Passaic River

It was my intention today to fish for pike. But
when I arrived at the Passaic river, I found
I had miscalculated the tide. I was an hour too
late.



All was not lost, nearby carp were feeding,
on the surface. I set up my rod. Tied on a fly
and began to fish for carp. My first fly choice didn't
attract any attention.



My second fly choice is my favorite for low tide situations,
a white woolie bugger. After a few warm up casts
I hooked a carp. River carp behave differently.
On the Passaic, I have never seen carp eating chum.
But they will take a number of different dry & wet
flies, even terrestrials. Carp living in ponds &
lakes readily eat chum, as much as they can get!



Hooked five, landed one.

Mulberries in Brooklyn

A friend told me that there is a mulberry tree
in Prospect Park next to the lake. I looked and
sure enough there are a number of trees bearing
mulberries all along the south west part of the
lake. However, of the more than a dozen trees
adjacent to the lake, not one carp was found
eating mulberries.



I guess the reason for not seeing the trees
before is that I was not expecting to find any
mulberry trees.



My question now is why aren't there fish eating
berries as they fall into the water?



I spent about an hour or so this morning watching
an orange and an albino koi slowly swimming
in the area near Wellhouse Drive. I left a few corn
pellets before I left.



"I'll be back."

Catching some nice carp on the fly rod

Kissena lake

Since 1907 Kissena Park has undergone many improvements and renovations. In 1942, Kissena Lake was transformed into a "bathtub lake" when the Works Progress Administration drained it, built an encompassing stone retainer, and refilled it. The lake had to be drained again in 1983 due to a buildup of algae. Today the lake is home to a wide variety of plant and animal life, including snapping turtles, ducks, herons, egrets, and gallinules.





Saturday we took the Long Island Rail Road to
Jamaica, Queens. It has been months since Dennis
and I had fished this small lake for carp. There
are way too many turtles here for my liking but
there are some big, strong carp here.



The day was hot and fishing was very slow.
Most of the afternoon was spent trying to locate
carp. Nothing was happening until we moved
to the north side of the lake. There I caught
the first carp; really powerful, for it's size carp.

Dennis had started to target an orange koi, about
50 feet to my left; that was gobbling down his
dog biscuits. After about 20 minutes of this
the koi disappeared.



As dusk arrived, Dennis hooked his first carp of the
day with a deer hair fly. This carp ran like a freight
train at night. While Dennis was in his battle, I
hooked my third carp of the day. My second fish
was a LDR (Long Distance Release). We stood
almost side by side, sort of synchronized carp
fishing as daylight strolled away. Each fish was
a battler, running, head shaking and refusing to
be put in a net.

I had a hefty 8 wt fly rod, which gave me an edge
and I needed it for this fish. Dennis had his usual
5 wt, advantage carp. So even though our arms
were hurting as we hung on to our fly rods; I could
feel my fish weakening. Shortly, my carp was
unwillingly being pulled towards my waiting net.
Finally my ordeal was completed but Dennis'
fish still fought as if he had not already spent 20
minutes swimming like a shark. I tried to help
with the netting of the fish. This fellow was over
3 feet long, longer than my net was deep! At the
last moment he broke the tippet and returned to
the lake bottom for a well deserved rest.

Clove Lakes

After spending about eight hours fishing in
New Jersey yesterday; I was on Staten Island
at 8:30 am. My reason for being there was
carp and mulberries. Mulberries are on the
trees here and carp love mulberries.



It turned out to be a long day. Carp were not
feeding on the berries this morning. So I put
some chum in the water. Nada. As the morning
turned into afternoon, I went to a spot were
I had seen carp before.



Carp and koi were in and out of this area as they
feed on what appeared to be an orange colored
root system growing from a willow tree branch
touching the lake surface. I threw a few corn
pellets in the water to get the attention of the
carp.

This area where fish were feeding had limited space
for fighting a fish and especially carp. So my plan
was to try to keep any fish from running wild.
Several times my line became tangled with under
water tree branches and twigs. I took the time and effort
to quietly remove each one until I felt there were
no submerged obstacles left. I was ready to fish.



During this whole process I could see carp tailing
I knew that I would need to keep my rod tip low,
if I were to have any hope of controlling and limiting
the carp's first big run. A line caught on a branch
would cause me to lose whatever fish was on the
line.

The tailing carp were so engrossed in feeding
that they ignored my presence. I soon saw my
line tighten and begin to form a straight line.
I set the hook and an under water commotion
began! I could not let the fish have more than
a 15 foot radius in any direction. This meant I
had to move my rod tip in anticipation of the
carps movements. Keep the fish guessing.
My tactics worked and I was rewarded with a
big bellied mirror carp. They are rare, only my
second since 2004.

Passaic

Dennis and I went to the river to fish. Things
were slow there, so we packed up and went to
a nearby lake.



We had a double digit day. I landed the one
pictured. It was after sun set when we left the
lake to return to New York City.



The Passaic river

Passaic Red

Carp fishing is heating up; with mulberries and
warmer weather, fish can be found actively feeding.
I went to New Jersey with a 3 piece, 6' 10", 7 wt,
Fenwick fiberglass fly rod. The rod is from Japan.
It is designed for fishing big bass flies.



The day of fishing started well. I arrived,
set up my rod and began to fish. Quickly, I had
landed two small carp. I thought that I might be
having a banner day but the carp changed their
behavior and I stood and waited for a long time
for another fish.



It took a while before I had my third fish. As I reeled
him into shore I noticed that the hook was not
in the carp's mouth. I had foul hooked it in the
fin. I removed the hook and released the fish.



