HUGE Catfish on the flyrod!

Giant Channel Catfish Caught on a Fly Rod

Pond Fly Fishing for Carp

New Bread Fly for Carp

Great idea for a bread fly!

Easy to tie carp flies: corn and bread fly tying by FlyCarpin Hungary

Thinkfish Bold semi automatic fly reel (High Sticking)

Thinkfish Bold semi automatic fly reel in action

Big Rainbow On Thinkfish Bold

Late fall carp

After the success, I had last Christmas Day, I was anxious to try and catch a few more carp
before winter cold sets in for good.

I selected a place on the lake where it is often quiet.  A place where I believed the fish would feel safe
and undisturbed by people in row boats.  I picked a place where I know carp travel and loiter.  This spot, I have fished for carp on many different occasions, spring , summer, fall and last winter when the air temperature was a balmy 65F here.

I recommend if you want to try this, that you chum at the same time, for at least 3 days.
Yes, a minimum of three days before you wet your line.  The idea is to create a place where the tired,
cold and hungry carp can come relax and enjoy the company of others like themselves.  Want
 seconds ? no problem.  Not hungry? It will be there all the time just waiting for carp to feed.  After several days of this hospitality, carp are very likely to be less weary.  And anxious to partake in the carp smorgasbord spread out on the bottom of the lake.

On the third day, I begin to test the waters for feeding carp.  The carp rig I used has been modified to suit my needs.  I've attached a split shot above the "corn",  I've hair rigged to my tippet.  This particular "corn" is  buoyant and the split shot allows the lure to suspend about 2 inches above the ground where a feeding carp can see and hopefully take my offering in its mouth.

Traditional crap fishers call things like this "pop up".  Pictured above is one of my carp
fly boxes.  All of the flies pictured can be fished as "pop-ups".

Fishing for carp in late fall or winter requires fortitude and patience.  I once sat in a steady
downpour watching carp go about their business. Around the ninety-minute mark, my fingers started to get numb.  I had to make several attempts to land the carp as my  fingers were so numb from the cold that they were hard to move.  I hope to get a day or two more of warm,(for this time of year) weather to see how many December carp I can catch.  I lost 4 carp before
landing this one.

8 Carp bait recipes - Homemade carp bait - How to catch carp

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Ultra light carp fishing 2

I usually fish this part of Loeb Lake at the beginning and end of the season.  I draw fish to this area
by chumming with a mixture of corn, oatmeal and odds and ends I have at home.  I don't like
to keep carp bait in my house during the winter.

I used a cheap fiberglass fly rod I bought a few years ago on eBay.  This rod cost all of $15.00.
My ultralight equipment for this day included  a 3pc, 7'6" rod and a carbon fiber semi-automatic
Franco Vivarelli reel designed for trout.  Once I wrote to Franco Vivarelli's customer service office questioning if their carbon fiber could be used to take carp.  They answered with a resounding NO!
But I tried it anyway.

My process for late fall chumming a lake is to pick several consecutive warm weather days
 ( above 50 F.).   Each day I chum at a time when I know carp like to feed in this part of the lake.

I continue to chum and fish the "spot" until the weather turns colder.

I managed to catch this rare fantail carp

Catching carp with ultra light equipment

Sometimes I feel like a nut, sometimes I don't.  Today I used a cheap 3 wt, fiberglass fly rod
to catch carp.  It is a 3 piece, 7' 6" slow flex rod. I really wanted to use my nine-foot graphite  rod
but I knew I would be casting with tree branches all around me in this spot.  So, the nine foot 2 wt was left at home for this trip.

After not having caught any carp in awhile, I set up to fish in Loeb Lake, one of the 5 lakes
located in NYC's Central Park.  My goal is to see how days I can catch fish before air
temperatures dip below 45F.   The sun heats the water here until 3:00 o'clock.  This is the time
when carp feed in this part of the lake.  Here the lake is secluded and quiet; which is what I want when I fish for carp.

Here is my 3 piece, 3 weight fiberglass fly rod with the carbon fiber, Franco Vivarelli semi
automatic fly reel.  I chummed with a ground bait.

