Crappie in the Park

I was walking in Prospect Park this s afternoon and I met this gentleman fishing at the
Mud Hole, just south of the Lullwater.  I was talking to him about fishing when he hooked this
 slab of a crappie!  Just another example of why we fish in Brooklyn.

Pelham Lake and Glenwood Lake

Pelham Lake is actually a reservoir for the Hutchinson River.  I have fished here a couple of times
and never caught anything.  But I couldn't pass it up this afternoon.  It look so calm and inviting
as my train approached Pelham Station.

Fishing this lake on this hot afternoon was not my initial intention.  It was a"spur of the moment"
thing because I saw the lake and it look like I would catch a few fish here before heading
east to Glenwood Lake.

My intention was to fish this lake at each opening in the brush quickly, so that I would still have
time to fish Glenwood.  I saw no fish in the clear water.  I saw no fish holding until I got to the
 south shore of the lake.  Here, I saw small bass and bluegills in a holding pattern and facing a
south wall I've seen this behavior before and it means fish are not in a feeding mode.  Small fish
 will respond but there is little chance of catching bigger fish.

I tried a Green Woolie worm and hooked a tiny BG.  There were dozens of fish in the water at
my feet.  None were interested in the flies I used.

Sweating,  I walked to Glenwood Lake.  Glenwood Lake is fed by an underground stream.
It makes the lake appear to have a huge aerator in the center of the lake.  I've been told that the lake is stocked with trout in the spring.

Crappie fishing is reported to be good in the spring.

There is evidence which shows that there are carp here too!  As I walked the shore line,
there were swirls as a fish moved from the shore.  I went to two lakes and hooked 4 BGs.

Hughes Lake fly fishing for carp

My Fenwick Floater Bum 3 piece, 7weight fiberglass fly rod, with the Franco Vivarelli Goldstar Reel

I went back to Hughes lake this afternoon with some "Gravy Train" dog food.  I bought it
awhile ago to try in Prospect Park.  If you have ever heard of this dog food before, you know it is supposed to make it's own gravy when water is poured on the dog food.  My hope was, carp will
love it.

I have not tried to catch carp at this lake in more than a year.  Would carp come up to feed on the surface as they have in the past?  There were a few fishers present on this hot afternoon.  It was so warm that no one was sitting in the sun to fish.

I sat in the shade and began to throw handfuls of the dog chow onto the newly renovated lake.
Nothing happened.  About an hour later still no activity on the lake surface.  My hopes had been placed on the idea that Gravy Train would release a scent in the water and attract carp to
eat.  After about 90 minutes I saw swirls in the water, maybe 100 feet from where I sat.

Lots of swirls, as carp were eating dog food on the surface again at Hughes Lake. It was
time to get my deer hair flies out and try to catch carp .  I saw the feeding pattern changed to carp eating about 20 feet from shore; instead of 5 feet from shore.   I had to make several presentations
with carp,you must do what their behavior dictates.  I finally hooked one. That carp made my drag SCREAM as it pulled line from my reel.  Five minutes later the carp was still online and making serious   runs in the lake.  It took more than ten minutes to tire the fish and bring it to hand.

It wasn't a double digit fish but it was my first carp of 2019!

Carp at Hughes Lake

Wow, it has been a year since I fished here.  Hughes Lake used to be the best lake for carp fishing on
both sides of the Hudson River. The lake had been neglected for so long that only carp, green sunfish and catfish lived in the lake.

Now it has been dredged.  It has a couple of aerators.  The lake has been planted with water plants.
Bass and a few trout were added to the menu but I still miss the old fishery.  The old lake
allowed a fly fisher to sight fish, use dry flys and fish on the bottom at the deeper, east
end of the lake.

Twenty pound carp were in this lake.!

Somehow they have also removed the Canada geese and ducks that seemed to be embedded in the lake.  The waterfowl were a nuisance, eating any bread intended for the fish and pooping everywhere.

I met a young fly fisher, Chris, who was fishing for carp.  He managed to hook and land a
carp just before the train was approaching to take me back to New York.

Hessian Lake with my fly rod

Veni Vidi Vici!  I fished Hessian Lake at Bear Mountain State Park for the first time.
When I competed as a Paralympian, I would come to the park for training and roller ski up
Perkins Memorial Drive, a four mile vertical road.  Tourist frequently drive to the top but
athletes use the road to condition themselves for competition.  Once at the top I would run down part of the Appalachian Trail to return back to the parking lot.   Until this visit,  I had never seen the lake

Hessian Lake is unlike most of the places I normally fish.  The water is clear and the average depth of the water is twenty four feet.  It has Brook Trout, Smallmouth Bass and panfish.  At it's deepest point,
it is forty feet deep.

My first try at catching fish here was with a crappie tube.  It didn't catch anything but in
fairness, nothing caught fish this afternoon unless I was fishing on the westside of the lake.
The temperature was in the nineties!  On the westside, the lake was in the shade of the mountain.
It made all the difference after 5 PM.

