Golden Pond

This pond has panfish and a bunch of cautious,
difficult to catch carp.



I've fished here several times but I have never
been able to find feeding carp.



While the pond is shallow it is a pleasant place
to fish. There are a large number of turtles
here also



Looking west on Golden Pond.



No Henry Fonda did not fish here.



My first carp from Golden Pond.

History of the Park:

The Crocheron family lived on the edge of Little Neck Bay for centuries. The first family member to live in the area was John Crocheron, a farmer whose will dates from 1695. His long line of distinguished descendents include: Henry Crocheron, a Congressman from 1815 to 1817; Jacob Crocheron, a Congressman from 1829 to 1831; Nicholas Crocheron, a member of the 1854 State Assembly; and Joe Crocheron, a horse racer and gambler who was as renowned as Cornelius Vanderbilt and August Belmont.

In the days when the Tweed Ring ruled city government (1866-1871), this park was known as a political gathering place. The “Old Crocheron House” here on the shores of Little Neck Bay was a favorite site for Tammany Hall picnics and clambakes. The infamous William “Boss” Tweed (1823-1878) knew the area well, and took refuge here after he escaped from the Ludlow Street Jail in 1875. Boss Tweed had been held on corruption charges, but his extensive connections allowed him to escape to Spain in 1876. He was arrested by the Spanish police and returned to prison in New York, where he died of pneumonia in his cell in 1878.

The Crocheron family house burned down in 1907, and the estate remained unused and undeveloped for almost 20 years. In 1924, the City of New York bought the land where the house once stood. The following year, at the request of the Bayside Civic Association, the City purchased another 45 acres and drew up plans to build a park on the consolidated property. By 1936, the City had turned the area into a park with picnic grounds, winding walks, an enlarged lake for wintertime skating, and thousands of trees. The following are just some of the species found in the park: Northern catalpa (Catalpa seciosa), American elm (Ulmus americana), Honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos), Sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus), Red oak (Quercus rubra), Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergiana), London planetree (Platanus x acerifolia), and Weeping willow (Salix alba ‘Tristis’). Since 1936, fields of saplings have grown into a veritable forest, and Parks has added a playground, a dozen tennis courts, a baseball diamond, and a field house. In addition, visitors can also take in the splendid views of Little Neck Bay from either of the hexagonal gazebos that stand on the bluff.

Between 1954 and 1956, Parks acquired the property to the north of Crocheron Park from Broadway producer John Golden (1874-1955), built a park, and named it after the donor. Parks undertook a major renovation of Golden Park in 1973, when the goldfish pond was restored and a tennis house, tennis courts, playground, and six baseball fields were built. Together, Golden Park and Crocheron Park provide the neighborhood with a large area for recreation.

Bowne Park

I've fished Bowne pond several times. This
pond has bass, blue gills, catfish and carp.



I come here for the carp.



The one bad thing about this park is TURTLES!
They are everywhere, especially when you are
fishing for carp. Do Not chum with corn.



I use boilles or pellets as chum here



I fished the day before Irene arrived & I noticed
that the was no carp activity after 7:00pm.
I wonder why?

Weequahic Lake

This was my second trip to Newark, New Jersey.
Last year the lake experienced low water conditions.
This year, thanks to Irene the Hurricane, the
lake is overflowing.



Here is an example of the flooding that occurred.
Part of the surface of this 80 acre lake is covered
in a green muck in spite of the aerator but the
water is clear.



I caught blue gills on the west side of the lake.
People were fishing for carp on the west side too.
Thirty pound carp can be caught here.



Notice the plant growth on the lake's surface.
Weedless is the way to fish here in the summer.



I manage to fish for carp here. I had to chum
a small open area that was weed free. I mixed
some ground bait, even used some floating
pellets. Initially, I had no takers but I waited
two hours and applied more chum. With the
water being clear I could see that some of the
chum had been eaten.




I hooked at least two carp that roared off into
the weeds where they were able to break my
6 pound tippet. I also hooked what felt like a
catfish. It too swam for the underwater weeds
and snapped my tippet. So I packed and left.

Milton lake

I took a trip to Milton lake. There is still evidence
of Hurricane Irene on the shores of this lake.
Water marks and wet brown grass outline the
shore line of this lake.



I arrived late in the morning. Since this was
my first visit, I walked and surveyed the lakes edge.
As I reached the south end, I had to get permission
to cross because part of the road had been
washed away. The east side of the lake is
strictly bushwacking over tree branches,
mud and muck.





The water was clear and I saw fish swimming;
Panfish and carp live here. I set up for carp but
I had no takers on the east side.



When the sun started to get low, I began to catch
some blue gills on nymphs & streamers.
Just before sunset, I hooked my first bass of the
summer. He jumped at least three times but
I kept my rod tip low.



I noticed these flowers on the west side of the
lake. They remind me of daisies .



A great place for largemouth bass to hide, carp too!
These pads line the west bank.



And I even saw an orange koi here.

Big Pike Fly Fishing

Carp fly fishing

Fished for carp at a park in New Jersey. I chose
this water because the carp here are especially
cautious. This maybe the most difficult place to
catch carp that I know.



When I arrived in the early afternoon, I saw
feeding carp. I decided to not use any chum.
Within the first fifteen minutes, I had hooked
a relatively small carp. There are no big boys
in this water. No carp weighs more than a few
pounds. The second carp was caught in a
different part of the river.



The third carp took longer to catch. I think in
hindsight, I should have moved to another part
of the water, carp were getting wise to me.

During the time I was fishing, I would see takes
that were not typical carp takes. Usually this means
small panfish or catfish ( I was fishing on the bottom
in dark water). Finally I caught a nice, about a foot
long catfish.

By the time the weather started to get threatening
I had hooked 5 and landed 3 carp. I wanted to
take one more crack at the carp but I could hear
the thunder in the distance.

According to the New Jersey Transit bus schedule
the next bus to NYC would arrive at 7:15 pm; so
I walked to the bus stop several blocks away.
" And then it started to rain". It rained, thundered
and lightninged for nearly an hour. There were
no shelters or doorways in which to hunker down
It was a heavy rain. I was literally standing in an
outdoor shower.

The rain slowly soaked my clothes starting at my hat.
Even my gore tex shoes were wet inside due to the
trickle down theory working. If you stand still the
rain soaks your pants, runs down you leg and
into the tops of your soxs which filters the water
before it collects in the bottom of your water proof
shoes

Holly Berry

The real Holly berry.