Hutchinson River

Look what I saw in the Hutchinson River. Menhaden Swimming and feeding in the Hutchinson River
I have walked the Hutchinson for a few years now.  When I look at maps I see that the river
after leaving Pelham Lake flows into Eastchester Bay.

Today, I followed the flow of the river after it leaves the lake.  I came upon this sight of
"bunker" feeding.  They are filter feeders, which was evident as they swam by with
their mouths open.

What I found to be unique was that they swam in groups.  Larger fish swam above smaller
fish. It looked like a crisscross pattern .

The New Rochelle Water Company dammed the Hutchinson River in 1886 and 1907, to create three reservoirs (No. 1, No. 2, No. 3) at the northern end of the community. The Westchester County Park Commission purchased the reservoirs and the surrounding water shed property in 1927, for parkland and parkway purposes.^[5] A part of the land was used for the Hutchinson River Parkway, which follows the river for most of its distance.

The Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia Tyrannus) is a North American species of fish in the herring family, Clupeidae.

Atlantic menhaden are found in the North Atlantic coastal and estuarine waters from Nova Scotia south to northern Florida. They are commonly found in all salinities of the Chesapeake Bay and Mid-Atlantic water. They swim in large schools that stratify by size and age along the coast. Younger and smaller fish are found in the Chesapeake Bay and southern coastline while older, larger fish are found along the northern coastline.

Characteristics
Atlantic menhaden are silvery colored fishes characterized by a moderately compressed body and a black spot on their shoulder behind their gill openings. They can reach a size of approximately 15 inches.

BiologyDiet
Atlantic menhaden are filter feeders, meaning that they collect food by filtering water through modifications of the branchial apparatus (gill arches and gill rakers). Atlantic menhaden’s diet depends on the size of their gill rakers, which change as menhaden age. When the rakers are smaller, which generally correspond to when they are under the age of 1, Atlantic menhaden feed primarily on phytoplankton. As they age and their gill rakers grow larger, menhaden shift their diet to primarily consume zooplankton

Lifecycle
Atlantic menhaden can spawn year round in inshore waters off the Atlantic coast, with the highest spawning rates near North Carolina in the late fall. The eggs hatch in the open ocean and the larvae drift to sheltered estuaries via ocean currents. The young spend a year developing in these estuaries before returning to the open ocean. At this early stage, they are commonly known as "peanut bunker". Atlantic menhaden usually do not become sexually mature until the end of their second year, after which they reproduce until death. A young, sexually mature female can produce roughly 38,000 eggs, while a fully mature female can produce upwards of 362,000.

Eggs are buoyant and hatch within 2 to 3 days depending on the temperature. The larvae will spend 1 to 3 months in waters over the continental shelf. The Chesapeake Bay is a popular nursery for juvenile menhaden. Larval fish will enter the Bay in late winter and early summer. The larval fish will move into lower salinity waters in estuarine tributaries while juvenile and immature fish remain in the Bay until the fall. Atlantic menhaden can live up to 10 to 12 years.

Predators
Atlantic menhaden are preyed upon by fish such as striped bass, weakfish and bluefish, and by birds such as ospreys and eagles. Humpback whales off the coast of New Jersey feed on Atlantic menhaden. Other cetaceans, such as fin whales and dolphins also eat menhaden. Dolphins can eat up to 20 pounds of Atlantic menhaden a day.

Fishing Woodlands Lake

I've caught carp in the Saw Mill River before.  This lake is formed where the River collects
near a waterfall.  A few trout have been known to frequent this water.  The theory is that they swim down from where they  still stock trout.

The sun was setting when I finally arrived ( I got lost).  And while the temperature had been like
summer weather in the afternoon, the weather changed to fall conditions and the wind picked up.
I had walked to the park; as a result, I had begun to perspire.   When perspiration meets cooling
breezes, the person perspiring becomes cooler too.  Another layer was needed.  I felt like I was fishing in a meat locker!  After almost two hours of no bites; I left for the train.

I saw no fish activity in the water (Bass,carp, crappie).

Woodlands Lake is on the Saw Mill River in Westchester County, New York and is used for recreation purposes. Construction was completed in 1840. Its normal surface area is 13 acres. It is owned by Westchester County Dept Of Parks and Recreation.

