Carp on dry flies

There is nothing as exciting as being able to cast a dry fly to a carp feeding on the surface
Patience, accuracy and stealth must be matched to a particular fish's feeding.

Some of my favorite places to catch carp on the surface feeding are in New Jersey.
Tom, the terminator (catches more than 500 carp each season) had given me a bag
of dry dog food to use as chum.  The heat of the summer had begun to take it's toll on the lake.
gobs of green moss like growth had begun to clump on the lake surface.  But fish were
 actively feeding and it didn't take long for the carp to start eating the dog food I scattered
 on the lake.

Recently I have had carp refuse my dry flies, no matter what size or color.  I thought about
 this for a while and came to the conclusion that something about my deer hair flies is
making it easier for carp to see the difference between real food and my fake flies.  I believe
it is the subtle movement  of floating food as opposed to a fly that is attached to a tippet.
So I attached my fly to the  tippet using the non slip knot and fish took notice by accepting
the deer hair once again.  I hooked four carp but lost three just before I could land them.
I hope this is a permanent solution to carp that refuse my deer hair flies.

Midge fishing for carp

A picture taken from the Staten Island Ferry, as it crossed the harbor to reach
Staten Island.

Every time I  pass The Brooklyn Bridge, I remember being "topside" on the USS Hardhead,
SS 365 as my Naval Reserve Unit went to sea.  We sailed from the then Brooklyn Navy Yard
under the bridge and out into the Atlantic Ocean.  The Atlantic is rough during late fall
and the waves came over the sail as we waited to dive.

This is the Verazzano Bridge which links Long Island  to Staten Island

I returned to Clove Lakes  to fish for carp.  I've taken every opportunity to understand the three
 lakes found in this park.  The behavior of the fish in each lake is different.  Here pictured is a brave orange koi sitting in the open.

I've seen this koi on more than one occasion. I even got it to feed, a little.

On the west side of the lake I spotted this small white koi sunning near a fallen tree.
.

On the east side of one of the lakes koi hold near structure like this tree that was knocked
 down during a big storm about two years ago.  Koi seem to like holding under fallen trees.  I've seen
this behavior before in Prospect Park Lake

Here a common is taking an afternoon siesta under a fallen tree.

This is a picture of some of the midges I used when I fished for trout in Brewster,
New York, near the dam.  It is tail water but trout, bass,panfish and carp can be caught there.

These flies are # 20 and smaller.  Somewhere in this  box of flies, I  hope to find a fly
which will allow me to catch carp when they are eating midges.

The Verrazano–Narrows Bridge (sometimes called simply the Verrazano Bridge) is a double-decked suspension bridge in the U.S. state of New York that connects the New York City boroughs of Staten Island andBrooklyn. It spans the Narrows, a body of water connecting the relatively protected upper bay with the larger, wide open lower bay.

The bridge is named for the Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, whose name is misspelled on the bridge, as well as for the Narrows. In 1524, while in the service of Francis I of France, Verrazzano became the first European to enter New York Harbor and the Hudson River.^[3] It has a central span of 4,260 feet (1,298 m) and was the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its completion in 1964, surpassing theGolden Gate Bridge by 60 feet, until it was in turn surpassed by 366 feet by the Humber Bridge in the United Kingdom in 1981. It has the eleventh longest main span in the world, while retaining its place as the longest bridge span in the Americas. Its massive towers can be seen throughout a good part of the New York metropolitan area, including from spots in all five boroughs of New York City and in New Jersey.

The bridge establishes a critical link in the local and regional highway system, and also marks the gateway to New York Harbor. All cruise ships and container ships arriving at the Port of New York and New Jersey must pass underneath the bridge and therefore must be built to accommodate the clearance under the bridge.^[3] Since 1976, the Staten Island end of the bridge has been the starting point of the New York City Marathon.^[4]

Clove Lake, carp eating midges on the surface

Carp had already starting to eat midges by the time I reached Clove Lakes.  It was like watching the hot dog eating contest at Coney Island with pushing and shoving!

I have only witnessed this type of feeding once before. There used to be a hatch like this
in Prospect Park Lake.  Every evening at 6:00pm, bluegills and crappie would eat
just below the surface like this.

I counted about thirty fish, swimming and eating in groups of five and six.