The crappie tube did get a few takes which I believe were aggressive, immature, bluegills.
They will attack anything.

After having no success with softbaits, I switched to another go to trout fly, I like to fish, the Zug Bug.  It is a nymph pattern that I often carry( unless I'm fishing for Northen Pike).

On the westside of the lake, I found openings which allowed me to have access to the shore;
even tho there were lots of  steep on that side.  I only wear Adidas Gore Tex boots when
I fish which gives me the added advantage of being able to stand in shallow water while I fish.
Sometimes, this means I can stand where others end up being wet, with soggy socks.

Fish were cautious and after getting one or two fish in a particular spot they would
disappear and I would move on to the next opening.

These were not the biggest fish but they were the only fish that anyone was catching between
5 and 7 PM.  Bass were not seen in the shaded area of the lake this afternoon.

Even "lay downs" were not providing more than two fish.

I worried while walking around the lake that I might step into or on poison ivy or a poisonous snake.

This photo was taken at the flat part of the lake at the north end which extends out about twenty feet

Looking west on Hessian Lake, in the distance is the boat concession.  At 7 PM, that area
was shaded and it produced some nice bluegills.

Hessian Lake, formerly known as Highland Lake and also Bloody Lake, lies at the foot of Bear Mountain on a plateau nearly 1,000 feet above the Hudson River. Dunderberg runs along from Jone's Point (Caldwell's Landing), until it merges into Bear Mountain, and the chain is continuous until it culminates in Bald Rock, Mount Independence, Cro' Nest, and Storm King, which form the highest and most nothern part of the Highlands.

The Native Americans that inhabited the mountains from Dunderberg to Cro' Nest were part of the Lenni Lenape nation. On the banks of the Sinnipink, as Hessian Lake was then known, the principal village of the Waoranecks was situated.

Stephanus Van Cortlandt, who owned a tract of land north of Anthony's Nose, purchased several hundred acres including Sankapagh Creek and Sinnipink Lake, and was secured by patent. The Waoranecks were then fighting the Warranawonkongs, by whom they were subdued. A few years afterward, the entire tribe was scattered throughout Pennsylvania and its identity was forever lost. With the departure of the Waoranecks the Native American history of Sinnipink ended.

In 1775, when Forts Montgomery and Clinton were erected to guard and obstruct the Hudson, Highland Lake still retained its Native American name of Sinnipink. The forts commanded both river and lake. Outposts were formed and fortified at intervals along Popolopen Creek and on the shores of Sinnipink. Old earthworks at the north end can still be traced. A clump of cedar trees has ground around them, and few know of their existence today.

On October 6, 1777, before dawn 2,000 English, Hessian and Tory troops quietly left Stony Point. Colonel Beverly Robinson, an American Tory, whose house stood until two years prior on the east side of the Hudson and was known as Arnold's headquarters, acted as guide. They marched along the foot of Dunderberg until Bear Mountain was reached. There the force was divided into two parties.

One division of 500 British regulars and 400 Hessians, under command of Colonel Campbell, took a route back of Bear Mountain and came out on Popolopen Creek about four miles west of Sinnipink. They advanced rapidly down the creek until Slaughter Hole was reached. This whirlpool was then known as Hell Hole, and the superstitious believed that it was bottomless. Here the Americans had three field pieces mounted on a bank overlooking the narrow ravine. When Campbell's detachment entered the defile a shower of grape and cannister swept the ranks. In a moment the column was thrown into confusion, and the mountaineers followed up their advantage by hurling rocks into the ranks of the panic-stricken soldiers.

Colonel Campbell now saw that unless he quickly dislodged the patriots his division would be annihilated. He ordered 300 men to scale the bank and capture the cannon. The Americans numbered hardly fifty, but they fought like heroes, and when compelled to retreat they hurled their field pieces into the bottomless hole and made their escape to the fort. Nearly 200 redcoats found a grave at Slaughter Hole.

While this fighting was going on at the north end of Sinnipink, General Vaughn and Sir Henry Clinton, with 1,200 troops, took the old road through Doodletown and up to the east shore. Here the pass is very narrow. The lake washes it on one side and the steep bank of the Hudson lies on the other. At this narrow and dangerous spot there was a strong outpost. The Hessians were in the lead and boldly attempted to carry it. They were repulsed again and again with great slaughter. General Vaughn, seeing this, ordered them to the rear, and the redcoats charged the works, which were quickly carried. Two hundred and fifty Hessians fell in trying to take the outpost. Their bodies were thrown into the lake, which according to witnesses, was red with Hessian blood for several days after. Since that time Sinnipink was known as Bloody, or Hessian Lake.

Hessian Lake is in Orange County, New York, and is now used for recreation purposes. It has a normal surface area of 45 acres. It is owned by NYS Parks and Recreation Palisades.

Three in one - Turtle pond, The Pool, The Loch and The Meer

Today, Turtle Pond, in Central Park was my first stop.  Central Park's Turtle Pond is famous
for one thing, smallmouth bass.  This is a unique fishery because it is located in the
center of New York City, just a few blocks from Times Square.

