The Urban Angler

First Testimony from an Urban Angler. Sunday night I fished Battery Park for the first time in a long time. It was a nice night--AAhhh release. You can find solitude in this urban jungle, just be creative, and find your niche.

I fished the area where the locals fish away from all of the tourists for the first time. Was suppose to meet my roommate there, but he didn't show up. Initially I thought that I would have to cut the night short b/c at least by the Jewish Museum late at night (where I normally fish) it probably isn't safe. But then I made friends with all of the locals.... Even the bums and it was all good.

Finally met the famous BPDave (Battery Park Dave). He's famous among NYC urban anglers. He knows everything about fishing BP and everyone who fishes it. Dave fishes Battery Park literally 24 hours a day 365 days a week....always has a rod in the water. ...Even when sleeping in his lawn chair. He somehow manages to keep himself up better than the other BP residents. It is probably not good that he literally lives off of downtown NYC fish. I'm not sure how but he owns a 249 dollar reel--fancier than anything I've got. The one thing that annoyed me about him was the hissing sounds that he often made at women passing by. Sometimes he would continue having a conversation with a woman for over 10 minutes after a woman who he had made strange noises towards had passed by-- "We really should meet at the party tonight etc......"

Part of the adventure of fishing in NYC is the ride there and back on the subway. A crazy looking guy with rods, a big ole hiking pack, and cooler isn't exactly a normal site to see so I always attract attention and it is usually good attention. Suddenly Washington heights become the friendliest neighborhood in the world.....People say hi and wish me good luck. Same thing on the subway. I get into conversations with every type of person and about very different subjects. And I am not the kind of guy who usually gets into conversations with strangers on the subway etc. People feel the right or comfortable talking to me about everything. Everything from a cute old lady talking about fishing with the old man in Montauk to a 40 year old man explaining to me the key to world peace.

Also, I always manage to meet interesting characters while fishing. 4 trips ago I met an Israeli Chabadnic fisherman hahaha. His name is Meir. I identified myself by talking to him in hebrew and then I got the "oh you're Jewish"...Then I proceeded to pull out my cereal bar (don't tell him that it's OU D) and said a bracha. Then his eyes really beamed and said "Oy, tzaddik Atah" (Oh you're righteous)!!

I managed to catch 3 striped bass; unfortunately I did not take many pictures. You'll have to excuse the quality. Getting use to the new camera. The picture on the left is Meir. I caught the striper that he is holding and gave it to him. He said that it was excellent.