A 63-year-old man was rescued by Baltimore County emergency personnel after being trapped in the mud up to his waist on the Northern Central Railroad Trail in Cockeysville, according to the volunteer firefighter association.

The man, who lives near the trail, was fishing Thursday morning when he decided to move to a new fishing spot under a bridge. But the muddy ground was more unstable than he realized, and he couldn’t get out, a Baltimore County fire department spokesperson said. The man was carrying a cellphone and called for help after becoming trapped in the mud.

A rescue crew arrived around 9:20 a.m. to the area near the 200 block of Ashland Road, used ladders to stabilize the ground and drove an ATV near where the man was sucked deep into the mud. Workers then used a hose nozzle to reduce the friction between the ground and the man and pulled him out around 10:10 a.m.

After he was freed, emergency medical services evaluated the 63-year-old fisherman, who declined to go to a local hospital.