Fishing Gear from Santa

Wishing all anglers happy holidays and that Santa brings you all that special fishing gear you wanted.
I was blessed this Christmas with some new fishing gear. I am exited to try this stuff out in the 2013 season and hopefully more years to come.

http://flyfishingflies.storenvy.com/
A beautiful set of flies from my friend Johns online store

And a Special thank you to my wife!

Merry Christmas

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I hope everyones fishing dreams come true. 

Santa's "Gone Fishing"

Santa's Favorite Fish

My Christmas List

Jeep

Today I purchased a utility vehicle. It's main purpose is to help support my fishing addiction along with my other outdoor activities. I am very excited to setup this 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport. The best thing is that it has a 4 x 4 option for when it snows and off road. I got stuck with my other car this year at cross river for 2 hours because it is only 2 wheel drive. I can also go on trips and there is enough room for me to camp inside this car if I drop the rear seat.

Baitfeeder Reels

I love it when I get new gear. Today my Okuma Epixor EB 20 bait feeder reel came in the mail. Now this reel is discontinued but it is a great reel for using live bait. I also have the EB 30 models that are still in stock but this is a great addition to my fishing arsenal.

Sign the Petition

On-Line petition to the DEP to release the closed Boat Areas and
open the ones that are no longer dangerous. So that we may have safe access to our boats. This action may help many avid fisherman and boat owners get to there boats before they get filled with water and turn to ice, causing there boats to crack or possibly removal by DEP! Thanks to all that help out.

https://www.change.org/petitions/new-york-city-department-of-environmental-protection-reassess-and-open-closed-boat-areas

Grand Opening

My fishing Buddies have finally opened there online stores. I purchased some Awesome flies and this sick Fly Reel and I must say that they are reasonably priced. I love new gear and my flies just came in! Guys I am leaving a link to there stores. check out there sites.

http://flyfishingflies.storenvy.com       Def worth taking a look.

I will post the reel site soon! also enjoy some more Fishing Art

Fishing Art by Sussino

I have been very interested in fishing art & outdoors art. While looking at many different artists and pieces of art. I was shown some prints of Mark Sussino's art on angling and trout by a friend named John C.
Mark is possibly now one of my favorite artist. I love the way he captures so much in his portraits. He almost brings the picture to life. Now what I find amazing others may not agree (like my wife) so I am doing my best to convince people of his talent. Today I will leave you with some of Mark's portraits that I hopefully look forward to possibly owning in my home once my wife agrees to let me hang them up. Google Mark Sussino and find the many sites that sell his awesome portraits in frames or prints. I believe his art is reasonably priced

Thanksgiving

I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Regardless of anything we have been through or are currently going through, we all have someone to be thankful for and they deserve to know this. So take sometime to let as many people know how thankful you are for them. God bless you all and thank you!

Here is some cool pencil trout art

New Fly Fishing Gear

I have not had much time to fish due to work, travel, my wife and our family responsibilities. So during this time I have had due to travel I have been able to acquire so more Fly fishing gear and I am super excited to possibly use some of it this week. I was able to get my hands on a Helios ZG 9ft 905-4pc Tip Flex 5wt Orvis Rod. I have paired it with a 5wt "Tver" Large arbor reel (its sick how good this reel looks) I have paired this reel with 150 yards of 20lb Dacron Backing and Orvis Hydros WF 5wt Yellow Floating Fly line.  This reel is machined of aluminum but it has stainless steel internal mechanics and is very light weight. It is also switchable from right to left hand retrieve. I cant wait to use this outfit I created

During these transactions I have come across a really nice book http://www.toheavenafterthestorm.com
Check out the book "To Heaven After The Storm"  the former owner of the Helios Rod his wife co-authored the book with a 6 year old girl that lost her mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, and baby cousin during the April 27, 2011 tornados that hit Alabama. 

I suggest that everyone checks this out. 

PFD Life Jackets/ Preservers

For those that fish year round or even just boat year round please be advised that starting Nov 1 2012 - May1 2013 All People that get on the water in NY have to wear a Personal Floatation Device. This is the PFD I purchased this season. Which ever PFD you have or purchase it must be worn by the boat occupant (not just on board) May 1-Oct 31st you can either where a PFD or Just simply have a  PFD of "Type III" on board the vessel you are on. These can really save your life. The water temps during this time of year really prevent people from swimming at there best and can really immobilize really good swimmers and cause hypothermia. So do yourselves a favor and wear your PFD and encourage your friends and other anglers to do the same.

"Question: At what age does a child no longer have to wear a life jacket?

Answer: All children under the age of 12 must wear an approved personal flotation device while the vessel is underway.

