Blue Fish Bite

Three years ago, there was a conference in Manhattan. I stayed at a dorm in downtown. Oh, boy, I could not hold my fishing instinct and brought my fishing reel and rod with me. I put the rod in a document tube which I carried to bring my poster. It was a perfect disguise!

The dorm was close to the Brooklyn bridge and Pier 17. So, every morning, I woke up really early and went fishing to pier 17 on the East river and the Battery park. Make long story short, I didn't catch any. Who cares? I did have such a great break from the nonsense of academic discussions. But on the second day, I got a strong bite although I failed in hook-setting. When I reeled in my swimbait, I was totally shocked. See the pictures below.

Before

After

You can imagine my immediate reaction, "holy %$#&!!! Is there shark or something?" I showed the half-cut lure to a biologist, and he told me that it might be Blue fish. Later, I found out that blues are notorious for its razor sharp teeth, and they are abundant in the East river. I think that I was lucky enough not to hook one. It was so close... At that time, I didn't have any equipment to land and handle blues. I could be really screwed.

After that, I have had a couple of chances to fight with blue fish, but I didn't land any. They are good fighters, although people say that they are not good eaters. Well, well, I hope to taste the nasty Blue fish someday.

For your information:

Fishing at Manhattan piers is allowed from sunset to 7am. That's what I heard from an officer when I went there three years ago. In the morning, many elderlies came to exercise to the pier 17. You need to watch.