Elkhorn fly rod

A few pumpkin seeds with the 2 wt, 8 foot, four piece rod and the  Maxcatch Automatic

fly reel.  However , in spite of the name, it is a semi automatic fly reel. Prospect Lake.

I caught this bass with a stalking bug fly.  It put up a hard fight but the 2 wt didn't give in.

This fly has caught numerous bass over the years.

  

 This picture, shows the black stalking bug, in the foreground, with the marabou tail.

Loeb Lake

It rained all day,  so I decided to ignore the wetness.  I can endure any weather to catch

carp, except temperatures below 50 F. I figured I'd try my luck at Central Park.  Due to the rain, there were few pedestrians in the park; so I could fish undisturbed by onlookers.

At first, all I saw were turtles.  Their behavior has been manipulated by people feeding them at this

 spot.  Normally I don't fish here because of this. I chummed and that seemed to create a frenzy in

their activity.  I waited and had to move about 30 feet away from where I had set up. It was twilight

and I was about to accept the reality that I would be skunked. But moving to a different spot seemed to confuse the turtles.  They didn't follow me.  I was about to pack up when my line started to move.

 My 7 wt fly rod weathered the fight and it was not a brief fight either.

Columbus Park

I caught a Green Sunfish in Columbus Park, in Dunnellon, New Jersey.  

I fished my favorite fly, the tarantula.  I need to order some more of these. I'm down to a few.

 

After the fly became water-logged I pulled out a small spider fly to continue fishing on the surface

Here is a nice blue gill, stuffed to the gills with the spider fly

I plan to fish this lake again because I only got to the western side.

 

Jack's Pond

I finally got to Jack's Pond on Staten Island.

I bushwacked around the renovated park and found these Canada Geese in the southern part.

I saw no fish in this shallow part.  It is a great place to lose flies and break tippet! 

It is marshy and one can cover their shoes in muck.  Fortunately, I wore my gore tex boots.

Looking west, the pond has several aerators  to try and eliminate algae in the summer when

it gets hot.

 Pictured is my 2 wt, 8 foot fly rod with the Maxcatch Automatic ( it is a semi-automatic)

I caught nothing but saw several turtles.

Weequahic Park

I've been to this park in Newark, New Jersey several times. I'm hoping

that I can catch a carp.  This lake, the largest in Essex County is home to big carp.  Previous

visits have resulted in the indignity of carp snapping my tippet and remaining in their home

The lake was calm. I began to search for fish on the west side of the lake.  There is a particular area where I had seen carp before.  But this time I saw no carp.  I chummed and waited.

And waited.  There was nothing, not even a blue gill.  

My 7 wt fly rod and the Thinkfish Bold semi automatic fly reel

 

My first carp of 2023

I followed my usual pattern of chumming for carp on successive days .

It all paid off this year with this brute.  It took about 15 minutes to land after it jumped

out of the water when I set the hook! 

 I used an old Fenwick Voyager spin/fly rod. It is a 6-weight, four-piece, 7-foot fiberglass fly

rod.