Central Park Fall Carp Campaign

My second carp campaign for the month was at Loeb Lake in Central Park.  The campaign was daily chumming a specific part of the lake with ground baits like corn, oatmeal and bread crumbs for at least five days.  From my past experience I know that carp like to feed in this area between 1:30pm and 4:00pm.

Early in this campaign I tried fishing 3:00pm and 5:00pm.  My catch rate went down.
The air temperature began to drop and feeding stops regardless of how much chum is put
in the water.  But before 4:00 o'clock, whenever the air temperature is near fifty degrees; keep your line in the water.

I'm thankful that the wind was calm.  I put out a buffet fit for a carp.  The algae has disappeared.    However, there are no signs that fish are in this area at all.  No bubbles, no swirls; not even a turtle or a catfish can be seen this afternoon.   With these conditions, If there is no activity it could mean that something has spooked the fish.

After four days of chumming, a weather front passed and the weather got colder.  I did not resume
chumming until the warmer temperatures returned several days later.  I picked up where I had stopped, bread crumbs, corn, and oatmeal.  The first carp I caught seemed to have deformed mouth.  It was missing the lower lip. That made it difficult to use the fish grip to hold the fish.  I tried about four times and each time the grip would slip off.

Fortunately, I brought my big net and used it.

My pop up rig allows me to loose one out of four carp.  I don't have any idea why but one
out of four carp never lands in my net.  I will make some pop ups using the Middy Las Soo carp
rig.  It maybe that the hair rig I used was too short.  I have used the Middy Las Soo for years with
excellent results.

Knowing how carp behave is essential to catching carp.   Aside from the behavior exhibited when carp spawn in the spring, I know almost nothing about carp in Brooklyn.  That is the reason I have not caught more carp in Prospect Park Lake.

It is just the opposite at Loeb Lake.  When air temperature is fifty degrees or in that area, I know that carp will be active in the afternoon before four o'clock.

I hope there is another warm spell.  I would like to be able to catch carp this winter.

Prospect Park fall carp campaign

Last spring, I caught my first carp in Prospect Park Lake. The "pop ups" in the above picture are not entirely my idea but the result of a series of trials based on my belief that the person who comes up with a way to fish the entire water column will catch more carp.  Using any means necessary to catch carp.

On my way to the lake I saw this hawk.  It was eating a rat.  Mmmm,good!

I first realized this many years ago while fishing for carp in the Passaic River.  I saw that carp
would feed on the surface, the bottom and that special place between the surface and the bottom.
My first attempt at this was swinging a #8 white woolie bugger through the water column to passing carp about a foot beneath the surface.  Carp would take the fly as if it were a struggling minnow.
 Egg patterns also work.

The important thing to remember is that carp eat anything and everything.  They are omnivores.
The presentation of the fly is what is important.  I have caught carp everywhere in the water column on trout flies, soft baits, and now I'm trying "pop ups".

I have been chumming with bird seeds, oat meal, corn and bread crumbs.  Each day, I arrive at the lake and chum near Duck Island.  Duck Island is the largest bird habitat in the lake.  In the summer carp swim around this island. but I'm not certain if they follow this behavior in the fall.  The air temperatures were near fifty degrees Fahrenheit.  I have not seen the large white koi that patrols here, normally during the warmer months.

After more than a week of chumming, I stopped.  Maybe the water temperature was too cold or that I chummed on the wrong-side of Duck Island but aside from a Golden Shiner, I saw nothing.  There was a carp lake in New Jersey, where carp would not begin to feed until after dusk between five o'clock and seven in late fall.  It was cold, very cold but carp were active and feeding.  Even experiencing frost bite is bearable when you catch a few, just before you go home.

Killer Carp On The Fly Take

Beginner grass carp flys

Prospect Park Lake

Back to the boat house today for some more fall fishing at the boat house.  Number 14 size
flies were the ticket for catching fish. I used a zug bug.

Again, fish were under the deck at the boat house.  Nothing seemed to be active off shore.

Loeb Lake in the pink

I returned to fish Loeb Lake.  This time I used a different fake bait.  It was pink to
resemble lunch meat.  You can see it laying on the pectoral fin in the photo above.

v 

Just to show that I am human I tried to walk on water today.  I slipped on a rock and the next thing
I knew I was in the lake, up to my groin area!  Quick foot work and a forward lunge towards a big rock prevented me from falling face first into the lake.  My shoes are made from gore tex so I was not
completely wet.

I have been using Rio LT trout fly line.  The result of using this weight forward line has been impressive.  It allows me to roll cast and use single rod spey casting technique where there is heavy coverage.  I used a 7 wt fiberglass fly rod and one of my Franco Vivarelli semi automatic fly reels.

I don't know what caused this carp to bleed but I was able to return it to the lake as quickly as I could

Almost no wind as the afternoon wore on.

Loeb Lake fishing with "Pop Ups"

After three days of dropping chum ( oatmeal, breadcrumbs and corn) into the lake, I began my fall 2017 carp campaign.  This has been a"go to spot" each fall for me.

I like this spot because it is quiet and there are not too many people.  The air temperature
has stayed in the seventies and the algae has dissipated.

I lost one, long distance and foul hooked another on fake corn.

Here is the chum I used.  It is just corn and oatmeal held together with bread crumbs and lake water

If you look closely you can see the corn "pop up" I used to catch carp.  I even caught a catfish on this set up.