||||brothers of the angle

hit up the central park pond the other day and had a blast. definitely the most urban of any urban angling possible.

the pond is on the southern and most eastern corner of the park and is easily accessible from a number of subways. its small, and you are dealing with one of the most traffic’d parts of the park, but the bass will readily take poppers and the panfish are surprisingly feisty.

there are a handful of coi/carp that i’ve seen cruising around or sitting out in the center, but have yet to get a shot at them or see them really feeding for that matter.

the biggest drawback is that the area is so heavily traffic’d. there are people everywhere! you constantly get the “paranoid mom fish eye” who is sure you backcast is going to hook her son in the eye. but the characters abound. on the other hand, you also get the crazy old man on the bench who stands up, walks to the edge of the pond, claps and cheers each time you hook up and land one. but there are always a few folks who are willing to snap a few photos of your catch so no need to bring your own camera.

all in all its a fun place to wet a line for an hour or two while you are in the city.

if you are interested in more info on fishing central park while on a visit to nyc, hit me up at bota@brothersoftheangle.com.

enjoy

bota

the boys down at urban angler were featured this morning on the today show as part of the shine a light campaign for small businesses.

not much fishing talk, but brother of the angle tom colicchio who co-founded the gramercy tavern and has started another group of restaurants craft nominated his favorite local business, urban angler,  for the chance to win various prizes.

tom’s an avid fisherman, you can check out his cast on this video on thefin.com

support your local fly shop.

bota

urban angler today show promo

had a bit of a hosting disaster and am now back at it. sorry for the changes.

enjoy

bota

i’ve had an iphone for a while now and as any good fisherman would do i’ve downloaded just about any app that could or would relate to fly fishing (to this point its primarily spin fishing, but that will have to do for now).  below are a few thoughts on some of the games and apps that may get you through the winter if tying alone won’t suffice.

the latest sports illustrated quoted former lost star maggie grace about her fly fishing escapades

maggie grace

“fly-fishing needs to become cool. the ladies may be frightened off by the strange accoutrements—who wants to wear waders?—and by the occasional hook to the face when there’s a stiff wind blowing. but as i can happily attest, those wounds heal fast. just push the hook forward to free it from the skin and pull it off quickly like a band-aid. a quick tip for novices: the more time your fly is in the water, the more fish you catch. i know. i caught a 20-inch rainbow trout in Chile last month. So save your showy, ineffectual casting.”

wonder what kind of flats she missed out on running all over the island…that show is beyond me…

bota

well, not entirely, but we do have a sweet little icon for your iphone…

bota

patagonia has a few new t-shirts for spring that caught my fishing fancy.

bota

“espn outdoors announced tuesday that the 2009 florida keys outfitters ifga inshore world championship will be broadcast as part of the second year of the espn outdoors saltwater series on espn2 and will be presented on other espn outdoors multimedia platforms, including daily tournament coverage at www.espnoutdoors.com.”

read more…

bota

fishing t-shirts have got to be a staple in every fly fisherman’s wardrobe. whether it is the world trout tee’s put out by patagonia with your james prosek painting or the worn out tee you got on the charter boat at catalina, every brother of the angle (bota) has a few laying around.

we all keep them laying around and throw them on, much to the shegrin of significant others, when we head out in public. more to show off that we fish than out of any fashion sense.

no longer will we have to settle for the standard issue fishing tee, below are a few places that are making fish hooks fashionable:

this is fly:

if you aren’t familiar with the online mag this is fly you are missing out. they have also started selling some pretty sweet fishing related tee’s that will not only catch the eye of the guides from missoula to miami, but the ladies from the lower east side to los angeles.

a little over a week ago i made my first pass with a fly rod at central park’s harlem meer. definitely one of my more memorable new york experiences. the meer is as murky and green as the name sounds. my wife and i got off the train at 110th and walked east through the park to the meer.

i rigged up the fly rod and started off with a panfish popper not sure what to expect. after a few casts i saw a white and orange koi cruising about ten feet from the bank, it was at least 20″. definitely the first time i’ve thrown a fly anywhere near a koi, but can’t say i haven’t thought about it every time i’ve been to one of those large chinese restaurants with the fountains in the lobby. the koi cruised under a large patch of algae/bottles/nastiness, i put a cast right up to the edge of the floating mess and hooked up with an aggressive blue gill.

i continued to walk and fish around the meer, casting in between ‘fish-eye’ looks from people walking or jogging through the park. hooked up with another little blue gill a little later, and decided it was time to go for a bass. tied on another popper and began fishing.

after about two casts i noticed a couple guys walking towards me. not with the look of guys walking for the sake of walking, but walking with a purpose… me. the skinnier of the two, with the shakes of a drug addict, came right up an said, “this is your first time here!” more as a statement than a question. i answered cautiously in the affirmative. “i’ve fished here everyday for three years, i know everyone who fishes here,” he said smiling. the tension eased as his larger friend told me that the bass in the meer “love them flies.”

we talked for a bit, they showed me pictures on their cell phones of 5 lbs bass they had pulled out over the summer as the sun set. didn’t get the bass i was looking for, but will definitely be back.