A good day of carp fishing

This is a day one dreams about, five hours and only daylight can stop you from greatness!

I caught ten carp.  Yes, a few were "cutie pies" but a carp is a carp.  I will savor this day
for awhile.

This was the largest of the day.  Look at the belly.

Carp

Not much to say here.  I had a good day.  I caught five and Dennis caught more for a total
exceeding twenty!

Note, Dennis' shoes and my carp net.

Biggest carp of the season

Here is the largest carp I have caught this season.  I've had some O K days and days
where I have caught nothing!

It took me more than thirty minutes to net this one.  The whole time it  resisted capture
I thought it was a "cutie pie", a carp that is new to the lake and weighs less than five pounds.
The name "cutie" was derived from what a passerby said after a carp was netted and displayed for photographs.

As I removed my fly I noticed that there was debris in the carp's mouth.  Old fishing line and
a forgotten carp hook.

A Boobie fly.

Side by side, Franco Vivarelli GOLDSTAR Vs. Maxcatch Automatic Reel

 The Franco Vivarelli semi automatic fly reel was the standard by which all other semi
automatic fly reels were measured.  The Goldstar was the epitome.  I caught striped bass with
this reel and twenty plus pound carp.  The spool had the capacity to hold weight forward #8 line.

Today, a new reel by Maxcatch has come on the scene called " Automatic Reel".  It should not be
compared to the heavy spring loaded reel of the fifties.  This reel is a semi automatic like
the Vivarelli.  It has a removable spool and retrieves line with the touch of the lever.  It has a cumbersome drag but it works. 

 

Here the Goldstar and the Maxcatch are shown upside down, side by side.  The Maxcatch
has a small spool which prevents it from holding more than weight forward line #5.
Here it is pictured with weight forward #4.

This is a view of both reel's nameplates.  Please note the Philips style screws which hold
the Maxcatch saddle.  It loosened several times while I fished.  I had to buy a #0 Philips screwdriver,
to carry with me when I fish this reel.

Look at the inside workings of both reels.  They appear to be mirror images.

The inside view of the spools is similar but different.  Note that the Maxcatch has it's adjustable
drag here.  The Goldstar does not have a drag showing.

Another view of the Maxcatch and the saddle screws.

Take a look at how Franco Vivarelli saddle holds.

Face up and side by side, the drag adjustment for the Goldstar is activated through a small
hole in the spool cap with an Allen key.  The Goldstar spool is removable by depressing a small
black rod which is located at the spool cap position. 

Another side by side view, showing the Maxcatch drag adjustment knob in the center
of the spool. Turn it "clockwise" or "counter-clockwise" to increase or decrease drag.
This reel was delivered by Maxcatch without any instructions at all!

Line guards

Maxcatch spool can be removed by using a screwdriver and turning the screw counterclockwise.

                                     

Inside the Maxcatch Automatic Reel

Inside the Franco Vivarelli Goldstar semi automatic fly reel

Prospect Park on a summer afternoon

This was my first afternoon fishing in Brooklyn.  I fished an old 5/6 weight, 9 foot rod
with  my JMC Ozone semi automatic fly reel.  One of the "silent fly reels" I own.  I  caught a
crappie.  My first non bluegill catch since summer began. ( The crappie resisted)

My second fish was of course, a bluegill.

Carpin in September

I am still testing the limits of the Maxcatch fly reel.  Today I fished an older fly rod I bought
years ago.  It is a Browning "Backpack"  four-piece, 8 foot,5/6 weight.  Many fish have been
 caught with this rod in the past.

I underlined the rod with the four weight fly line.  It worked well and I netted
four carp with it.

The fish in the lake are small but they put up remarkable fights.  By "small" I mean compared
to the double-digit carp that were caught on a regular basis in past years.  So if you want to challenge your skills try fishing with nothing more than your trout rod for feisty, young, carp.

Some of the flies I carried this day.  Egg patterns, flies tied with the Mc Fly material, a couple of "Bobbie" type flies, a floating pellet and a #14 size deer hair fly in red.  Standard deer hair flies in size 10 or larger are not the favorite of the carp this season; for some reason.

So me and Dennis are experimenting with size, color and material used to make the flies.

I'm still looking for a material that will sink slowly through the water column like Mc Fly flies.

Here is an example of what I mean.  The two flies resting on the U.S. quarter dollar coin
are #14 and #12 deer hair flies.  Does size matter?  Yes.

Note, I included a #12 white woolie bugger in the lower-left box. I've caught numerous
fish, including carp with the irresistable woolie bugger. Some of the flies in my box are more
than ten years old but they still work.

Dennis with one of the five fish he caught.

Water Lillie

Catch and releasing