Category: Advice

Look for a fun outdoor activity for Valentine’s Day? A bit short on cash? But not so short on cash that you can’t buy a fishing rod? Maybe you should bring your loved one fishing!

NY State hosts a number (4 it seems) of “free fishing weekends” each year. This year, one of those weekends falls on Feb 13 – Feb 14. Do you want to demonstrate to your partner your love for them and your love for fishing at the same time? Why not go fishing?

It is going to be very cold by this time of year, so you will need to gear up. You might think gloves are a bad idea because you need the dexterity to reel in your big catch, but you would be wrong. You do want gloves. Just be sure to not take your everyday pair, since they will smell like fish for quite a while (depending on what kind of bait you use).

Note that all freshwater fishing in the city is catch and release only. But honestly, even if it were legal, you really do not want to be taking a dead, wet fish back with you on the subway or an Uber on Valentine’s day.

Check out the map below for good spots to fish.

https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/nycfishnmap.pdf

So you have read some posts on baitandbeer.com and you thought to yourself “wow, these guys are idiots – I should join in on the fun. I want to go fishing in New York City. I always dreamed of catching fish with a higher mercury content than a thermometer from 1966.“

But where to start? You will need a rod of course, but also a license. To fish legally in New York State and NYC, you need a license issued by the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation). The license is (as of 2020) $5 per day or $25 per year and can be obtained online. The link to purchase the license online does link out to a non .gov site (at the time of writing anyway). This is the correct place to purchase your license, even if this is horrible, horrible web dev practice.

Continue reading “How to go fishing in NYC: Getting a License”