Two decades ago today on Earth Day, a sunny Sunday, I lived the experience that became Chapter One of Philadelphia on the Fly.
Time . . . FLYS.
Happy Earth Day 2021
— rPs 04 22 2021
Archive for Uncategorized
Earth Day 2021
Top of the Rock
(NYC 03 30 2021)
No fish in the net, but the level line got wet. The 2021 tenkara season has begun.
— rPs 03 31 3021
Seaside Snow
(02 2021)
February: often full of hints of spring, but not this year.
Snow on the beach, like ice on the pond, keeps the tenkara trip just out of reach.
Spring begins in just a few more weeks. Then, perhaps, the real thing when fixed line fishing in close quarters can begin.
— rPs 02 28 2021
Snow Fishing
(NYC 01 13 2021)
There is a “no” in snow, and that no means no fishing, tenkara or otherwise, for the time being.
There is a “now” in snow as well, and that time now is ripe for reading, fly tying, and the other comfortable indoor aspects of the fishing life.
Anticipation can inspire preparation!
— rPs 01 31 2021
On Ice
On Ice . . .
(NYC 12 23 2020)
Early rise and an eager hike to the park for a final fishing trip found its goal foiled by that signature of the season: ice.
True, the new lid on the lake was “Hielo fino” with a few teasing openings, yet not enough free water presented itself for practical angling. The season is now . . . on ice.
So, 2020, a year to remember – not so much – comes to a close. Those days of bluegill and bass, the elusive trout and carp, and exciting new experiments in the salt – fluke and more – the silver linings to an unexpected, challenging, trying time, remain to warm the imagination over the winter.
(NYC 12 23 2020)
Farewell, 2020.
— rPs 12 30 2020
Photogenic Fall
(11 2020)
The fall season may not be the most productive time for angling; it depends on the fish species you pursue, but it sure is a pretty time to take tenkara to the water.
Perhaps it’s the clarity of the air, the thinning of the colored leaves, the change of the light, which fades so much more swiftly at end of day by the time Thanksgiving arrives.
I have explored back bay salt and city pond banks this November, and both locales have offered slower fishing, yet given me great views:
The Pond
(NYC 11 2020)
The Back Bay
(11 2020)
Freshwater or salt, the late fall is a time to exalt Ebisu, the Japanese god of fishing, before the inevitable ice-over of the coming winter.
Go fishing . . .
— rPs 11 30 2020
October Surprise
10 2020
October Surprise . . .
Autumn in the salt paints images of bluefish and striped bass in the fly fisher’s mind. So, imagine my October surpise when in the chilly rain my olive and white Clouser conjured up another new, and unexpected, tenkara species:
Hickory Shad
10 2020
– rPs 10 31 2020
Waiting
Waiting . . .
Waiting by the Bay
(02 28 2020)
February for the local fisher can be a time for fly tying, reading, or simply cleaning and organizing tackle in anticipation of the new season. Throughout all these pastimes is a central principal: Waiting.
Waiting for the thaw
Waiting for spring
Waiting for opening day
Waiting for fishing
Leap year adds one additional day to this, the shortest month of the year, so we’ll all be waiting just a little bit longer.
— rPs 02 29 2020
The End of the Regular Season
The End of the Regular Season . . .
Basepath Around the Pond
(NYC 09 2019)
Evening falls fast for the tenkara fisher now that the Autumnal Equinox has passed. The lingering, almost lazy, evening hours have been replaced by a quick race into darkness that can add a bit of urgency to a fishing trip taken after work.
The local ponds have begun to turn over, weedy waters turning clear, and the fish appear paler and more actively feeding, which, if one is lucky, can result in a grand slam:
Bluegill
Bluegill
(NYC 09 28 2019)
Black Crappie
Black Crappie
(NYC 09 28 2019)
Largemouth Bass
Largemouth Bass
(09 28 2019)
The largemouth bass came at last light, making it a grand slam, an appropriate finish alongside the final weekend of the regular MLB season.
— rPs 09 30 2019
Summer Flush
Summer Flush . . .
Solstice Shower Passes Meadow Lake
(NYC 06 21 2017)
Meadow Lake, shaped like a peanut, perimetered by tall phragmites, has again proven to be a place where fish confounds fisher.
The fish of Flushing-Corona Park are there, but when and where, mystery remains. The bite becomes regular, as all fishes feed, still Flushing’s finned inhabitants hold the cards.
The southern end of this shallow brackish lake has undergone substantional reclamation. Indigenous wildflowers bloom now along its open bank and litter to one eye has been reduced by 80%.
Evidence of species other than carp and white perch can be found. Two large yellow perch, large enough to believe their passing was caused by natural older age, revealed the only fish kill found around the entire water body, one minor enough to cause no concern.
Retired Perch
(NYC 06 21 2017)
No snakehead species have been spotted despite a conscious attempt to find one. What was a scare in the spring of 2013 may well have been an isolated incident.
These fish are tough, and so can be the actual fishing. Wind has the ability here to foiled the best of casters. The lake seems to draw down the atmosphere, forming a vortex, a kind of reverse funnel, forcing, blowing air at once in all directions facing the fisher. There are breaks in this steady breeze, pauses measured in minutes, and this is when calm water may be read. Bubbles surface in scattered spots; turtles, a few, and carp, grazing the bottom in loose schools that resemble grazing sheep.
“Careful casts now!” is my whispered mantra at such times.
Numerous marsh birds, redwing blackbirds, cormorants, ducks, and gulls abound. Fishing birds are another good giide to the fishes’ whereabouts.
Mulberries have ripened with the arrival of summer. Flush with the fruit of the tree, birds are fed and so are their counterparts in the water. The tenkara carp challenge continues around an interesting and improved urban natural environment.
Solstice Sweetness: Mulberries
(NYC 06 21 2017)
— rPs 06 30 2017