Woodlands Lake Dam is masonry, rock fill. Its height is 20 feet with a length of 200 feet. Its capacity is 87 acre-feet. Normal storage is 87 acre-feet.

Fly fishing in Prospect Park

Went out for  a short time in the afternoon.  Nothing special , just out to fly fish in Brooklyn.  Fishing is still slow in the afternoon.  I may need to change my sleeping patterns.  Water levels are low due to
a lack of rain.

I changed to a newer Franco Vivarelli semi automatic fly reel.  This one has an adjustment for the drag.  But this reel does not allow the drag to be adjusted while you are fishing.  The drag can only be adjusted before you begin to fish.  It has the quick spool release in the center of the spool which allows the spool to be changed quickly.

Fly Fishing The Meer

I went up to Harlem to fish The Meer this afternoon.  I was surprised to not see lots of algae
on the water surface.  It was there but not in the concentrated amounts visible during the summer.

I'm still fishing with my fiberglass fly rod.

You can see from the picture that the water looks almost clear around the bird sanctuary.
Normally you can catch a few bluegill around the edges of this island using small
nymph patterns.  This afternoon , there was nothing here.

Looking north across The Meer.  This part of The Meer can hold panfish, including
Largemouth Bass.  The Meer has less invasive plants than Prospect Park Lake at this time.

There was some landscaping being done on the stream that connects the Pool
at 103rd street and The Meer.  They've widened and deepened this channel making, I think,
it look like a real stream.

Here it looks like a wild stream in a forest.  I wonder if panfish will become established in this
part.  I can imagine the Tenkara Bums frequenting this part of the park.

As the sun set, I arrived at The Pool.  Sometimes, Bass less than a pound will attack
anything that moves on the surface or submerged!  Recently a bass weighing more than
three pounds was caught here.  I spent the remainder of the daylight trying to catch
a bass here.  I worked my way across The Pool, using different flies.  I could not see any
 indication that there were any fish.  After switching to a black wooly bugger, I got my first
hit .  It was a "club size bass (less than 12 inches).  It jumped and fought until it released itself
about twenty feet from shore.

Fishing at Prospect Park Boathouse

It is fall weather.  Normally fishing here picks up as fish begin to feed before colder temperatures and  winter arrive.  I went out with the hope that panfish would be feeding as the afternoon progressed.  The temperatures allowed me to fish in my shirt sleeves and not wear a jacket.

The water in front of the Boathouse in Prospect Park was not covered in algae and duckweed
as it has been for most of the summer.  There was no wind and the water surface looked like a mirror
I like to start fishing with nymphs or small wooly buggers.

I picked up this fiberglass fly rod on eBay a few years ago.  It is a 7', 6", 3 piece, 3/4 wt.
It is matched with my old Franco Vivarelli semi automatic fly reel.  This is one of the earlier versions.
There is no quick release so that the spool can be changed fast.

Usually fish like to hold under the wooden deck at the boathouse.  Today it was different
I saw no fish in front of or under the deck.  In fact, the only fish I caught was just south
of the deck.  The rest of the water here showed no fish.

Bronx River

The Bronx River was clear near Tuckahoe.  I walked completely around the pool of water.
But there were no carp feeding.

Since I had my hip waders I walked down the river to the next pool.  For the most part, the river is shallow here.  The water rarely exceeds three feet.  I walked slowly so as not to disturb any fish before I saw them.  There were no carp to be seen this morning.   The only thing I saw in the river that was unusual was floating patches of algae.

My advice about the river is to walk carefully as there are many "soft spots", especially
at entry points.  Whether wet wading or wearing full waders it is possible to find yourself
in trouble if you are not careful.

About eleven o'clock I located a pod of carp that were roaming the flats pictured above
but just as quickly has the pod appeared, it disappeared.  except for a small orange koi
I could not find the pod again.  I spent the remainder of the day looking for carp with
George.  George likes to swing egg patterns to catch carp on the Bronx River.  Neither of us
 caught anything.

Fishing North White Plains

I've been here a few times.  What prompted this visit was the hot humid weather we had this
summer.  This pond is located just south of a reservoir in Westchester.  I thought that  because
it is near the reservoir the water would be cooler and less likely to produce algae.

