Raining

Today it rained, no fishing, no roller skiing. On a day like this I make use of my health club membership. This was my second visit this week. I did more than an hour of cardio training before jumping on the weight machines. I felt pretty good; like I could have done more.

I took a look at the map of the Bronx river on Google. The Bronx river is New York City's only fresh water river. Several years ago herring were released in the Bronx river and that first batch should return to spawn in 2011. Stripe bass like to eat herring so next fall could be very exciting.

Fall fishing

Went to Central Park for carp today. I fished the Lake at 72nd street near the Bethesda Fountain. Tourist congregate here to take pictures, so it is not an ideal place to fly fish for carp. I wore earth tone clothing and was surprise to find that the carp seem to not see me standing in the shadows. I stood as still as possible while the carp surfaced and ate my chum. I used the white mullet fly again.






Waterfall near the boat house in Prospect Park

More carp

Took to the river this afternoon, the Passaic River. It took awhile to figure out what fly to use. I tried different colors first, red, brown and then I saw a carp go for something white. I tied on a white mullet fly. I hooked into a carp that heading east across the river and then made a sweeping right turn as it headed down river. This caught me unprepared. When I looked at my line, I saw that half of my backing was in the river! I started to run along the river bank to prevent the fish from cleaning my clock. I managed to slow the fish and get my backing back on the reel. Eventually, I got the fish to shore.



After I released the fish, I crawled back to my hooch on the river bank and rested for a long time. Sitting in my shaded spot I noticed the flowers and the bumble bees pollinating. Sometimes you catch a fish and it is so satisfying that you no longer need to catch another fish. This was that type of fish.


Passaic River



My carp flies ( any questions?)

To chum or not chum that is the question.

carp feeding in a local pond.



carp taken on a deer hair fly ( without chumming)



carp taken on fly ( with chumming)



There has been a debate about using chum to catch carp with flies or not. I believe both are acceptable methods for catching carp. Not all carp fisheries are alike. Sometimes you can find carp in clear shallow water. sometimes the water is not clear or shallow. When carp are present but not visible I use a chum of some sort to get the carp feeding. My goal is to make the carp feed on the surface where I can see them.

The Night Stalker

I went out at dusk this evening. I like to go out and try to catch fish as the park quiets down and the weekend visitors head for home. I took my 11 foot rod and my new reel. By the time I had set up it was dark. I fished a bunch of wet flies and lost a few to trees. There was evidence of golden shiners being pursued by bigger fish but I could not get any fish to take my flies.



The Boat House at Prospect Park

Central Park

The Meer

I headed up to Central Park for some power fishing( fishing for two hours or less). My first stop was the lake at 72nd street but there were too many people.


The Meer (looking north)

My next stop was the pool at 103rd street. There I met two Australians eating lunch in the warm afternoon sun. One man offered me money if I could catch a three pound bass. I laughed and told him that if I could do that he would have to watch me on television. I tied on a white BH woolie bugger and made a few cast to spots where fish like to hold. If wasn't long before I had a fish.


The bass

I landed a bass, about a pound or so. I yelled for the two Aussies. I showed them the bass but declined the three dollars they offered me for my performance.


The pool

As they left the park one man handed me a 5 dollar Australian bill.



The pool at the 103rd street

Roller skis

I have been roller skiing for about 30 years now. I do it now mostly for fun since I no longer compete in cross country ski races. When I competed this form of exercise was mandatory for nine months of the year. Roller skis allow a ski racer to prepare for the stress and strain required to race on skis. It is still enjoyable to go out for an hour or two and simulate skiing on snow while others watch and wonder what you are doing.