Fishing for Largemouth bass in the Bronx River

The weather is still ridiculously hot.  Prospect Park Lake is having a fish kill due to the
New York City Park's Department inability to manage the water flow into the lake.
So I went up to Westchester County to fish the Bronx River for Largemouth Bass.

Prior to 2006, The Bronx River was still being used to remove raw sewage from Westchester
whenever the sewer system could not handle a rain storm.  I've caught a variety of fish while
fishing the river.  Bass, Carp and other panfish are abundant in the river.

My total for the day was 3 bass and two "club size bass (bass 8" - 12" long).

My first fish of the day is this bluegill, about 6 inches, on a white woolie bugger.

This is my most reliable fly.  I have had northern pike take a second look at this fly while I fished
for carp on the Passaic River.

I pulled out my hip waders.

For the better part of an hour, I was almost hip dip in decaying leaf matter at the river's edge.  The
bank looked like it would support my weight but three steps in I was stuck and rapidly sinking in this mess.  Fortunately, I did not panic and was able to get myself out by using a dead tree branch and shifting my weight onto my back pack.

Continuing to fish my old Bamboo fly rod.  It is so much fun seeing the rod bend even when I hook big bluegills.

While it was less humid, the air temperature was in the upper eighties; with almost no wind.

I've wanted to fish this part of the river with waders for a long time.  This section reminds me of trout water.  In fact, before the river became polluted, trout were actually stocked in the Bronx River

I was surprised at the number of carp pods that swam past me in this section.  Normally,
carp like to hold further west.

I caught two fish in this section.  I fished a number 10 hare's ear below a pheasant tail.
A bluegill took the PT and a bass weighing more than a pound took the hare's ear.  They were
 both on my line at the same time.  I don't know how the bluegill got off but it did.

Although they are not visible without you wearing polarized sunglasses, there is a pod of
about ten carp swimming  in the center of this picture.

Milburn , New Jersey fishing

The last time I went to Milburn, New Jersey, I noticed that there was a small lake south of the
train station.  During that earlier visited I fished the ponds in the area north of the train station.
They are Diamond Mill Pond and Cambell Pond  which are feed by the Rahway River that
passes through South Mountain Reservation.

This time, I went south of the station and fished Taylor Lake and Briant Lake.
These two lakes are fed by the same Rahway River and appear to be shallow.

Due to the heat during the "dog days of summer" with temperatures in the nineties on most
days, there is quite a bit of green muck on the surface of lakes in New York and New Jersey.

Both of these lakes show large patches of green algae, making fishing almost impossible.

Briant Lake

I was able to see evidence of carp underneath the algae.

I saw small bass swimming and carp swirling in the few open areas.

South Mountain Reservation, covering 2,110 acres (8 km²), is a nature reserve that is part of the Essex County Park System in northeastern New Jersey, United States. It is located in central Essex County, New Jersey, within portions of Maplewood, Millburn and West Orange, and borders South Orange, between the first and second ridges of the Watchung Mountains.^[1]

Carved from wilderness at the end of the 19th century, designed by Olmsted Brothers, and developed over a few decades, the reservation has changed only slightly through the years. Preserved primarily in its wild state, woodlands abound in a variety of hardwood trees, and tall hemlocks tower above streams, creeks and ponds, and waterfalls. Higher points, such as Crater View, offer vistas of the New York and Jersey City skylines, Elizabeth, Union Township, and Staten Island.^[2]