My theory makes sense but algae was all over the pond's surface.  I located an open area where carp
were feeding.  I tried to fish but there was so much plant growth beneath the surface that I could not
see anything.

This is the spot that was kind of open.  Note the bush that is in front of the water.
I had to roll cast over the bush and try to place my fly in an area that appeared to be plant free.
I gave up and moved  to another spot at the south end of the pond.  But it too was covered by underwater plants.  Meanwhile, carp were feeding on the surface on the eastside of the pond.

It took a while to bushwack my way through the underbrush on the eastside.  There were thorns and poison ivy in that area; so I had to be very careful as I picked my way through the brush.  I never got a chance to take a shot at the surface carp.

Just as I got to the feeding carp, It moved to the center of the pond.  It continued to feed and
I made my exit from a forest of thorns.

Fishing Panfish in Prospect Park Lake

My fishing buddy Dennis and I have been trying to catch a few carp here in New York City.
We have seen a lot of turtles but very few carp; in part due to the hot , humid weather we've had and
the algae bloom in the shallow lakes of New York City.

We have been skunked a number of times this past August at Loeb Lake in Central Park.
I think the key to catching fish during the heat wave is to have some idea when fish are feeding.
Prospect Park recently had a fish kill due to the poor water conditions in the cities second largest
lake.

We heard that a couple of carp had entered the water in front of the boathouse.  However,
when we got to the boathouse, the surface of the lake was covered with duckweed.  We couldn't see anything.  Dennis suggested that we fish for bluegills and crappies.

So we walked to the west side of the lake.  There we caught quite a few bluegills and crappie
on small dry flies and streamers.  Not bad for a hot summer afternoon.

Fishing King Fisher Pond

I took the Staten Island Ferry to Staten Island.  The Verrazano Bridge is in the background.  It links Brooklyn with Richmond County, also known as Staten Island.  I've actually crossed the bridge while
riding on my road bike; it was closed to motor traffic.  It is surprisingly steep but once you get past the middle, it is all down hill!

My destination was a kettle pond.  The last time I was here  I saw lots of feeding fish.  I brought my hip waders as the ground here is very soft and muddy.

When the weather cools off a bit I plan to visit Eibbs Pond.  It is New York City's largest
kettle Pond.

King Fisher Pond is shallow and has turtles too.  Note the tree stumps.

When I arrived it was hot and extremely humid.   There were mosquitoes buzzing in my ears.
Duckweed was covering most of the pond and I saw no indication that fish were feeding
anywhere.

Water levels in wetlands are variable, influenced by the underlying rock and soil makeup, rainfall, season, and ground water inputs. Despite these variable conditions, freshwater wetlands teem with life. Vegetation ranges from plants that float on the water’s surface, such as duckweed (Lemna) and watermeal (Wolffia), to trees of the upland swamp forest, like red oak (Quercus rubra) and silver maple (Acer saccharinum). Freshwater wetlands are critical habitat for native wildlife, providing breeding grounds for amphibians like the spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum), which spends one or two years in the water before emerging as an adult. Wood frogs (Rana sylvatica), spring peepers (Hyla crucifer), and Fowler’s toads (Bufo woodhouse fowleri) also breed in kettle ponds, filling the woods with their courtship songs in spring.

Kingfisher Park’s wetlands support diverse wildlife. In 1999, during a bird watch, wildlife enthusiasts counted 35 distinct species of birds. In addition to the belted kingfishers (Ceryle alcyon), the park is also home to glossy ibises (Plegadis falcinellus), herons, spring peepers, great egrets (Ardea alba), and snowy egrets (Egretta thula). The pond is home to frogs, turtles, catfish, sunnies, and carp. The trees and undergrowth provide a backdrop for wildflowers such as the swamp rose mallow (Hibiscus palustris) along the water’s edge and the unusual pink lady’s slipper (Cypripedium acaule), a large, cucumber-root plant. In addition to housing these native species, freshwater wetlands also provide resting, breeding, and feeding grounds for hundreds of thousands of migrating birds. Many of these birds arrive in New York City only twice a year as they travel along the Atlantic flyway, a major migratory route.