Fly Fishing at The Meer

  It is my first time fishing at The Meer in awhile.  Each spring I look forward to starting the season
 here because of the Crappie and  mature Bluegill.

My friend Dennis  has advised me to look for patrolling carp near the entrance to the park.
Carp do follow a swim pattern and if you know it  it makes fishing for them less difficult.

Upon entering the park I saw several Koi sunning themselves .

Here there are four Koi, two orange and two white, holding just off the bottom

I used a soft hackle pattern to catch this first Bluegill.

I fished my March Brown 9 foot, 2 weight fly rod and a 6X tippet. 

It was kind of windy but I was able to cast and reach fish all around The Meer.

A different look at The Meer from the south end.  Here the wind was calm and the
the bluegills large.

This fish is seven inches long!

I lost a good number of fish but I caught more than I lost.  Fish under four inches were not photographed.

I ended the day fishing an articulated nymph.

The water is still quite clear because the air temperature has not become warm enough
to cause an algae bloom or duck weed to form.

Bluegills in Prospect Park

It is hard to believe that a month ago the lake was covered in a thick layer of ice.
Today the temperature reached a high of 70F!

Another fiberglass fly rod was fished today.  Five years ago I picked up a 7 foot, 6 inch, 3/4 weight
on e Bay at the ridiculous price of $15.00.  I've even caught carp with this rod.  It has a  nice slow
flex too.

This is an epoxy fly that resembles bass fry.  Pickerel like it.

Spring is here

Fly Fishing in Prospect Park

The new season has started.  The lake is finally free of ice and for the first time in months we have had
several days of weather with air temperatures above 50F.  This picture is of the area where carp
and Koi will spawn in a week or so.

I took out an old Fenwick 6 weight to start fishing this afternoon.  I matched it with my JMC
Ozone semi automatic fly reel.

The water temperature was a surprising 50 F  which is a good sign for feeding carp.
I fished for an hour and never saw a carp.

But this is spring and crappie, bluegills and golden shiners are active.  The first fly I tied on my line was a black hares ear.  I didn't get anything.  I switched to a soft hackle fly and started to catch crappie and bluegills.

Even bass were active more than 15 bass of various size were caught this afternoon by the
guys fishing with bait casters.

St Croix ultra light fly rod

I acquired this St Croix fiberglass fly rod several years ago.  There is no information on the internet about St
Croix ever making a Banty fiberglass fly rod.    

.                                     

 It is a two piece, 2 weight, 5 foot fly rod.  The reason I bought this rod was to be able to cast in
 the tree filled parks of  New York City.  Rarely do I use this rod now.  I've become a better fly
caster since then.  I may bring it fishing again just to put a few more fish on this ultra light rod.

There is some illegible writing on the rod.  It may indicate the name of the maker or the original owner.

Vibram five finger Bikila W P running shoe

Lapland Lake Grooming

Lapland

Went skiing for the first time since September 15th , 2013. without my niece and nephews.
Lapland Lake has had a tremendous season so far.  The area has had packed powder since
some time in January.

I skied the lower Karhu trail because it is far easier than trying to ski the entire Karhu trail by doing
the upper loops.  My legs do not have the conditioning required to hold together on the steeper
climbs and faster down hill runs.

The last time I saw powder snow like this was when I was in Salen, Sweden, 1986!  The snow is
almost like concrete but it is fast for skating and classical skiing.

To the left are the expert trails, on the right, back to the lodge for rest and coco.

A lower "selfie" of me standing over my no wax skis.  Yes I skied on no wax skis today, too lazy
to wax.  But I should have brought some waxable skis as the conditions were excellent for hard wax
this past weekend.

I hope to get back to Lapland Lake at least once more before the season ends.