In the afternoon (on Sunday), I headed up to Hudson Park. I went to City Island to pick up some bait at Jack's Bait and Tackle. I spent about 20 minutes looking for a parking place. I finally parked illegally and left my car's blinkers on, indicating to any police or traffic enforcement officers that I would return. I got two fresh bunker. They didn't have any herring.
The area in the parking lot where I usually fish was crowded with fishermen. So I went to a different side.
I started fishing around 5 PM. The tide was coming in. It was overcast and pleasant. There was no wind. I invoked St. Peter's intercession to help me catch a big fish.
I didn't have a single bite the first couple of hours. I checked and replaced the bait periodically. I put the bunker in ice water to preserve them.
At one point, I checked one of my poles. I hooked something but it wasn't fish. It turned out to be a black bag. There was a mussel attached to it.
A short time later, I hooked something else. I thought it was more garbage. But it turned out to be a large crab. It had a head as large as my fist. Its span was about a foot wide, give or take a couple of inches. It got tangled up in my line. I held my pole over the guard rail and cut the line to set it free.
For years, crabs have been stripping off my bait and deluding me into thinking I had a bite. Today, I evened the score by catching their king.
If you like to fish alone and in peace, Hudson Park is not the place to go. A number of people showed up by sundown. One of them blasted his car radio. Despite the distraction, they were very nice and quite curious about fishing.
Around 8 PM or so, I got a big bite. I scrambled to my pole. But whatever it was let go or managed to unhook itself.
As it gradually got dark, I noticed a lot of fish jumping in the water. I decided to try an experiment. I retrived one line and removed the sinker. I attached a bobber to keep the bait off the bottom. No fish went for it.
As my day was winding down, I had one last big bite. I reeled it in. I pulled it up into the parking lot. It was a striped bass. I quickly put it in the bucket. "Thank you, Lord!" I said loudly, drawing the amusement of a nearby couple. This one measured 18 inches. The locals were impressed. I removed the hook and threw it back.
I stowed my gear away and went home. I had a great day, to which I am thankful to God and St. Peter, the patron saint of fishermen.
My late-in-the-evening success reinforced the idea that, next time, I should try fishing in Hudson Park from 8 PM to 11 PM.
