A Very Sheepshead New Year’s Resolution
(Silly collage by Ray Johnson. Images courtesy of A Perfect World and Daybreak Fishing.)
Every year, I struggle with coming up with New Year’s resolutions. It’s not because I don’t have any improvements to make — it’s because I have too many! I generally don’t even write them down, so that when the goal doesn’t materialize, there’s no proof that I resolved to do it in the first place. It’s a great strategy for putting off the needed (and numerous) changes.
This year, so many of my thoughts are coming down onto the Sheepshead Bites journal. Why should the resolutions be any different? But, the list I started was getting way too long, so I figured I would spare you the details and just present you with one very important resolution. It’s one that I’m sure many of our readers also might like to add to their list.
Top Priority Resolution for 2009:
Go, Fish!
Yes, friends, I have lived in Sheepshead Bay for more than three-quarters of my life and I have never been fishing.
Read more about this top priority 2009 resolution after the jump.
I’ve been by the piers countless times as a child, teenager, and adult. My parents have bought fish and prepared them at home from the fishermen at the bay. I have spoken to a couple of the fishing boat operators and told them that I am planning on going. I’ve gone into the bait and tackle stores on Emmons Avenue as a learning experience. I have friends who’ve enjoyed this activity — but…
I confess, I am a Sheepshead Bay resident and ardent fan of the neighborhood and all it has to offer, but I have never partaken of the best of the bay: the fishing boats.
We’re not talking about fly fishing, lake fishing, or ice fishing at some remote spot. This is just plain old fishing right here in my own backyard. No commitment and not a lot of investment. They will let me use their equipment and show me how to use it.
I’ve always wanted to go fishing from a boat that takes off from the bay. Just that eating some seafood at Randazzo’s was so much more convenient than gearing up to try and catch some. But, the desire was always there and I know many of you have the same desire. So, for those of you who haven’t already done this very Sheepshead Bay activity, what about if we make a joint resolution? Let’s all resolve to GO FISHING!
This week, YELP.com, printed their list of New Yelp’s Resolutions which included activities related to bookstores, museums, and losing weight all over the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Prospect Heights, Park Slope, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and Long Island City. Books, antiquities, and weight loss — well, that was okay in 2008. But, in 2009, Sheepshead Bay fishing boats are where it’s at!
You can get information about how to get your fishing trip off and running in the new year at the NY Fisherman website, the NYC Fishing website, or the prize winning website, The Fishing Line, which all have links and contact information for Sheepshead Bay fishing boats.