Sarah Griesbach 
Hoboken resident Billy Mensch has great memories of time spent fishing with friends and loved ones. Now, he’s building a business as he spreads the joy of recreational pier fishing. Read on to learn all about why sportfishing on the Hudson River is a great combination of thrilling and relaxing.
The Itch to Fish
Hudson Sportfishing is a new one-man business in Hoboken that is spreading love for the Hudson River through the joy of recreational pier fishing. Billy Mensch caught the itch to fish on vacations on the Jersey Shore with his family, bonding with his dad as he learned what conditions would make a catch most likely. He got pretty good at it and grew up to organize destination fishing trips for his friend group.
In recent years, Billy has led fishing trips in great locations all over the US and around the world. Fishing brings him joy, and he loves seeing others find the same. Billy is a financial analyst and father of two darling boys — all of which keeps him pretty busy and makes fishing in far-off locations a rarity. Luckily, Billy lives in a location that provides what he has found to be world-class fishing.
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The Pleasures of Pier Fishing
Pier fishing holds unique challenges, and Billy has a handle on them. He’s savvy to the most favorable spots for success and able to account for wind speed when casting, knows which baits are catching, and how to keep the lines from tangling. “On the Hudson,” Billy explains, “there’s a strong current flowing in the same direction constantly, and you need to have sufficient weight on your rig — the combo of hook, leader, sinker, bait — to ensure your bait is positioned where you want it in the water column. If fish are at the surface or at the very bottom of the water column, you’ll put pressure on the bait to hit that sweet spot. Different tactics depending on where you think the fish are.”
Billy helps his clients interpret the water’s flow and put their lines in just right. “The river tides dictate how fast or slow the current is moving. The fish are located in different places depending upon the tides, water temperature, and time of day.” The trick, for Billy, is to steer his clients to those sweet spots where the fish are swimming. His small sportfishing enterprise is designed with knowledge of and consideration for the ecosystem it functions in and a desire to spread his love for the Hudson River through recreation.
Striped Bass: A Real Beaut
Billy focuses on striped bass because it’s a fun, challenging fish to catch and generally plentiful. Striped bass are a managed population, and they get big. Billy has caught a 30-pound, 40-inch long striped bass and attests to the great feeling that comes with such an accomplishment. “They are good-looking fish, too!” the fisherman asserts. “There’s nothing better than seeing someone pull up their first striped bass. It’s an electric feeling.”
Anglers are Natural Conservationists
Recreational fishing and nature conservation often come hand-in-hand. Conservation efforts improve fishing, and sport fishing can lead to environmental awareness. Striped bass anglers are actually responsible for founding the nonprofit Scenic Hudson. The organization was begun in 1963 by fishing groups who came together to stop a hydroelectric plant from defacing Storm King Mountain, which sits next to one of the river’s prime striper spawning grounds. The fishing aficionados used scientific analyses that revealed hard data showing that the facility would, if built, kill striper eggs and larvae by the millions.
Billy recommends catch-and-release fishing to his clients. The Department of Environmental Conservation has issued regulations limiting anglers to daily limits of one striped bass between 23 and 28 inches fished in the Hudson River and tributaries north of the George Washington Bridge. Striped bass can only be kept if they are between 28 to 31 inches when fished from marine waters south of the GWB around Hoboken. When an angler catches a fish big enough to keep, there’s still good reason to consider releasing it — doing so helps the fish replenish its stock, which ensures great fishing along the Hudson in another decade or two for new generations to enjoy. A picture of the triumphant capture is the real take-home trophy.
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Hometown Happiness
Billy is a Jersey boy through and through. He grew up in the Sopranos hometown of North Caldwell, NJ, and has lived in Hoboken since 2016. He loves helping his clients experience in Hoboken what he grew up enjoying only when on childhood trips to the Shore. When Billy sets up his poles, he is aiming for casual fun while knowing that, out on the pier, there’s a high likelihood of creating golden memories. There’s just something magical about communing with nature with the NYC skyline as the backdrop. Billy finds that crowds of onlookers often gather around him as he fishes. Kids ask questions, and his catches become a spectacle for everyone to enjoy.
