Fishing in The Pond at Central Park

Central Park has five fisheries within its borders.  The Pond , near 59th street, is one of
those waters.  It looks peaceful in this picture but during the day, it is filled with people
wanting to experience the beauty of Central Park.

It has a healthy population of Bass and Bluegills.  Pickeral and carp are here too.
This picture shows fish suspended in the water on a warm spring afternoon.

On the other side of the bridge is the famous Central Park ice skating rink.

I fished from this rock out cropping.  It took me awhile to determine what fly worked the best.

A pheasant tail got lots of attention this afternoon.

I didn't see any crappie but they are here too.

And the big surprise the afternoon was catching this large Golden Shiner on a pheasant tail
I used my Airrite Stream fiberglass fly rod, with a Franco Vivarelli carbon fiber  semi automatic fly reel  The fly rod is a 6 piece, six foot six inch, 2 weight.   A great rod for the panfish in The pond.
I've caught several carp with it too!  Same setup.

Baisley Pond

There are some large bass here.  Baisley is one of the few non-man made lakes in New York City.
At one time the water here was used to supply Brooklyn with drinking water.

Today this pond is a 28-acre place for fishing.  Currently, fishing is limited due to the City
doing restoration work on the north end and west side of the pond.

My reason for coming today was to try and find carp.  This can be difficult  because
of the lily pads the grow in the pond.  Most of the pond is covered by them.  There are invasive
weeds that also limit access to the shoreline.

Great Egret looking for the next meal.

Baisley Pond hosts a diverse fauna and flora. It is known for its lily pads which shelter American bullfrogs. The Parks Department lists three turtle species (red-eared slider, snapping turtle, and musk turtle).^[1] Fish species include several of interest to anglers, including largemouth bass, black crappie, bluegill, pumpkinseed, brown bullhead, and common carp.^[4] Many species of water birds favor the pond. Summer species include great egret, snowy egret, great blue heron, and double-crested cormorant. In winter, the waterfowl population is especially large and diverse, with several species that are less common in the area, such as American wigeon, redhead, and grebes mixing with more common species like mallard and Canada goose.

Fly Fishing The Pool, in Central Park

I walked to The Pool at 100th street to fish for "club size" bass.  This pool has a bunch of bass that range from eight to twelve inches long.  I have named them "club  size bass".  They can be fun when they attack top water flies.  There are larger bass and other fish in the pool but the "club " size bass are my reason for fishing here.  I brought my 2 weight fly rod.

My first fish was a mature Bluegill.  He put up an excellent fight on the 2 weight! I used a wet fly
there was no top water action today.  Most people including New Yorkers don't know that Central Park has five five different fisheries.   The pond at 59th street, The Loeb lake at 72nd street,
Turtle pond near 80th street, The pool and The Meer at 110th street.

This is one of the"club size bass"

Fly Fishing for carp in The Meer

I went up to The Meer in Central Park.  I have never caught a carp in the park's north end lake.
There are some really big carp, Grass Carp and Koi swimming in The Meer,  Unfortunately, the lake has begun to grow algae due to poor water circulation.

Normally, I like to fish here for large bluegills and crappie during the month of April.  However,this past April I was sitting on the shore line in Prospect Park trying to catch carp in that lake.

Looking from west to east you can see the surface of the lake is covered with vegetation.

Here is a closer look at the slop.  Fish were tailing here but the green stuff went all the way down to the bottom of the lake.

 I used a traditional carp hair rig with artificial corn.  If you look closely you can see my tungsten
1.6 split shot used to anchor the corn about 2 inches off the bottom.  It is to the right of the corn.

Crappie on a fly

Had some time to go fish near the boathouse in Prospect Park.  I fished a 2 weight , eleven-foot

custom built rod with the Ghost semi automatic fly reel from Spain.  The reel is very much like the Vivarelli fly reels except the drag is located beneath the spool.  I have never been able to adjust the drag on this reel and there is not one bit of instruction on the internet either.  I have been unable to get a response from the dealer, in spite of the letters I have sent.  Carumba!

However I was able to catch a young crappie on an old streamer I bought years ago from a mail order shop in England

Making carp pellets

I used to use corn pellets made by a company called RoyalCarp.  They made some of the best chumming products ever.  They, the pellets, would stimulate carp to eat almost every time they
were used.

Since the company closed, I have searched high and low for a replacement product to use.  Unfortunately, many similar carp products are not available here in America.

Luckily there are many,many youtube videos about making carp chum and baits.  I watched as many as I could.  Some videos were very informative and some were a waste of time.  Some of the recipes are complicated.  But as long as you understand the concept you can do this too.  I didn't go down the long road that carpers follow.  No sausage gun no boilee rolling table.  I made my pellets with a few bread punches.  I'm anxious to see if mine attracts carp.

Check YouTube for a recipe.