Fishing Strack Pond

Strack Pond is named after a Viet Nam era soldier who was killed in action.
I've wanted to fish this pond for about two years; it is another kettle pond, found in New York City.

Two years ago a youngster fell through the ice here and drowned.  I was unaware that this
 small pond existed until the tragedy.

Located in Forest Park, Strack Pond is a popular area in Forest Park.  While I was there,
a steady stream of visitors came and many sat down on the rocks and tree trunks.
It is a quiet area where a visitor can sit in the sun and watch nature.  Unfortunately, there are the
the ever present turtles which inhabit urban fisheries but the water is clear.  There is no, absolutely,
 no duckweed or algae!

I sat on a convenient rock and relaxed.  I  spent the time counting the turtles and looking for signs of fish.  (My rig, mini trout magnet under an indicator is shown above.)

The only signs of fish were an Egret seemingly sipping fish on the south end of the pond.
It made me aware that there were, at least, small fish here.

Looking north on Strack Pond

Another view of the quiet, tranquil pond.

There was no wind this afternoon.

I fished a few flies and softbaits trying to see what is in this pond.  My first offering
was a softbait grub on a scud hook.  Something tried to take it but failed.  A few more cast

into the same spot resulted in a quick series of tapping.  However, no take.

After trying some different flies, a decision was made to try fishing with an indicator.
The pond is about four feet deep, so I set my indicator at about two feet.  Nothing!
So, I went to periscope depth,six inches, that was pay dirt  I caught my first fish.  I cast again and caught another feisty Green Sunfish.  I did see a much larger fish broach the pond surface in the center of the pond.

Strack Pond is a glacial kettle pond located inside Forest Park, Queens, New York City. The pond was buried in 1966 and restored four decades later.^[1]

Its namesake was a Woodhaven resident killed in the Vietnam War. The pond is located at a point to the west of Woodhaven Boulevard and south of Forest Park Drive in a natural depression. Historically, Strack Pond did not have an official name. It was given its name in February 1969 after Private First Class Lawrence E. Strack. Strack grew up in Woodhaven and ice skated on what was then an unnamed pond. In the summer, he played in the Rich-Haven Little League, which was composed of children from Woodhaven and Richmond Hill. He signed up to serve as a paratrooper in 1966 and briefly returned home to marry his childhood sweetheart. On March 3, 1967 during a combat parachute jump in Vietnam, PFC Strack was killed in a fierce firefight.

For many years after the renaming, the site was used by the Rich-Haven Little League. The site often flooded after even a moderate rain, making it unusable for much of the year. In May 2004, the restored pond was opened to the public as a three-acre nature preserve with a trail descending to the pond.^[2][3] Cleanup of the pond started in 2019. A full renovation with a patio has been proposed but is currently unfunded.^[4]

My favorite fly - Turck's Tarantula

Tarantulas are one of my favorite flies.  I like the sound it makes when it is stripped through the
water.  The first time I ever fished this fly was in the Catskill Creek in New York.  A group
of us had traveled there to fish for bass and anything else we could hook.

We spent the day catching Smallies and panfish.  Since that time I have caught Largemouth and even carp with this fly.

This afternoon I was hoping to catch a few bass in Prospect Park.  The spawn is finished and it is
open season on bass.  I fished a big # 6 fly in an effort to overwhelm the greedy bluegills in the
lake.

I was surprised that they were not really deterred by my tactic.  Fish after fish impaled
themselves.  Most never reached my hand but about a third were photographed for their
transgression!

It was a fun afternoon walking around the south end of the lake.  I had to stop frequently
to put extra gink on the fly.

By the time I reached the westside of the lake, I finally hooked a "club size" bass.  There is a cubby hole where these fellows hold.

But back to the main event, greedy BGs.  Splashing, smashing, and sucking in my fly.
Fortunately , the tarantula had a barbless hook, so it was easy to dislodge the hook from the tiny mouths that surrounded it.

                                                  The Turck's Tarantula (green)

 Fly Originator and History:  Guy Turk developed his Tarantula in 1990. George 
 Anderson used this fly to win the Jackson Hole One-Fly Contest that year and 
 it has since become one of the most popular attractor flies in the world.

                                   

An over worked, fiberglass, Fenwick Floater Bum after a day in the park.

Mini Trout Magnet on a fly rod in Prospect Park

Got the mini trout magnets today.  They come with a 1/200 weight jug head and are
actually made to be fished with a fly rod.

I fished on the Peninsula this afternoon.  The Peninsula is a heavily forested area in
Prospect Park.  Many people get lost here because it appears to be another way to walk
to the eastside of the park.

It is the land that goes no where .  No hills, just trees and walking paths that allow you to enter
 and leave this part of the park.

I managed to hook this "club size bass" (bass that are 8 - 12 inches long)

As I walked I tried fishing any spot of water that was not showing signs of algae growth or duck weed.

Red seem to be the hot color today.

Oh yeah,I managed to sink the Mini Trout Magnet into my ring finger!   I didn't panic
and was able to separate myself from the Mini Trout Magnet, no worse for the wear.

Dry fly fishing in Prospect Park

After I arrived at the park to day, I had a technical problem that almost sent me home.

The Franco Vivarelli Gold Star reel lost a spring which limited it's use to retrieve line .

I was able to do a work around by hand striping line to bring in the fish I caught.  The weather is warm and so is the water.  It seemed that only small fish were active.  I decided to fish the top water
this evening.  So I gunked up a few dry flies and terrestrials.

Turtles made their presence known but I saw no bass or crappie.   Algae is beginning to show
in the water here and I wonder when Blue Algae will end fishing in Prospect Park Lake.

I was getting hits but fish were not really biting.  The usual spots that hold fish were still
open.  However, it took patience to hook fish.  After awhile I switched to a beetle

 That changed the fishing for me.  Each spot I fished gave me bluegills, once I caught
a couple of fish I moved to my next spot.

Darkness is slow in coming because it is spring and sunset is later.  When I checked my watch
it was almost eight o'clock and I still hadn't completed  the area I had planned to fish.

There were no long cast because clumps of thick green algae spotted the surface of the water
Fishing was done by leaving just the head of the fly line out of the rod.  Too much line and I would have more fly line to hand strip in.  Here and there, my reel would work and I could reel in line
using the semi automatic lever.

By the time I caught my last fish, the sun was setting. So I packed up took the fiberglass Fenwick Floater Bum rod apart and took Wells Drive to the eastside of the park

Yesterday Fly Fishing on the Peninsula in Prospect Park

This afternoon I fished a part of the lake I haven't fished in a long time, The Peninsula.

This is a view from the Peninsula looking east towards Duck Island, one of five bird
 sanctuarys located in Prospect Park Lake.

I fished a few softbaits until I caught this fellow.

Fly fishing a zug bug in Prospect Park

Yes, he jumped out of the water!  It was dusk and light was disappearing fast as I stood
on the west side of the lake this evening.  I was casting one of my favorite flies, the Zug Bug.

Most evenings when I fish this part of the lake bluegills like to hold about twenty feet from
shore.  If there are no turtles around, I can catch a few BGs.  If I stand between the trees, I can even
Belgium casts to get more distance. 

This evening was different.  I hooked a "club size bass " with a Zug Bug.  It, the fly,
got into the cartilage of the jaw and held until I got the fish to shore.