Hughes Lake

One of my favorite places to fish is Hughes Lake. It was the best carp lake in the greater

 New York area. In an effort to improve the quality of the lake, it was drained and dredged.

Bass were added to the lake and many of the large carp were released into the Passaic River.

The established patterns that the carp had, are long gone.  It is challenging now to find 

where carp are holding.  The lake is deeper than it used to be. The lily pads are new too.

 After observing the behavior of some of the carp, I realized that the carp were closer to the edge of the lake and tailing there.  I lost a few in the lily pads but caught this one on the Blue Maxcatch glass rod

using the old Thinkfish Bold semi automatic fly reel.

Kissena

I traveled back to the place where I caught my biggest carp ever, Kissena park lake.

In April 2013, at the end of the day my buddy, Dennis and I hooked two large carp.  We were

using deer hair flies on # 10 hooks.  We saw several really big carp feeding on the surface.

 To say that we were excited is an understatement. We had just climbed a fence to get into

 this place in the park.  Our backs were up against a wall. There was no room to back cast.

  But we used Spey casting technique to reach the open mouths of these fish.

 It took me an hour to finally land my fish It made more than eight runs across

the lake.  A few years later, the lake had an emergency that required The Department of Parks to pump water into the lake in order to raise the oxygen levels.  Fish did die. Today was the first time

 I returned to the lake. And, I was skunked.

 

Elkhorn fly rod

A few pumpkin seeds with the 2 wt, 8 foot, four piece rod and the  Maxcatch Automatic

fly reel.  However , in spite of the name, it is a semi automatic fly reel. Prospect Lake.

I caught this bass with a stalking bug fly.  It put up a hard fight but the 2 wt didn't give in.

This fly has caught numerous bass over the years.

  

 This picture, shows the black stalking bug, in the foreground, with the marabou tail.

Loab Lake

It rained all day,  so I decided to ignore the wetness.  I can endure any weather to catch

carp, except temperatures below 50 F. I figured I'd try my luck at Central Park.  Due to the rain, there were few pedestrians in the park; so I could fish undisturbed by onlookers.

At first, all I saw were turtles.  Their behavior has been manipulated by people feeding them at this

 spot.  Normally I don't fish here because of this. I chummed and that seemed to create a frenzy in

their activity.  I waited and had to move about 30 feet away from where I had set up. It was twilight

and I was about to accept the reality that I would be skunked. But moving to a different spot seemed to confuse the turtles.  They didn't follow me.  I was about to pack up when my line started to move.

 My 7 wt fly rod weathered the fight and it was not a brief fight either.

Columbus Park

I caught a Green Sunfish in Columbus Park, in Dunnellon, New Jersey.  

I fished my favorite fly, the tarantula.  I need to order some more of these. I'm down to a few.

 

After the fly became water-logged I pulled out a small spider fly to continue fishing on the surface

Here is a nice blue gill, stuffed to the gills with the spider fly

I plan to fish this lake again because I only got to the western side.

 

Jack's Pond

I finally got to Jack's Pond on Staten Island.

I bushwacked around the renovated park and found these Canada Geese in the southern part.

I saw no fish in this shallow part.  It is a great place to lose flies and break tippet! 

It is marshy and one can cover their shoes in muck.  Fortunately, I wore my gore tex boots.

Looking west, the pond has several aerators  to try and eliminate algae in the summer when

it gets hot.

 Pictured is my 2 wt, 8 foot fly rod with the Maxcatch Automatic ( it is a semi-automatic)

I caught nothing but saw several turtles.

Weequahic Park

I've been to this park in Newark, New Jersey several times. I'm hoping

that I can catch a carp.  This lake, the largest in Essex County is home to big carp.  Previous

visits have resulted in the indignity of carp snapping my tippet and remaining in their home

The lake was calm. I began to search for fish on the west side of the lake.  There is a particular area where I had seen carp before.  But this time I saw no carp.  I chummed and waited.

And waited.  There was nothing, not even a blue gill.  

My 7 wt fly rod and the Thinkfish Bold semi automatic fly reel