Mamaroneck River fishing

Armed with my trusty 7 wt fiberglass fly rod,  I went searching for carp in Westchester County.
This time I headed to an old reservoir.  A few years ago I had caught carp in the Mamaroneck River.

It turned out to be another adventure in heavily over grown woods to find fish  that are being under utilized.  In my youth, I was a Boy Scout and I am comfortable in the wild as long as it's not too wild.
Please no predators!

A thirty minute walk from the train station and I was at another section of the Mamaroneck River.
The area is thick with bushes and trees.   Finding access to the river bank was not clear cut.
 After a decade, I'm still amazed to be able to find new places to fish that are not over utilized in the
Greater New York area.

I saw carp swimming and holding in the stained water ( If you see four there has to be more).
This is a fishery that should be fished in the spring when there is less foliage and less thorns,

 A look at a quiet deep pool of the Mamaroneck.

A lower section of the river where I found carp clooping.  And there were indications that Bass
had spawned here as well as bluegills.

The Mamaroneck River is a freshwater stream located in Southern Westchester County, New York.^[2] The river forms in White Plains and Harrison and flows 7.3 miles (11.7 km) south through Mamaroneck Townand Village, where it empties into Mamaroneck Harbor and Long Island Sound.

Passaic River for Northern Pike

Jay and I went to the Passaic river looking to catch pike, smallmouths, and maybe a carp or too.
Jay had never fish the Passaic for pike.  This river is eighty miles long and I have spent
years fishing it below the Dundee Dam where the water is tidal and polluted.

The past year or so I've fished it above the dam.  There are smallmouth bass, pike, and carp for sure.
My goal is to catch a pike and or carp in the western side of the river.
.

Since it was forecast to be a very warm day, we decided to try and wet wade.  I'd spent hours
looking at maps and satellite photos to see if that would be a feasible option.

The river at the kayak launch was brown and was too deep with drop offs to be waded.
We looked at the map and decided to try another access point a quarter of a mile away.

We found the shore line there to be covered in a very slippery mud that when stood upon
would not support our weight.  It was like a slippery slope without the slope.

Where we were able to wade, we found few feeding fish.  We did locate a place where carp
seem to hold but saw no signs of fish in the brown water.

Jay standing on one of the few firm areas.  In these places we waded up to our knees in the river.
This was the only respite from the relentless attack from thorns and mosquitoes that were everywhere!

Late in the afternoon, while I changed flies , I heard Jay screaming at the top of his lungs.  He was yelling that he had hooked a northern pike and needed the net.

I scrambled to get the net to him.  Jay was about fifty yards from where I sat.  I ran through the
thorns and hopped over dead trees to reach him with the net.  He netted the pike (about 30 inches long).

You should have seen the grin on his face.  He was a"CPA" (Carp ,Pike Angler).  A local
warned us that coyotes were in the forest and might be rabid.

Leob Lake fishing

Me and Jay met today to fish for carp in New York City's Central Park.   There are five lakes
in this park.  Loeb Lake is the most popular due to the ease of access via public transportation.
The subway almost takes you to the lake's edge.  It was about sixty degrees when we arrived.
After an hour later, it started to rain.  It was spritzing for awhile and then the rain became steady. Slowly we began to get soaked.  We kept on fishing .  Water dripped from the brim of my hat.
I caught my second carp of the season in my new Promar net.

Jay on the other hand began to hook catfish after catfish.  He caught more
than a dozen in the steady rain.  Fortunately the air temperature rose which helped
to keep the day from becoming miserable.

You are looking at a problem, algae bloom.  Any time the temperature is greater than 70F.  The City of New York has this recurring problem in a number of lakes.  They refuse to try and control it with
aerators.  This part of Loeb Lake is called Wagner Cove in honor of former New York City Mayor
Robert Wagner.  There were carp feeding in this slop.  Some carp would sip this green glop
from the surface.  Fishing here was impossible because even dry flies could not be seen
while floating on the surface.

The lake looks like it has been covered in green oil.  It was especially thick in the cove.

Mulberry time in the city.

Third carp of the day, beautiful mirror carp.

The ugliest building in the city, is this ninety story monstrosity which overlooks everything
 including Central Park.

Jay finally caught a carp after it stopped raining and our clothes had completely dried in the afternoon.  note: this is a fantail carp (rare)

Yes there are carp groupies!

Freshwater algae blooms are the result of an excess of nutrients, particularly some phosphates.^[2][3] The excess of nutrients may originate from fertilizers that are applied to land for agricultural or recreational purposes. They may also originate from household cleaning products containing phosphorus.^[4] These nutrients can then enter watersheds through water runoff.^[5] Excess carbon and nitrogen have also been suspected as causes. Presence of residual sodium carbonate acts as catalyst for the algae to bloom by providing dissolved carbon dioxide for enhanced photo synthesis in the presence of nutrients.

When phosphates are introduced into water systems, higher concentrations cause increased growth of algae and plants. Algae tend to grow very quickly under high nutrient availability, but each alga is short-lived, and the result is a high concentration of dead organic matter which starts to decay. The decay process consumes dissolved oxygen in the water, resulting in hypoxic conditions. Without sufficient dissolved oxygen in the water, animals and plants may die off in large numbers. Use of an Olszewski tube can help combat these problems with hypolimnetic withdrawal.

Blooms may be observed in freshwater aquariums when fish are overfed and excess nutrients are not absorbed by plants. These are generally harmful for fish, and the situation can be corrected by changing the water in the tank and then reducing the amount of food given.

Promar Trophy Series Collapsible Net with 24 x 24-Inch Frame and 25 x 46-Inch Handle