading the Silver Age Teen Titans archive. The final story was moving along with the usual goofy abandon when this extra goofy part of the story happened. The Titans were chasing down the bad guys with the help of some local teens when part of the chase hit the water. Chases always hit the water in this book (just like Night Boat in the Simpsons) so they can give Aqualad something to do. But they don't have him swim this time. He is rowed out on the lake by a bunch of kids and then he hits the bad guys with a giant ball attached to a long pole. Where the hell did that come from? I haven't read many Aqualad stories but never have I seen him carrying the proverbial ten foot pole. Did he just find it on shore and say to himself, "Damn, I'd love to hit those guys with this" and then the kid shouted, "Get in the boat and we'll row you out there and you can bash him". I guess swimming out and overturning the boat was to pedestrian for a guy who lives in the ocean.