Peter's principal

I traveled to Bergen county looking to fish for
bass & carp. Last year I caught a nice bass here
on a black woolie bugger. I arrived here after
1:00pm. People were fishing, lots of people.
My plan was to throw some chum, fish for bass
and panfish and then try to catch a carp.
After putting some chum in the water, I put my
cane fly rod together and attached my ATP 37
semi automatic fly reel. It was at that point
I discovered that the reel would not release
line. The spool was cracked completely! How?
I don't know. But with no working reel,
I repacked and headed for home. As I walked
towards the bus stop, I asked a man why
so many were fishing. He said that the lake
had been stocked with trout shortly before
I had got there.



After I returned home, I changed equipment & headed
to Prospect Park lake. I set up in a wooded area,
this time looking for carp.



Not one carp was detected. But the bass here
have begun to spawn. Here is one sitting on its
bed near the shore.



While walking through the forest, yes
the park includes a small forest. I saw this
and took a photo.

How to Fish a New Lake

MOBY DICK

I've been watching a pod of carp this week trying
to determine their feeding pattern. I've been chumming
the area to encourage them to eat, drink and be
happy in this part of the lake.



So far the weather has not helped me. The wind
and air temperature have helped to keep water
temperatures less than ideal for fish to actively
feed and take my flies.



But in a few weeks the mulberries will rule the
water ways. Carp will have to take advantage
of the opportunity to eat. In the meantime
I'm chumming and watching carp as they go about
the business of being difficult to catch, especially
with a fly and fly rod.



This week I have spent almost 10 hours
sitting, standing and crouching at the edge of the
lake here. I feel a little like a special forces
operator, wearing earth tones, water proof boots,
sunglasses and gathering intelligence about a
foreign enemy. In these cooler temperatures
carp don't exhibit many of their tell tale signs.



My new Adidas combat boots. The boot actually
worn by many SWAT teams. These shoes are
required if you intend to fish The Great Lakes
of NYC.

HD - Switch Rod Casting Techniques

Just walking

With today's wind chill factor, it felt like it was
43F outside. I decide to keep my hands warm
and went for a 90 minute walk in Prospect Park.



I walked from the east side of the park around
the south shore of the lake to the peninsula, down
the Lullwater and north to Grand Army Plaza, before
leaving the park.



While walking I came upon several large koi
apparently sunning themselves.



These are the best shots I was able to get without
spooking these guys. I couldn't locate any minnows
but I know they are in the area.



Once it stops raining and it gets warm, I'll be back!

Finally

Finally caught a few carp using my Beulah Switch
fly rod. For the last few years, I've watched
carp clooping on the surface, just out of reach
of my longest cast using a 9' foot fly rod. Today
I brought my big stick! I put my deer hair fly
right in their faces.



While fishing was slow due to low water temperature
The Beulah compensated for the water by putting
my fly where carp were eating, more than 60 feet
away. There are trees all around this lake so
backcasting is not an option. Spey casting is the only
way to go here.



Dennis had to use some creative tactics to
reach feeding carp. He didn't have a long rod.
As the day wore on, carp appeared to stop
feeding. We discovered that the smaller fish
had begun to feed on the bottom of the lake at
the shallow end of the lake. But the wind had
started to blow harder which made it impossible
to see the fish feeding.



The Terminator, Tom fishes for carp daily and
has impressive stats ( over 500 carp a year).
Here he is releasing one of the catfish he caught
in addition to several carp he brought to hand.



This is the Mulberry tree about a month before
the berries appear.

A switch rod is a combination of a standard
fly rod and the longer spey fly rod. It allows the
fly fisher to use standard casting technique or
Spey casting technique to catch fish.

Back in the USA

I fished on the main land by traveling to The Bronx
The Bronx is the only New York City county which
is not an island.



Indian Lake is a small lake located in the south
Bronx. I had not one bite during my visit but
the water was clear and deeper on the west shore
than I had thought.



The air temperature was in the fifties but the
water was still cold. There was no wind until
mid afternoon. My main reason for coming to
this lake was to check on the carp and bass
here.



Maybe I'll return in a week or so.

Another wet, windy day

It was another wet, windy day in Brooklyn.
I took a walk around the south shore of the lake
to see what if anything had changed. Out by West
Island, I saw this bird, perched on a fallen tree.
I didn't see the turtles until I looked closely
at the picture. There are seven species of turtles
in the lake, although only four are native to the
park. The rest are gifts from residents who
deposited their pets in the lake.



Fish activity is mostly limited to the Lullwater
as the water temperature is still beer cooler
cold!



A typical Golden Shiner, caught by a bead head
zug bug #14.

The Peninsula in Prospect Park

There was a slow steady rain on Tuesday.
I hadn't been on the Peninsula in awhile so I
started there. The Peninsula is just that a body
of land surrounded by the lake on three sides.
It is densely wooded, quiet and secluded.



There are wooded paths and many overgrown
areas making this part of the park appear to be
wild.



But at the end of the Peninsula is a sitting area



In the early season, fishing here is slow. As the
air temperature stays warmer fishing improves
due to the shade and structure where fish can hold.
Big bass lurk near fallen trees and under the lily pads.

Fly Fishing Bass - by Todd Moen - Catch Magazine - T-Motion Issue #6

Back home

Still looking for my first carp. But crappie are
are running wild! This is the time of the season
when crappie more than nine inches long try
to stuff themselves after a long cold winter.
It is not unusual for spin fishers to jig fish 20 or
30 fish in an afternoon.



Weeso, better known as Mr. Crappie shows off
another big fat crappie from Prospect Park Lake.
This is a great time to fish in the City of New York.
Bass under 3 pounds are active too.



I took this little club size bass on a white wooly
bugger. I'm still fishing with my switch rod.
Earlier today Dennis & I tried to catch some
Jersey carp but there was too much wind and
the carp were not feeding. I was pleased to see
that my casts were able to reach the center of
the pond where the larger carp feed.



A day in the park would not be complete without
a few BGs

Kynd Outdoors - Outdoor Destination Information

Kynd Outdoors - Outdoor Destination Information