They moved within a few feet of the shore and back out to the middle of the lake.  They
gorged themselves with unseen delicacies and ignoring everything else.

I fished a nymph pattern (#20) under a dry fly but apparently it was too big.

I had a small area in which to stalk but this is typical of urban fly fishing.  In spite
of the trees and bushes, I was able to put my fly on the lake (about a 20 foot side arm cast).

Note the tip of my rod between the the leaves on the left.

I stood the whole time in water up to my ankles , wet feet trying to catch carp on a fly!

Fishing Clove Lakes on Staten Island

It is almost a year since I was last at Clove Lakes Park in Staten Island.  On my last visit I noticed
a feeding pattern that carp followed.

Carp were feeding east to west in the lake today.  But they appeared to be eating microscopic bugs.
I've seen this pattern before but have not determined how to take advantage of it.

They were eating in a frenzy.  They fought each other as they hovered just below the surface of the
lake to eat whatever it was that the carp ate.

A small snail

Looking south.  This park has three lakes that are linked by stream like canals that allow
the water to flow from south to north.  It has bass, bluegill, bullhead, carp, crappie, maybe more.

Clove Lakes Park is a public park located in the New York City borough of Staten Island, in the neighborhood of Sunnyside.^[1]

With valuable ecological assets, Clove Lakes Park has a rich natural history and a few remnants of the past. Chief among them are the park's lakes and ponds, outcroppings of serpentine rocks, and Staten Island's largest living thing, a 300-year-old tulip tree. Clove Lakes Park is home to many species of indigenous wildlife. Visitors can see fish such as brown bullhead, bluegill,pumpkinseed, largemouth bass, and carp; birds, such as red tailed hawk, kingfisher, cormorant, red-winged blackbird, Canada geese, and mallard: as well as reptiles and amphibians, like thecommon snapping turtle, eastern painted turtle, red eared slider, and occasionally even the red back salamander. The park is also home to mammals, like gray squirrels, muskrat, eastern cottontail and the eastern chipmunk.

Passaic River for pike

A carp fishing buddy, Ant saw the picture of the pike caught by Jay and wanted in on
catching the "water wolf".  We fished a different part of the river this time.

 There were places where I would sink a few inches in the soft muddy river bottom and there were places where he would sink in mud up to his calves.  Ant even had his shoe removed by the suction of the mud.  He is a big guy and out weighs me by one hundred pounds.

The Passaic river

Ant fishing a spinner bait and getting a hit

We saw cruising smallmouth bass here but the weather was very warm; bass were not feeding.
Later he hooked his first Northern Pike but lost it when he slipped and fell in the mud before
I could take a photo.

Orvis Full Flex fiberglass fly rod and carp

I caught a carp on the Orvis Full Flex fly rod in Passaic, New Jersey.  I hooked eight carp
but only landed one.  I don't know why this happened.  At first I thought it might have been
because I used too small of a hook size( #14).

I tried a larger hook size.  And I lost what felt like a big carp (he ran from one end of the lake to the other).  It seemed that my hook set was good .  I fought the fish no different from other fish I' ve landed in the past.  Could it be the rod?  This rod is old but it has caught a lot of fish.

What is odd about losing the fish was I landed one and then proceeded to lose a few more.

Fishing the Bronx River

I met a fishing buddy at the Metro North train station.  We planned to fish New York City's
only fresh water river for carp.  The purpose of this outing was to get Reg his first carp on a fly.

There are carp and panfish in the river from North White Plains all the way down to the Bronx
at River park.  However, even with mulberries hanging above the river from mulberry trees, we were
not able to catch any carp.  Carp were suspending in the river but not feeding on anything.

Fishing in Baldwin , New York

My camera shutter is broken and that is why my pictures have a shadow.  I hope to receive a new
camera in the mail soon.

Pictured here is my old Orvis Full Flex  fiberglass fly rod.  It is a 2  piece, 8 weight, 8 foot rod.
I've fished this rod for years but until now never carried it with me.  It was restricted to use in
Brooklyn.  Who wants to travel around with a two piece fly rod under their arm on a bus?

I went to one of several lakes in Baldwin, New York.  I saw a few carp but caught none.
Maybe it was the hot weather we are having now.  I did manage to catch this bluegill