The fall carp campaign has started in Central Park Loeb Lake

 

 Alea lacta est!  The die is cast.  The start of my carp campaign for 2022, has started.

The bottom photo shows the bend in my rod (Big Blue).  A passer by took the picture.

Old faithful - Orvis Full Flex 8 foot Fiberglass 2 piece fly rod & Thinkfish Bold semi automatic fly reel

                     

Brought out my favorite fiberglass fly rod. The Orvis full flex, two piece, eight weight, eight foot

fly rod.  It is always fun to cast for me and even strangers who are passing by. You'll notice that I'm using the Thinkfish Bold semi automatic fly reel , this time.  

When I use this reel, I have to be careful when pulling the lever to retrieve fly line.  The reel's spool

will turn five times; so bird nests are common after a battle with a big fish.  Bold is one of the fastest

reels when it comes to line retrieval.

 

SPIDERS AND BLUEGILLS

More spiders today. I fished near the old boat house. I didn't expect there to be much top water

so I was surprised.

I know it is not fair to fish for blue gills with an 8 weight fly rod but I want to practice casting

this rod.  I want to get better at single hand spey casting.

 My big box of blood worm patterns, with tarantuls and spiders

Over kill - fishing with Beulah 8 weight switch rod and 300 gram OPST fly line

I just felt like casting this evening.  So I picked up my switch rod and went Prospect Park to work on

my spey casting.  The water in the lake looks like it does in the spring time, clear with no blue algae

or any algae at all.  The sun sets earlier now because we are well into fall.  But it is still warm enough

that a tee shirt is all I need.   really didn't expect to catch anything.   just wanted to practice casting.

 

Here it is a four piece, ten and a half foot, eight weight, switch fly rod.  I used my graphite ATP 37

semi automatic fly reel which is loaded with the Olympic Peninsula Skagit 300 gram fly line.  I made

some nice casts and felt satisfied with my "snap tees" for changing direction.

 

Two fish at a time

I'm still testing the Maxcatch fiberglass rod. Today I fished a spider and a small bloodworm pattern.

I fished the blood worm as a dropper to the spider.  If you look closely, you can see the flies in their mouths.

I caught these two near a tree fall in the Lull water. I was surprised as this spot has not been productive

in years.  This is a good sign.

 

Orvis Hydros Bank Shot Float using different fly rods

In an effort to test the Orvis Bank Shot fly line, I've been fishing the line using different fly rods, to see if there is a difference in how the rods perform.

I do like fishing the fiberglass rod because it is only 8 feet long and can travel in 4 pieces.

I enjoy fishing rods that have a slower flex than graphite fly rods

I found that while the cane fly rod didn't cast  the Orvis fly line better than the fiberglass rod, I was able to shoot line while executing the Belgium Cast.

 

Fly fishing the Bronx river

Wow! First time being up north to fish The Bronx River in several years. Weather

was pleasant. I walked both sides of the river and caught some panfish along the way.  No carp today.

I wanted to feel my way around and see what was happening

I fished my Maxcatch 5 weight and a small spider. The eastside of the river was more productive than

the westside of the river.