Question: Do I need to have a lifejacket (U.S. Coast Guard personal flotation device) for every person onboard?
Answer: Yes. There must be a U.S. Coast Guard approved flotation device for every person on board any vessel, personal watercraft (PWC), canoe, kayaks and rowboats. If aboard a PWC, it must be worn at all times when the PWC is in operation. From November 1 to May 1, lifejackets must be worn by all persons on boats under 21', canoes, kayaks, rowboats while they are underway."

 http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Guardian-Series-Tournament-3500-AutoManual-PFD/1308982.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3D3500%2Bpfd%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=3500+pfd&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

You dont have to purchase this exact PFD. This is just the one I purchased. Note that during May 1st- Oct 31st this specific PFD is not up to the grade where I can just have it on  board. It must be worn because its only a "Type II"  In order to not where one and just keep it on board it must be a "Type III" and must be in-between May 1st and Oct 31st.

Any Questions please contact your local DEC or DEP

Max the Puppy

Today me and my wife welcome a new addition to our home "Max" the male 8 & 1/2 week old Morkie  Puppy (Maltese & Yorkshire terrier mix) . We also have a 2 year old Shiba Inu her name is "Callie" she is welcoming Max in her own way. He will be accompanying me on some fishing trips hopefully next season. Happy Birthday honey.

Part Two

Sandy

I was in South America while the eastern borders of the USA was hit by an Epic Storm "Hurricane Sandy" . I could not get a flight back to NY because the airports in NY and NJ were closed. I was told that there was a lot of Destruction, loss of power, water, gas and other resorces. This is sad and condolences go out to all those who were hurt or loss someone or there homes.
On the WF forum a member posted some info about the watershed that I would also like to share. It's about the rules of closing a and etc.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/recreation/index.shtml

I'm not exactly sure how this will effect our fisheries but I hope it's not too destructive. Please be careful walking around the wooded areas, as the ground may still be wet and roots my be loose leaving trees weak with the possibilities of falling.

I'm glad to finally be home. These are pic's of the clouds directly above NY as we started our descend to the ground. I took them right before we were asked to shut off our electronics. What a beautiful world we have. Lets cherish it.
God bless everyone!

How I started fishing the Croton Watershed

I have always loved the outdoors. When I was young I would go camping with the church groups and friends but i didn't really go fishing. When i was young maybe 10 or 12 we lived in the Bronx NY and my Dad took me fishing in a public park called Van Cortlandt Park but it was really dirty but fun. http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/61807.html   Me and friends even fished in Central Park in Manhattan.

Later on as I got older about 15 or so I started spending my summers at my aunt and uncles house in Stephentown NY. Its located in Renssellaer county. Me my uncle and my cousins would go fishing in the streams after April first in all the local streams and catch trout on spinning reel setups with worms and spinner baits / rooster tails. We caught Brookies, Rainbows and Brown trout mostly in small sizes 9- 12 inches and if we wanted to catch big fish my uncle would take us to the lake to go after LM Bass.
This continued until 1999, I was about 21 years old.

I still lived in the bronx and fishing Van Cortlandt was not so much a priority or even an option in my head. So I would only go fishing if I visited my uncle from time to time. Lets say I lost interest in fishing and was pre occupied with other things!

When I hit about 29 years of age it all hit me again and I wanted back in. I stared seating this beautiful thing we call the internet. I couldnt find shit. I was not that computer savvy so I could not really locate any near areas near the 5 boroughs on NYC. My family in White Plains didnt know of any areas either.
I was loosing hope and most importantly i was loosing interest in local fishing.

Soon after I turned 30 I had a friend at work (Shevy) that lived in Westchester and told me he thinks he knows areas that we could try. So we decided to explore and we found Sheldrake lake in Larchmont and went bass fishing there. We did well with lures but we both had heard about these NYC Reservoirs that you could fish but needed a permit. We got in the car and went to google maps located a huge body of water in Westchester called Kensico Dam. Me and Shevy got in the car and drove to Kensico.

Kensico Dam all I can say is WOW. It was the biggest body of water i had ever seen besides the ocean and it was crystal clear. I could see fish in the water from 20ft away and there were boats all over the place. I must say we were confused and over whelmed. It did not stop me and Shevy from fishing it. We both caught huge Bass and we were determined to find out more about this body of water.

Manny 2010 LM Bass Kensico

Shevy 2010 LM Bass Kensico

Shevy came to work later on that week with some info from a local bait shop and online forum. This forum would later introduce me to the world of the Croton Watershed. I had no idea of the fishery that we had available to us for all these years that passed and all I needed was a free permit that i could download online and my NY State fishing license. This forum that changed me was www.westchesterfishing.com the website lead me to a forum owned and ran by "VinnyH" . They have done great with community, kids and adults. All the members have have been so supportive, informative and giving. I am thankful to each and every one of them. They have truly shown me the world of fishing in a whole new light. I have also made many friends. Thank you WF

So this is how I got to become an avid NYC Reservoir Fishing Addict, Angler, Nut, or whatever other name you can call someone as crazy as I am about fishing. Thanks for reading my Rant and I leave you with some more Art