Unfortunately, there is limited access to this pond.  The Central Park Conservancy is anti fishing.
Since I began fishing in Central Park, in 2004. The Conservancy has deliberately erected fences and planted shrubbery at the shore line of all 5 lakes in the park.

Since there was no fishable access at Turtle Pond, I went back to the subway and took
the train to 103rd street.  I hope to fish for a few largemouth bass in the fishery known as The Pool.
It was covered in duck weed. So I walked to The Meer at 110th Street.

This is a picture of the newly created Loch between The Pool and The Meer at 110th Street.
There are fish in the Loch, mostly "club size bass (8" - 12"). The Loch is swallow, less
than 3 feet but it is up to 25 feet wide at some points.

This bluegill slammed my soft bait, fished under an indicator in The Meer.

My second fish took a "Trout Magnet" as I walked around the edge of The Meer.

Looking south at The Meer

Third Fish

Fourth fish and the sun set!


                                                            Turtle Pond

Like all of the other water bodies in Central Park, Turtle Pond is man-made, filled with New York City drinking water. It is the home to five species of turtles who live in the Pond year round. It is said that many of these turtles started out as pets in city apartments, but eventually outgrew their urban accommodations, and were brought to the Park by their former owners. The most common species in Turtle Pond is the Red-Eared Slider, which you can identify by the small red spots around their ears. They love basking in the sun on flat logs or rocks, which makes the base of Vista Rock the perfect spot for their sun bathing activities. When the sliders are provoked, they quickly slide back into the cool waters of the Pond. Turtle Pond has the distinction of being the most recent water body added to the Park's design.

In 1937, the receiving reservoir of the old Croton Water System was filled in to become the Great Lawn, and only a small hard-edged pond was left as a reminder of the once-vast reservoir. Restored by the Central Park Conservancy in 1998, the Pond was reconfigured to a more naturalistic shape and a nature blind was added to the Pond's northern shore, so Park visitors could quietly observe the Pond's wildlife without interfering with their natural habitats. The beautiful aquatic plants on the shoreline provide a habitat for birds, dragon and damselflies, and, of course, all those turtles!

                                                                       The Pool

With its grassy banks, weeping willows, and rushing waterfall, the Pool is one of the most idyllic spots in the Park. Central Park's designers, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, constructed the Pool by damming up a natural stream that was known as Montayne's Rivulet. They sent the water along a northeastward course to form both the Loch and the Harlem Meer. Today, the water that gushes out of a grotto on the Pool's southern shoreline is in actuality New York City drinking water that comes from a pipe hidden deep in the rocks. Many species of birds, fish, and amphibians can be seen at the Pool. In 2003, Central Park Conservancy completed a restoration of the Pool, protecting it as a healthy environment for wildlife and a picturesque landscape for Park visitors.
                                                                              
                                                                            The Loch

Winding through the Ravine, the Loch, Scottish for "lake," is partially fed by a natural watercourse, known in the 17th and 18th centuries as Montayne's Rivulet. It flows under Glen Span and Huddlestone arches before connecting to the Meer. The stream, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, is dammed in several places to create three magnificent cascades, some of the greatest features of engineering and art.

                                                                          The Meer

Central Park designers Olmsted and Vaux named this man-made water body "the Meer" — Dutch for "lake." It memorialized the former separate village of Harlem that was settled in the 17th Century by European settlers and included the upper regions of Central Park.

Today, families flock to this area for catch-and-release fishing, skating and swimming at Lasker Rink and Pool, and exploration at two nearby playgrounds. The Harlem Meer is also a thriving wildlife habitat and home to fish, turtles, and waterfowl. Several varieties of trees, including oak, bald cypress, beech and gingko, surround it.

On the northern shore of the Meer stands the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, a visitor center run by the Central Park Conservancy. The Center hosts free community programs, exhibits, and holiday celebrations including the popular Halloween Pumpkin Sail and winter Holiday Lighting. There's also live music on the plaza in the summer at the Harlem Meer Performance Festival.

                                                                 Seneca Village - Central Park


What we now know as Central Park has a rich social history that dates back to well before the current urban oasis was constructed in the mid-nineteenth century.  One such example is the story of Seneca Village.  It was one of the very first African American communities in New York City and existed from 1825 through 1857. It was located between 82nd and 89th Streets and Seventh and Eighth Avenues in what is now a the part of Central Park just west of the Great Lawn. It was also Manhattan’s first significant community of African American property owners. By the 1840s, it had become a multi-ethnic community of African Americans, Irish, and German immigrants, and perhaps a few Native Americans. In 1855, the New York State Census reported approximately 264 individuals living in the village. This included three churches, as well as a school and several cemeteries.  Good fortune for the residents of the city in general was bad luck for the residents of the tiny community – within two years Seneca Village would be razed and its identity erased by the creation of Central Park.

5 Best Carp Baits - How to Catch Carp - Carp Bait recipes and Tricks.