This fish is from yesterday. I spent a couple hours with my friend Pete and managed to catch a couple of LMB. One, caught near the reed island rock ( I keep calling it the "reed island" even though the reeds have been chopped down and black plastic was used to smother the stumps) was tiny, barely 10 inches. This one was bigger yet surprisingly torpid. For a moment I wasn't sure if I maybe I hadn't snagged a plastic bag or something. He came from far under the little overhanging tree in the Wagner Cove area.

The weather was beautiful. It reached to just about 70 by the time we left at 11:30. Three inch fat black Senkos caught the fish but we also threw spinner baits and crank baits. Sadly, I was again unable to get my guest a fish.
posted by Frank at 11:15 AM

How exciting is spring? I've heard that many folks are fishing now at CP and I'm ready to start again. Warmer, warmer.
posted by Frank at 7:44 AM

Woah! Look at these fellows!


It's amazing how CP can turn you around. At 9 am I was sputtering and angry, ripping snagged hooks from tree branches only to watch them fly into the deeper and more impenetrable brush behind me (the Double Snag!). It was humid yet cloudy, the wind was gusting and I was without fish one.



It had seemed like it was going to be a good morning. I arrived at the lake closer to 8:30 and went straight to the laydown on the lake's western shore. Nothing but snags and tangles. In fact, I had no luck at all until I arrived in the Ramble an hour later. There I caught the three fish shown and lost a fourth. What a great day! All the fish were respectable, all came on 3" black fat senkos plopped right on their noses. The algae was thick and soupy but my usual technique of pulling the worm along the surface was not working. I had to plop it right in.



70 degrees, cloudy. Cobretty w tdx 2506. No fish on golden crankbait.
posted by Frank at 6:33 PM

Today I got to fish with my friend Teddy and I feel a little bad that I wasn't able to put him on fish. The fly rod is not the best tool for CP but it's worked for me in the past. The fish were just scrunched into the deepest cover today and not reachable. I realize the spring is a little better for fly fishing: the bass are spread out and active, cruising shorelines and open water.

The water was as algae-covered as I'd ever seen it and I'm still surprised by the duckweed in the main lake. I've never seen so much of it.

I caught a tiny fish on a Senko near the Wagner Cove rocks and a nicer one near the boat rental willow tree also on a Senko. That one was waiting in ambush in the shallow water just inches from shore. POW! and he nailed my worm.

And then the dog hordes descended upon us. One aggressive dog zoomed by Teddy, almost taking the rod out of his hands. Ouch.


posted by Frank at 8:19 PM

Today: two fish, one with applause, one with a greedy cormorant. A fine Japanese gentleman (currently living in Arkansas--"I love to fish!") visiting NYC with his fishing rod. 9-11 am

More later.

Later: This day showed CP in all it's sentimental greatness. Each moment was a little part of a bigger story. I love it here.

It was a hot and muggy morning and the algae spill gave the lake a beautiful vibrant green hue and a musky rotting smell. Aaah, just the way I like it! The water level was nice, just about where you'd expect: an inch or two on the high side but not beyond normal range. The air temp was about 72, rising to about 82 by 11am.

I started under the trees at the lay down on the west side. I sincerely expected a fish here but got none. A bit of disappointment. I moved to the Wagner Cove rocks, almost resigned to a difficult and unrewarding day (I'm easily frustrated lately).

I dragged a little rubber worm through the algae coating just inches from shore and a juvenile bass smacked it. Yay, I'm not skunked today! I reeled him in--okay, this might be an all right day --when, what the--! I was startled by a flapping and splashing a few feet away. Geez, it was a cormorant having quickly descended from who knows where, now circling nervously. "Hey! hey! Drop it right here please. Yeah, that's right, the fish. Here, right here." You could see the nervous cajoling in his eyes. "Woah, big fella", I said, "you're getting none of this," and I pulled out my camera. That seemed to spook him and he paddled away pretty quickly but I managed to get him in the photo as he scurried off. "No pictures, please!" he said.

I suppose I'd thought that the cormorants were a bit less domestically inclined than the other lake birds; as fish eaters I expected them to be less tainted by the bread crumb throwers. Now it seems that they are just the cats to the mallard's dogs, a bit more skittish but vulnerabe to a tasty morsel nonetheless.

I walked down the promenade area, trying senkos and shallow crankbaits with no luck. My casting wasn't perfect and I know that I might have caught a fish had I concentrated on better lure placement and presentation.

I met another fisherman, a Japanese man of about 25 or so and we spoke. His English was poor and his accent was strong but I understood that he'd moved to Arkansas from Japan. "Because I love to fish!" he said. He was apparently on vacation in New York and was spending the day fishing in Central Park! "How late you fish here," he asked and he seemed pleased when I told him I thought that the park closed at midnight. I imagined him there all day, fishing while his family went to museums or took the Circle Line. Who had more fun? Ha! He tied on a senko as I left him.

I managed a nice fish at the reed island channel, a blast through through the weeds and I was happy. Then I heard this sad clapping. I turned around and a man was sitting on the rocks behind me, taking off his socks and sorting through a pile of very important old newspapers.

"That's a nice fish," he said. "What kind is it?" He put on that same surprised face that everyone puts on when I said bass. "Great job," he said, and I was made happy by his appreciation.

I fished around the bridge channel but I had no more luck. I was frustrated by snag after snag, at one point losing rubbber worms on three consecutive casts. I hadn't fished in weeks so I still felt good about the whole affair.



Tomorrow AM I fish with a guest.
posted by Frank at 6:39 PM

Memory is such a strange thing. The other day my wife, who is nearing 40, turned to me and said, with a big smile on her face, and, I should add, not a bit of sarcasm, "Should we have another baby?"

Of course, I, with a fantastic memory, a memory not blunted by childbirth, epidurals, breast-feeding, spit-up, etc., took pains to dissuade her from that cockamamie scheme. It was clear that she'd forgotten everything. She'd forgotten the hours sitting on that cold bench at New York Hospital waiting for her cervix dilate while her selfish husband just sat there reading his MAGAZINE! She'd forgotten that interval, that seemingly interminable interval, between the time she'd begged for the epidural and the time that the anesthesia crew, having been delayed by some silly emergency or another, finally trudged down to the maternity ward. She'd forgotten how many times she'd sworn that two children were more than enough. She'd forgotten everything.

Well, this year something similar happened to me. You know, a fisherman in winter is besotted with fantasy. A magazine or two, a few Saturday morning fishing shows, maybe a story about some liar's bonefishing trip to the Bahamas and soon you're convinced that you are the best, most versatile fisherman alive and no, this year you won't just cast Senkos under any conditions simply because they'd worked once last year. And if you do? Well, so what? You assure yourself that the fish will leap onto whatever bait you're using. The skunkings will be few and far between. You are sure that you'll catch one of those huge fish--did you see Roland Martin this week? He said it'd be easy!!

Of course, a couple trips with nothing to show for it (and far too many Senkos) and I realized that I'd have to work and think and concentrate and I'd still be skunked a bunch.

I just got back from a week-long vacation in Fla. I fished three times the week before and caught just one puny fish. I might be able to get out on Thursday.
posted by Frank at 5:48 PM

I lost this bait to the rocks moments after I caught this fish.

This was the only fish of the morning. 830-1030. Temp: 42 and rising. I fished all the usual spots, except Hernshead. Jerkbaits, senkos, jigs, spinnerbaits, etc.
posted by Frank at 12:32 PM