Single Hand Skagit with OPST Commando Heads - OPST

Prospect Park fishing a streamer

Normally I avoid fishing in Prospect Park Lake on a Saturday.  On the weekends
the park is crowded with park visitors.  But I went in spite of my foreboding of congestion
and noise.  On my way to the lake I saw some of my old cycling buddies, whom I had not
seen in a few years.  I no longer ride my road bike.  Spending hundreds of hours sitting on
a hard saddle has lost it's allure.

I talked with the group of riders for a long time.  As the evening progressed, We said
good bye to one another and I walked to the south end of the lake.  There was a woman
fishing with a fly rod.  This is really, really unusual, to see a woman fishing alone
especially casting a fly rod.

I walked to the three islands in the lake.  In the past this was a great place to fish
because of the structure near the islands.  At one time bluegills and crappie with a few
"club size" bass thrown in the mix made for a fun time.  Fish poaching has ending the
easy, fun fishing that was here.

A zug bug got the skunk off me when I caught my first bluegill of the evening.
A bass fisher that I know caught up to me and we began to fish together.

 We worked our way toward the west side of the lake.  I checked to see how the mulberry
trees were doing.  I saw no berries .  My fishing buddy dropped his line into a heavily
 vegetated spot and was rewarded with a violent strike!  The fish wrapped the line around a
 submerged branch and you know what happened after that.

By this time I had chosen a small black woolie bugger to fish, about a size# 10.  I started
fishing to my right.  I got a hit and reeled in a four or five inch bluegill.

After a few more, I hooked a crappie.  Another Belgium cast and I had hooked another
crappie.  It seemed that I could not, not catch a fish in this location.  About forty feet
from where I stood my friend was catching fish too.

I was a well oiled fly fishing machine.  Me and the black woolie bugger were merciless.
Night was above me now and my vision was being limited by the absence of the sun's light.
How it happened  I do not know but I lost my fly.  It was too dark to tie on another.

My buddy finally caught a large mouth bass and we walked out of the area grinning from
 ear to ear.

Goose Pond ( A kettle pond)

Goose Pond is another kettle pond located in Queens.  It is small but it holds fish.
The largest kettle pond in New York City is located on Staten Island but Queens has the most kettle
pond in New York City.

Until this visit I had not meet anyone who had fished this pond;that is until I met
Shawn.

Shawn greeted me by claiming he could catch fish and if given the chance

he could cast my fly rod.  I have heard this boast from many boys as I fish in different

places. I refused to take his bet about casting a fly rod.  However, He caught more 

fish than I.  A total of four fish, 2 small catfish, 1 goldfish and maybe a small koi!

He used pieces of monofilament he found, corn kernels and a number #10 hook .

                                                                                                                            

Last year I "discovered "this pond by doing a Google Map search of Queens. when I
arrived, last year, I chummed for the carp that are here.  I only caught a glimpse of a koi
break the surface but it showed that there were fish to be caught here.

Another indication that fish are present is this Egret pacing the shore line for a bluegill
or two.

I fished the pond with a variety of flies but never got a bite.  This place is 15,000
years old and I got nary a nibble.

Nestled in the Jamaica Hills is another kettle pond, Goose Pond, located inside Captain Tilly Park. The park’s namesake was George Tilly, son of a local landowning family who fought in the American conquest of Philippines in 1899, where he was killed in combat. The spring-fed pond nearly dried by in the 1990s, and the city then dug deeper and restored the pond, which features a bird sanctuary isle. This is likely the tiniest isle in the smallest public pond in the city.

An afternoon fly fishing in Central Park

Dennis and I got together for what has become a spring ritual in Loeb Lake.  Surface fishing for carp
using deer hair flies.  I was surprised that unlike The Meer and The Pool, this water has not been
affected by algae,yet.  That is one of the new boat shelters that have been erected around the lake.
The idea being that a person  in a row boat can pull in and the occupants can get out of the boat and stretch their legs .

We managed to fish for about ninety minutes but no takes by anything this afternoon.
I saw no fish at all; even the turtles were scarce.  If at first you don't succeed, try try again!