After last week's washout, I made my return to Dobbs Ferry today. Unfortunately, I woke up late, and I didn't make it up there for high tide, which was around 11:18 AM.
I got three bunker and six frozen herring from Jack's. Unfortunately, they were out of live eels.
By 1:30 PM, I had my lines in the water. The water was calm, and there was no wind. The sun was bright in the sky, and it was hot. Since the tide was going out, I didn't expect much action today.
I got lucky pretty early. I caught a 16-inch catfish and showed it off to a few young people who showed up for a barbeque. One of them was really impressed with the fish's size. I advised him to use fresh bunker rather than worms for bait. Worms usually attract perch.
A rather large barbeque party formed behind me. They were all young people, probably college-age or beyond. They were very pleasant. They asked if I wanted a beer or a hamburger, but I politely declined since I wasn't hungry.
I didn't have any luck with the herring. As they melted in the plastic shopping bag, the herring deterioriated.
I didn't catch anything else for hours. I finally had action on my middle rod. It wasn't behaving like a fish. I caught a rather long eel. I pulled in on shore. I held it up and asked the kids if they wanted to grill it up. They all jumped out of their seats and rushed it to see it. One kid took a picture with his camera phone. I put on my gloves to pick it up off the ground. I gave one of the kids my tape measure. He estimated that it was 27 inches. But it wasn't possible to get an exact measurement since it wouldn't stay still. I threw it back.
When I fish, I usually like my privacy. But today, it was fun to succeed in front of an audience.
I stayed until 7:30. I wanted to stay later, but my regular glasses broke. The screw came out of the temple, and the right lense popped out. It didn't present an immediate problem since I had my prescription sunglasses. However, I had to get to a store and buy one of those eyeglass repair kits or at least drive back home while it was still daylight.
It was another decent day of fishing for which I thank God.
I'm off tomorrow for Memorial Day. I don't think I'll go fishing. I have a few things to do before I go back to work on Tuesday.
