How a 43 Lb. Fish Gets From Far Rockaway to Bed Stuy

We always wonder how the people fishing at various points in the city do, and now we know that there are some huge fish biting off the shores. Reader Ryan Eugene Kelley sent us this anecdote and photographs from his friend, Rodney Calhoun:

Bed Stuy resident Percy, seen here riding a Queens bound G train to Bedford Nostrand, battled his giant 43 lb striped bass all morning. Wilson caught the giant fish behind a school in Far Rockaway using clams for bait. "They're smart you see, all morning they were just sucking the bait, not really striking it you know". But eventually Wilson got the strike he'd been looking for, and now he and his family will be eating striped bass for weeks to come. "I'm gonna fillet it up soon as I get home, then I'm gonna take a nap, that fish wore me out."

Awesome! Here's information about fishing in NYC from the Parks department.

Photographs by Rodney Calhoun

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on June 3, 2007 5:00 PM

Comments [rss]

guest

Um the title should have been how a 12 lb fish is stated as a 43 pounder

rek

43 lbs is possible... of course, thats IS including all the lead and mercury that was found in the fish.

Lenny

43 lbs , not even close , might hit 14 or 15 , anyway nice fish

Jen Chung

I believe fish can get that big off NYC shores - mutated ones!

JDL

Funny.. I have a picture of a guy holding a frying pan and a stick of butter on the G train later that morning.

doug

That fish is easily 3 feet long, and coming from me, a long-time largemouth bass fisherman from SC, that fish is indeed in the 30-40 pound range. Also, check out the fish slime on the guy's back....it ain't Photoshopped!

Spud Spudly

Percy's my hero.

That's at least 20 lbs if it's an ounce. It's almost as long as his leg in the photo.

stinky

i wonder what smells worse? this dude with the bass on his back, or the homeless guy in the next car who defecated on himself for the second time today?

Fuego

Yeah right! That's a total photoshop job. Fish don't get that big, not even in New York.

Randle Patrick McMurphy

"Did you weigh the chain too doc?"

me

You take the A train to Far Rockaway

I always love how scared people get when they see the train's going right over Jamaica Bay...

here here

hear hear. good post. now less weddings and you're closer to NY spirit.

Kevin Bracken

Wow, this post ruled.

u take the subway

You take the subway to far rockaway, same subway to get to rockaway beach.

You can fish off a bridge there. Where are you from?

ho

how do you get to far rockaway by subway? sounds fishy to me.

matty

lol @ replacing wedding stats. yeah, jen, we get it.

Anya

NO way that is a 43 lb fish. But great pic.

Alex

That's a great pic. Cool to see stories like this. Keep it up.

Stevennnn

it'd better if he was on a crowed 4/5/6 train.

SB

As a regular fisherman in the NY sound, there's no way that fish is 43 pounds!! Not even close. Try more like 15 tops.

This is a 38 pounder, and it's twice as big www.wayneswords.com/emAlbumv21...

I caught one that size on Saturday, and it was only 14 pounds. Good fish story though.