Fly fishing in Prospect Park

Went out for  a short time in the afternoon.  Nothing special , just out to fly fish in Brooklyn.  Fishing is still slow in the afternoon.  I may need to change my sleeping patterns.  Water levels are low due to
a lack of rain.

I changed to a newer Franco Vivarelli semi automatic fly reel.  This one has an adjustment for the drag.  But this reel does not allow the drag to be adjusted while you are fishing.  The drag can only be adjusted before you begin to fish.  It has the quick spool release in the center of the spool which allows the spool to be changed quickly.

Fly Fishing The Meer

I went up to Harlem to fish The Meer this afternoon.  I was surprised to not see lots of algae
on the water surface.  It was there but not in the concentrated amounts visible during the summer.

I'm still fishing with my fiberglass fly rod.

You can see from the picture that the water looks almost clear around the bird sanctuary.
Normally you can catch a few bluegill around the edges of this island using small
nymph patterns.  This afternoon , there was nothing here.

Looking north across The Meer.  This part of The Meer can hold panfish, including
Largemouth Bass.  The Meer has less invasive plants than Prospect Park Lake at this time.

There was some landscaping being done on the stream that connects the Pool
at 103rd street and The Meer.  They've widened and deepened this channel making, I think,
it look like a real stream.

Here it looks like a wild stream in a forest.  I wonder if panfish will become established in this
part.  I can imagine the Tenkara Bums frequenting this part of the park.

As the sun set, I arrived at The Pool.  Sometimes, Bass less than a pound will attack
anything that moves on the surface or submerged!  Recently a bass weighing more than
three pounds was caught here.  I spent the remainder of the daylight trying to catch
a bass here.  I worked my way across The Pool, using different flies.  I could not see any
 indication that there were any fish.  After switching to a black wooly bugger, I got my first
hit .  It was a "club size bass (less than 12 inches).  It jumped and fought until it released itself
about twenty feet from shore.

Fishing at Prospect Park Boathouse

It is fall weather.  Normally fishing here picks up as fish begin to feed before colder temperatures and  winter arrive.  I went out with the hope that panfish would be feeding as the afternoon progressed.  The temperatures allowed me to fish in my shirt sleeves and not wear a jacket.

The water in front of the Boathouse in Prospect Park was not covered in algae and duckweed
as it has been for most of the summer.  There was no wind and the water surface looked like a mirror
I like to start fishing with nymphs or small wooly buggers.

I picked up this fiberglass fly rod on eBay a few years ago.  It is a 7', 6", 3 piece, 3/4 wt.
It is matched with my old Franco Vivarelli semi automatic fly reel.  This is one of the earlier versions.
There is no quick release so that the spool can be changed fast.

Usually fish like to hold under the wooden deck at the boathouse.  Today it was different
I saw no fish in front of or under the deck.  In fact, the only fish I caught was just south
of the deck.  The rest of the water here showed no fish.

Bronx River

The Bronx River was clear near Tuckahoe.  I walked completely around the pool of water.
But there were no carp feeding.

Since I had my hip waders I walked down the river to the next pool.  For the most part, the river is shallow here.  The water rarely exceeds three feet.  I walked slowly so as not to disturb any fish before I saw them.  There were no carp to be seen this morning.   The only thing I saw in the river that was unusual was floating patches of algae.

My advice about the river is to walk carefully as there are many "soft spots", especially
at entry points.  Whether wet wading or wearing full waders it is possible to find yourself
in trouble if you are not careful.

About eleven o'clock I located a pod of carp that were roaming the flats pictured above
but just as quickly has the pod appeared, it disappeared.  except for a small orange koi
I could not find the pod again.  I spent the remainder of the day looking for carp with
George.  George likes to swing egg patterns to catch carp on the Bronx River.  Neither of us
 caught anything.

Fishing North White Plains

I've been here a few times.  What prompted this visit was the hot humid weather we had this
summer.  This pond is located just south of a reservoir in Westchester.  I thought that  because
it is near the reservoir the water would be cooler and less likely to produce algae.

