The pool in Central Park

 

There are five lakes in New York City's Central Park.  At 59th Street there is The Pond. Loeb Lake

is at 72nd street. Turtle Pond is near the castle at 82nd street. It has smallmouth bass!  The Pool

at 103rd street has bass and other panfish. The Meer at 110th street has bass, grass carp and panfish

One of the problems, when there is warm weather is lots of duckweed and algae bloom on the surface of the water as it becomes warmer.

 These photos were taken during the summer.  Early spring means "club size" bass are active.  These bass are anywhere from 8" to 12" long and will take dry flies; which can mean exciting fishing as the weather becomes warmer.

Rare, Fenwick Voyager 4 pc, 6 weight, 7 foot, fiberglass fly / spin rod

I found my long lost Fenwick Voyager fly / spin rod misplaced in a desk drawer yesterday. I had not seen nor fished this rod in more than a decade. It is a four piece, 6 wt, 7 foot fiberglass rod. I took it out to the lake in Prospect Park to see how it would cast the Orvis fly line I picked up this fall.  It worked well. Maybe the "overlining" of the 6 wt rod with an 8 wt fly line contributed to my successful testing.

I made a number of different casts, Belgium, roll, back, snap T, snake, and I even poked it a few times!

The rod handled the fly line almost as well as my old Orvis Full Flex fiberglass fly rod which is foot longer than the Voyager.

 

Prospect Park fall fishing

Fished near the boat house with a grasshopper pattern and a nymph as a dropper. I'm trying to practice

my casting stroke.  Catching fish right now is secondary to practicing "skagit" casting without making mistakes. Youtube videos really help and I study all of them religiously.  

 Fished the Lullwater in Prospect Park Lake

Maxcatch automatic fly reel

Here is the Maxcatch "automatic" fly reel but it is not an automatic fly reel! It is a semi automatic

fly reel.  It does not have a drag adjustment. It is pretty much a line holder.

2 weight, 8 feet, 4 piece

 

End of the campaign for carp at Loeb Lake 2022

The forecast for the coming week is for temperatures in the forties F. Unless the weather gets warmer,

this could be the end of the carp campaign.

I have become better at netting my fish

Wow! some of these fish have taken me into my backing. Long hard fights to tire the carp. 

and it is fun. 

I hope that we get a few more warm fall days.  I'm not ready to put my fly rod down, just yet.

My only disappointment is having to deal with catfish.  Still, haven't caught a mirror carp this year.

 My rod, "Big Blue" has worked wonderfully.

Loeb Lake for carp fishing in November 2022

Always try to keep the carp as comfortable as possible

 I'm still trying to catch carp. My blue glass fly rod is doing all the work.  I'm amazed at the number

of carp being caught during my "window of opportunity" I use every evening. I start at approximately

3 PM and end at 5:30PM every day, except Saturday and Sunday. 

The first carp of the session is always the hardest, because I want to start fast.  It can be like watching water evaporate. 

 Any number after the first one is a blessing.

Carpin in Central Park week 3

Carp seem to like chum made from oatmeal, cream corn, bread crumbs and strawberry jello.

Fish are tough and strong.  Each fish puts up a good fight and requires patience to get in the net. 

 I used the Thinkfish Bold semi automatic fly reel.  It has a "brake" adjustment that can be used

while thr carp is being played.  

DAY 6 of carping in Central Park

I' ve been fishing hard and catching a reasonable number of carp.

I don't remember what caused me to fish for carp this way in November but it is satisfying.

About every 20 minutes a fish takes off with my offering. 

These brutes seem to be from the same batch but I've noticed they are bigger as the sun sets.

Big blue is allowing me to tire the fish that protest my assault

Open wide.

 

Day 3 at Loeb Lake

Fished Big Blue, really nice rod.!

The beat goes on. want to fish with me; send me an email?  There are plenty of fish!

 

Day 4 - 2022 Loeb Lake

If a picture is worth 10,000 words . . .

 

This last fish was caught late in the afternoon.  Its lips were red from eating my strawberry flavored chum!

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