Kevin Smith, a retired mechanical engineer from Pearl River, is out here seven days a week.

John Francescone, a New city resident, says he’ll be here “as long as I can get a line out in the water and put my jacket on.”

“Here” is Piermont Pier in Piermont—in the wintertime, in below freezing temperatures.

Sound brutal? Not to these dedicated rodmen.

Smith has been coming here for almost 40 years. He used to meet up with his dad when the latter worked up the road, and he still comes here to fish.

"But also for peace and quiet,” he added.

“The striped red bass make a big move up [the river]—on March 16, it’ll be elbow to elbow here,” Smith continued, noting the place gets packed as the weather warms up.

But not today, a 31-degree afternoon that feels much colder with a crisp wind whipping off the Hudson River.

“This place has a weather of its own,” Smith said. “It’s also beautiful down here when it’s 90 and you want to escape the heat.”

But why Piermont? The pier is a peninsula reached via Ferry Road, and stretches away from the land, creating a true separation from everyday life. But it’s also about the Hudson River's brackish nature, which invites different fish varieties like catfish, perch and more.

Levoizla Morman—a maintenance worker in Piermont—is another regular.

"I come down here in the wintertime to have my lunch," he explained. "When the weather is also just right, I fish. You can catch tommy cods and small stripers, winter bluefish, blue claw crabs and oysters.”

I ask Francescone—who has been coming since 1998 and works with the American Littoral Society—if the pier has changed.

“Absolutely," he answered. "The advent of the parking spaces minus a permit has added to the number of people and traffic. It’s less serene.”

But he, Smith, and the rest of the fisherman—many who are members of the Hudson River Fisherman’s Association—will keep on coming down, even if the weather is below freezing.

“As long as the water isn’t frozen,” Francescone said.