It was like any other day on Sleepy Hollow Lake for Roy Isaac, so much so that his son, Razir, was sitting in the grass by the boat launch, bored from watching his dad put on a fishing clinic.

Any average person would say, “The fish are biting," but that’s really any day for Roy Isaac. That Saturday in late August was no different.

Isaac dropped his line in right next to the dock, hoping the minnow in the other end would entice the white crappie he was looking to catch from just below the water’s surface. A quick “tug” on his line, followed by setting his hook, then 20 minutes before a fish took a nibble.

But it was worth it, Isaac had set a state record.

“When I pulled it out of the water, the lady across the street was like, ‘Oh, my God,’” said Isaac. “I have to take a picture.”

Little did he know that he would cherish that picture. That white crappie weighed in at four pounds and one ounce, shattering a 20-year record that had been set at that same lake.

Isaac has been fishing New York waters since he was 7, after spending summers at his grandmother’s house in Monroe. Moving a little bit north hasn’t kept him from finding the perfect place to check out amid life’s hurdles.

“I come out a lot because this is my go-to. This is my peace and tranquility,” Isaac explained. “When I have things on my mind, when I’m trying to help my family with bills, when I’m trying to make this and that meet, I just go fishing.”

Now, when Isaac pulls up to the marina at Sleepy Hollow Lake, people —   and the fish — come to him. That’s no exaggeration.

He relives the catch of a lifetime with an audience hanging on every word right there in the parking lot. Then follows it up by walking down to the dock and throwing a line in the water.

During a day visit, a visitor kept a tally of his casts and results. Of the 10 times he dropped bait in the water, eight of them ended with him reeling in a fish. Twice, blue gills came to the surface for his hook before he had the chance to open the bail on his reel.

No one knows fish like Roy Isaac. He’s a living legend, but knows he hasn’t even lived up to his full potential.

He’s currently an unsponsored fisherman and doesn’t own a boat. He gets all of this done from a dock, but still holds firm to his dream of owning his own boat one day. Follow that with proper equipment and entering tournaments, this fish whisperer will be a force to be reckoned with out on the water.

“I would love to get into the tournaments. I think I’d beat them up real bad. If I could get some sponsors or something like that, I think I’d give them [fishermen] a problem,” Isaac said.