Later things changed and carp began feeding
again. I could see the shadows of the feeding
carp in the deeper water with my polarized
sunglasses (never fish without them). I changed
my location and caught a few more carp.
By late evening I had landed a total of 5 carp.
I decided to empty the remaining contents
of my chum bag into the lake rather than
carry it back home.



This cup of pellets lay almost motionless on the
windless lake surface. Slowly carp began to
eat the buffet. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw
"Passaic Red", the lakes largest koi. Everyone
who fishes this lake dreams of catching her.
She is not actually red but orange with black
splotches across the back. Last year my friend
Dennis got lucky and landed her.

Passaic Red began to eat and greedily gulped the
pellets down. Koi are coy. They are smart, alert
and difficult to fool with a fly. I watched. Carp
were in a feeding frenzy and so was Red. When carp
are feeding, in a frenzy they put aside their normal
cautiousness. It appeared that Red might be in the state
of frenzy. I made a cast with a #14 brown deer hair
fly. The cast was too short. I made another cast and
put my fly six inches to the right of Red's mouth.
I watched as she made another approach to a row
of pellets. She sucked down three pellets in a row.
My fly was not part of that row. But at the last moment
she noticed my fly sitting alone on the surface.
She turned, sucked down my offering and dove deep
into the lake. Carp can expel flies faster than you can
set the hook; so I did not know if she was attached to my
fly line. I waited and watched as my line followed as she
swam to the lake bottom. I set the hook and felt the fish
trying to flee.

This was a fish of a lifetime. Very very few have been able to
stalk and hook a koi. Red resisted my attempts to bring her
to hand for the better part of ten minutes. Finally, tired,
she stopped fighting. Just as I was placing the boca grip
in her mouth, she slipped off the hook and slowly swam away.

Night Stalker

Last night Dennis and I fished in Central Park
for double digit carp. The forecast had called
for rain but no such luck. The only carp were
nestled at the base of mulberry tree and they
were not interested in anything we offered.



There was almost no wind and no visibly active
fish. The mulberry tree is on the right side of
this picture. We did spend about an hour trying
to convince a couple of koi to take one of the flies
we offered. They seemed to follow a pattern.
To me it resembled a treble cleff. Dog biscuits
were offered and gratefully accepted by both.
Not one biscuit was allowed to drift away; all were
methodically consumed.




Picture of Prospect Park Lake in moonlight.

Clove Lakes

Went to Staten Island to see if mulberry trees
were bearing fruit. There are an abundance
of trees, mulberry trees in Clove Lakes Park,
all bearing fruit. All with insatiable carp stuffing
themselves beneath the low hanging branches.



One of the things I like to do at Clove Lakes is
catch catfish with flies. In June, catfish become
active and can be taken with dry or wet flies.



I took this picture while catfish of different sizes
swam below a bridge. They took a #10 white
woolie bugger, whenever I would fish it like a
minnow.



I saw another orange and white koi in the water



Looking south on one of the three lakes at Clove
Lakes Park

Better than manna, Mulberries.

It is Mulberry time!
These mulberries are a favorite carp treat; as they
lazily drop from branches overhanging rivers and
lakes. Carp seem to lower their guard in order to
gorge themselves on these late spring treats.

8 carp today

Fished in Passaic County for carp. In spite of
the windy conditions and brown water, I had
quite a day. I got to the water about noon.
Carp were tailing and feeding on the bottom.
I threw a handful of carp pellets close to shore
and then set up my fly rod.



A local sage yelled to me from across the lake
that fish were feeding on the bottom; so I knew
what to do. I lost my first fish, which is unusual.
I looked at what was left of my line and determined
that I had purchased an inferior tippet. In an effort
to save a few dollars I bought an unknown tippet
from a vendor on e-bay. As they say: "cheap is cheap".



I replaced the weaker tippet with an Orvis
fluorocarbon tippet. A little while later I landed
my first carp of the afternoon. Carp continued
to feed in my area and I continued to fish.
I landed another fish. Lost the third fish, this
time due to the fish being able to out maneuver
me as I tried to lift him from the water and place
him on the bank of the lake.



I hooked my 3rd and 4th carp & a friend
netted them for me which helped save time.



By the time I was ready to leave I had hooked
a total of 8 carp and landed all but 3. A really
good day of carp fishing for me.

The Mudhole

Today, after 3 years and several frustrating efforts
I landed my first carp at the "mudhole" in New Jersey
This spot has the most cautious carp I have ever
come across. Nothing I tried worked the way I
wanted. Chum, which should attract fish and make
carp feed did just the opposite; it chased these carp
to the far end of the pond.

Even the bait fishers have no advantage here.
I watched as half a dozen others tried what they
thought would entice the carp but I was the only one
to land a fish and I was only able to do it early in the
afternoon. I did hook 2 others but I lost them to
a purchase of an inexpensive tippet from e bay.

Passaic

I spent the day in Passaic, New Jersey.
It was too windy for sight fishing, except for
when I took this shots of a cruising carp.



Fish still are in spawn mode. Normally there
would be more carp in this shallow water.



Surprisingly, fish were not spooky. I was very
close to these carp when I took these pictures.
I was even able to put a fly in front of a carp
and get a take. Unfortunately, too much drag
and a 6X tippet do not stay together for long.



All quiet on the Passaic River. I saw no carp
at all during my visit.

Lincoln Park

Took the PATH train to Jersey City to take a
look at Lincoln Park.



The park has two ponds. The first pond has a large
carp population. Unfortunately, an unknown
illness attacked that population late last season
& caused poor fishing and many dead carp.



This season the pond will be closed to fishing
but the state of New Jersey has restocked
the pond; which will be open for fishing next
season.

Roll Cast; Fly Fishing technique