Winter fly fishing

Still fishing with the new 2 wt. I overlined the
rod with Sharkeskin fly line 4WF. It seems to work
well. I get good distance with spey casting.



I used a two fly set up. The flies are tied about
18 inches apart (#16 Hare's ear & #12 wax worm)



If you look closely, there is a cardinal sitting on
a branch of this tree.



I was about 30 feet from the cardinal. My
zoom lens allowed me not to spook the bird
as it sat quietly in the warm winter sun.



My nymph rig caught several blue gills and
two club size bass (bass 8-12 inches long)

Winter fishing

I took a trip to Central Park today. The weather
has been very mild this winter. Almost no
snow and no ice on the lakes for the month of
February.



I brought my new 2 wt, 11 foot rod. Small nymph
patterns are the fly of the day until summer.
By small, I mean flies size #14 and smaller.



I started at the Meer at 110th street.



There was a slight wind. I saw no feeding fish.



I walked down to the Pool at 103rd street.
The water is clear but I saw nothing.



The Meer looking east



Another view of the Meer, looking south



Prospect Park was my next stop. Here I hooked
some blue gills.



I noticed this statue of Frederick Douglas, across
the street from Central Park.



This view of the Meer was taken near fifth avenue
looking west.

My new fly rod

I recently purchased a fly rod blank. A rod blank
is the skeleton of the rod. At that point the rod
is nothing but a tube. My blank is a 11 foot,
four piece, 2 weight (2 pound) .



The blank was put together by a friend in Texas.
You don't really save money by buying a rod in
parts like this but you can customize the rod.



I just thought that a 2 wt rod at this length would
be unusual and allow me to do different things.



The rod feels light in the hand and has a flex
like a rod made from cane. There is nothing
wrong with this but you can not force or muscle
the cast. You must be patient and allow the rod
to do what is designed to do.



I did about 30 minutes of casting with this rod
using "sharkskin" fly line.

Lapland Lake

In the winter I like to cross country ski. I
learned to ski as a way to stay fit during the
winter. cross country is a tough sport. You
will use your legs and arms to get around.



I have been skiing at Lapland Lake since 1982
when I raced here during a snow storm. Only
16 racers finished the 31 mile event & I was the
sixteenth. The trail system is designed by a
member of the 1960 U S Olympic Team.



Snow has been scarce here this year and Lapland
is just about the only place to ski. My grand
daughter and I enjoy skiing here