Spring Fishing Trip

There were big adventures on the high seas last Saturday as South East Consortium embarked on an afternoon fishing trip. The excursion began as one of the Island Current Fleet’s finest vessels pulled anchor off of City Island in the Bronx.

The air was heavy with the sweet mixture of sunscreen and sweat, a staple scent of the summer months as our first mate, Anthony, set up our reels. The open aired boat chugged along out of the harbor passing other anglers eager to get out to the water.

The target of the day was fluke; a flattened, bottom dwelling fish that looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. The finned fiend proved elusive to our cleverly placed bait. The only fluke caught was by seasoned seafarer Johnny Reichelt. Unfortunately said fish failed to reach the 18 inch minimum length. Salvation! The fish was freed, avoiding a one way ticket to an evening dinner plate.

Sea robins on the other hand were practically jumping into our boat. The sea robin is a swift and heavily armored fish that is equipped with sharp, protruding stickers lathered in bacteria. Our first mate quickly took over to remove these ferocious fish from our jagged hooks. Not the deadliest catch but still a formidable foe from the murky depths.

Although the crew of anglers didn’t pull in a tremendous catch this time around the sky was blue, the air was warm and the waters clear, combined with good friends there is not much better in life. As we were shaking off our sea legs and easing back into our roles as landlubbers once again, the relaxed looks on everybody’s face could only mean one thing: been fishing.