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.
After your online purchase, you will obtain your license as a printable .pdf. Take a screenshot and save it to your phone so you can present it to the Parks officer if they ask for your license. In all likelihood, your license will never be checked. But it is still good to purchase one to support fishing in NY.
If you are really into fishing and sure that you will not leave NY state for many years, you can even buy a lifetime fishing license. If you purchase this in 2020, it costs $450 dollars. So, if you spend every vacation day you get fishing, this will be worth it in just 9 years – what a deal! (Note: the problem here is that we get 2 weeks of vacation a year as Americans).
The resident fishing license only covers freshwater fishing. Since we in NYC are surrounded by saltwater, you probably also want the Recreational Marine Fishing License. This license is free. You can obtain it by using the same site you used to get the Resident Fishing license.
That is it – all set! You can now go fishing without your irrational anxiety constantly gnawing at you. Well, except for the fact that you need to be sure you are fishing in legal spots and during open season.