My theory makes sense but algae was all over the pond's surface.  I located an open area where carp
were feeding.  I tried to fish but there was so much plant growth beneath the surface that I could not
see anything.

This is the spot that was kind of open.  Note the bush that is in front of the water.
I had to roll cast over the bush and try to place my fly in an area that appeared to be plant free.
I gave up and moved  to another spot at the south end of the pond.  But it too was covered by underwater plants.  Meanwhile, carp were feeding on the surface on the eastside of the pond.

It took a while to bushwack my way through the underbrush on the eastside.  There were thorns and poison ivy in that area; so I had to be very careful as I picked my way through the brush.  I never got a chance to take a shot at the surface carp.

Just as I got to the feeding carp, It moved to the center of the pond.  It continued to feed and
I made my exit from a forest of thorns.

Fishing Panfish in Prospect Park Lake

My fishing buddy Dennis and I have been trying to catch a few carp here in New York City.
We have seen a lot of turtles but very few carp; in part due to the hot , humid weather we've had and
the algae bloom in the shallow lakes of New York City.

We have been skunked a number of times this past August at Loeb Lake in Central Park.
I think the key to catching fish during the heat wave is to have some idea when fish are feeding.
Prospect Park recently had a fish kill due to the poor water conditions in the cities second largest
lake.

We heard that a couple of carp had entered the water in front of the boathouse.  However,
when we got to the boathouse, the surface of the lake was covered with duckweed.  We couldn't see anything.  Dennis suggested that we fish for bluegills and crappies.

So we walked to the west side of the lake.  There we caught quite a few bluegills and crappie
on small dry flies and streamers.  Not bad for a hot summer afternoon.

Fishing King Fisher Pond

I took the Staten Island Ferry to Staten Island.  The Verrazano Bridge is in the background.  It links Brooklyn with Richmond County, also known as Staten Island.  I've actually crossed the bridge while
riding on my road bike; it was closed to motor traffic.  It is surprisingly steep but once you get past the middle, it is all down hill!

My destination was a kettle pond.  The last time I was here  I saw lots of feeding fish.  I brought my hip waders as the ground here is very soft and muddy.

When the weather cools off a bit I plan to visit Eibbs Pond.  It is New York City's largest
kettle Pond.

King Fisher Pond is shallow and has turtles too.  Note the tree stumps.

When I arrived it was hot and extremely humid.   There were mosquitoes buzzing in my ears.
Duckweed was covering most of the pond and I saw no indication that fish were feeding
anywhere.

Water levels in wetlands are variable, influenced by the underlying rock and soil makeup, rainfall, season, and ground water inputs. Despite these variable conditions, freshwater wetlands teem with life. Vegetation ranges from plants that float on the water’s surface, such as duckweed (Lemna) and watermeal (Wolffia), to trees of the upland swamp forest, like red oak (Quercus rubra) and silver maple (Acer saccharinum). Freshwater wetlands are critical habitat for native wildlife, providing breeding grounds for amphibians like the spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum), which spends one or two years in the water before emerging as an adult. Wood frogs (Rana sylvatica), spring peepers (Hyla crucifer), and Fowler’s toads (Bufo woodhouse fowleri) also breed in kettle ponds, filling the woods with their courtship songs in spring.

Kingfisher Park’s wetlands support diverse wildlife. In 1999, during a bird watch, wildlife enthusiasts counted 35 distinct species of birds. In addition to the belted kingfishers (Ceryle alcyon), the park is also home to glossy ibises (Plegadis falcinellus), herons, spring peepers, great egrets (Ardea alba), and snowy egrets (Egretta thula). The pond is home to frogs, turtles, catfish, sunnies, and carp. The trees and undergrowth provide a backdrop for wildflowers such as the swamp rose mallow (Hibiscus palustris) along the water’s edge and the unusual pink lady’s slipper (Cypripedium acaule), a large, cucumber-root plant. In addition to housing these native species, freshwater wetlands also provide resting, breeding, and feeding grounds for hundreds of thousands of migrating birds. Many of these birds arrive in New York City only twice a year as they travel along the Atlantic flyway, a major migratory route.