Long Island Carp

Went to a different pond.  This one is in Lindenhurst, Long Island.  It is small but I saw a few
feeding carp along the shore line.

The pond has an aerator which is unusual for the New York ponds that I fish.  But it means
the water will have less algae when the summer heat arrives.

Aerator working at Feller's Pond

Looking north

 

After I left the pond I traveled to nearby Argyle lake in Babylon, New York.  I have fished Argyle

a number of times

There are three bodies of water in this area.  The main lake which is stocked with trout
and two smaller ponds south and west of the lake.  I caught a koi here a few years ago.
I like to fish in the smaller ponds because it allows sight fishing.

30 lb carp caught well fly fishing

Tenkara Diaries, May 28th - Carp on tenkara

Bass on a zug bug

This is a fun time.  The spawn is almost finished and the water is warm.  Panfish, Bass and Carp are
feeding.  I was able to fish near the Boat House in Prospect Park.  The sun was setting and I hoped
to catch a few Blue Gills.  I started with a few nymphs, size # 14.  Next some streamers size # 12.
The lake surface was motionless.

I looked into my fly box for another fly.  A fly that has produced for me before caught my eye,
the Zug Bug.  I selected a bead head version #10.  I knew that the bead head would reach the
bottom of the lake after six seconds and fish would react to it on the rise.  But nothing happened
until I fished under the deck of the boat launch.  I let the fly sink to the bottom and then slowly
troll the fly behind me as I walk the deck.  This gets reactions from fish on or near the bottom.

This tactic works on blue gill many times.  I keep the rod tip pointed down and do not set the hook
until the fish has hooked itself.  As I walked and trolled the line behind me; I felt a bump.  The fish ran
under the deck and refused to come out, for awhile.  Slowly I raised my rod tip and brought the fish
to the surface.   It was no blue gill this time.  It was a bass.   

At this time of the year, it is fun to fish a Dahlberg diver for bass.  Bass like it because it moves up
and down in the water column.  A few years ago I caught six bass as I fished the south shore of
the lake.

Fantail Carp caught in Central Park

"Two rod" Jay caught another rare carp last Friday.  This time he hooked a fan tail carp.
In 2011 I caught a carp like this in December.  This one weighed in at about eight pounds.

Here is another view note the fins are elongated too.

Jay tried to display the beautiful tail; reminds me of the tail of a Goldfish.

I managed to catch this eleven pound common carp, later in the day.  I used my Yellow
Fenwick ( "Floater Bum" almost two meters long - 7 wt fiberglass fly rod).  The rod is made for the Asian market.  I got it from Japan.  It is a great 3 piece rod.

Here is the carp I caught as it is lifted by net from the lake.  I was really glad I used the 7 wt
rod.  It made the fight with the carp easier. 

A male and female duck looking for bread.  Sorry it is against the law to feed waterfowl in the park.

common & not so common

Central Park carp fishing Trifecta

I got an e mail from Jay, saying he had some time to fish for carp on Monday morning.  It was about 48F
with a wind chill factor; to make it worse.  I put on a fleece jacket and my Exodus back pack
then headed for the subway.

When I got there Jay had his wind breaker on with the hood up.  It was overcast and occasionally
the sun would peak out.  I set up and got ready to fish.  There was no real activity that we could see in the water.

It took about two hours before we saw any carp movement.  Jay finally had a fish on.  It was a Koi.

Today we will not count his bluegill or the bull head catfish in the tally.  But there were many.

As the middle of the day arrived, things started to pick up.  I caught a fourteen pounder that fought
as if he were a striped bass.  I saw my backing, fought his brutal head shakes and countered his attempts to wrap my line around submerged obstacles.  Several times he dove to the bottom of the lake and just hunkered down.

After catching a 17 pound carp, Jay went for the big one of carp fly fishing the trifecta
"TRIFECTA" ( Common Carp, Mirror Carp and a Koi,  all in one day)  Unfortunately, I lost the Mirror
 as it got out of the net before I could  pull it in.  Sorry.

Carp and cat fish in Central Park

A big catfish caught on Friday morning.

Jay and I fished for carp the other day.  We started near the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park
But all we saw there was a large snapping turtle.  So after more than an hour of trying to get carp to "cloop", eat from the lake surface, we moved to another part of the lake.

 We found a quiet spot where there were few  people and hoped for the best.  We saw bubbles.

There were catfish in this part of the lake and Jay caught more than a dozen.  Some big and some
less than a foot long.  We did manage to squeeze out a few carp in this catfish zone.  Jay caught an eleven
and fourteen pound carp and I caught the micro carp Jay is holding.

Carp and Blue gill on the fly in Prospect Park

Sorry for the delay in posting.  I had some technical difficulties which my grand daughter corrected.

Steve another fishing buddy and I had set up a camp in a cove of Prospect Park Lake for the sole purpose
of luring carp into the area.  For most of the week we provided almost unlimited chum, corn and bread
free of charge to all carp and Koi.  By the end of the week, large Koi would take food from the lake surface.  However, neither of us chummed the fish on Saturday or Sunday.

 The weekend in Prospect Park is a frenzied time.  There are literally tens of thousands of visitors to the park of which a large number come to try and catch fish.  By the time the weekend warriors had left, the good relationship we had established with the carp had been destroyed.

Steve and I had offered these delicious carp dumplings, made from bread crumbs and corn and
lake water.

These tidbits simply dissolve in the water and spread and inviting scent with delectable fresh corn kernels.
across the lake bottom.  Allowing hungry carp, to enjoy at their leisure, a buffet of corn, bread and the usual morsels they find on the bottom of the lake.

This all changed and by Monday, the rapport we had developed with the fish had been destroyed
and there were no carp in the cove.  I was told that during the weekend others had taken our
honey hole and spooked the koi and carp out of this place of calm and tranquility.

So on Monday we were left with fishing for Bluegill using # 14 soft Hackle flies in orange.
I have caught a few carp using this fly under an indicator.  Normally the koi and carp leave this part of the lake sometime in early May.  We will try to re establish this carp feeding area.

The fly rod is a rare Yellow Fenwick, 7 wt  fiberglass rod.  It is only 6' 10" long and has 3 pieces.
I bought this rod online from a Japanese vendor.  It is designed for bass fishing using big flies.