![\"le](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemouching.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/le-mouching-fly-fishing-park.jpg?resize=259%2C350&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Pedro is there; it’s such a long time that I haven’t seen him! FISHING GUIDE AT CENTRAL PARK\u2026 you couldn’t even invent that. But my friend Pedro, it’s 25 years that he’s been wetting his line in the “Harlem Meer”. He’s happy to see me and me too, I’m happy to see him.<\/p>\n
“It’s been ages since I last saw you Frenchy\u2026 where you been?”<\/p>\n
“I’ve been in France my friend, like every year\u2026 6 months here, 6 months over there!”<\/p>\n
“Lucky bastard! \u2026 and how’s the fishing in your country?”<\/p>\n
“Not so bad! But I assure you, it\u2019s not as folkloric as it is here! And you Pedro, are you still a guide near Canada on the Salmon River?”<\/p>\n
“Don’t remind me of that Frenchy\u2026 My back is killing me and I can’t run after those Ontario salmon and steelheads! I had an operation but it didn’t change anything, I’m just an old bag of fat!”<\/p>\n
“Tell me, I don’t see Ernesto. Is he still fishing?”<\/p>\n
“He’s back in the slammer\u2026 for 6 months. Some guy thought he could slap his mother around, so Ernesto took a baseball bat and clubbed him over the head.”<\/p>\n
I should explain about Pedro, for 25 years he has served as fishing guide and social assistant at the lake. This good samaritan has moved any number of young hoods off the streets, taken them under his wing and helped them discover that there are other things beside “dope” and machete\u2026 that is considerable.<\/p>\n
There should be a statue erected in Pedro’s honor; this big, black, puerto rican always has a flyrod and tons of boxes filled with flies for salmon, flies for bonefish, flies for steelhead, his toys and he adores showing them, like rare jewels\u2026 always a smile, always kind.![\"Le](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemouching.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Le-mouching-fly-fishing-p%C3%AAcheur.jpg?resize=350%2C261&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n
“Hey, Fleche, do you still have those miraculous nymphs, the ones with the little white wings?”<\/p>\n
“Pedro, you mean to tell me that you remember that crap, the ones that looks like nose snot?”<\/p>\n
“Of course\u2026 they were very attractive, those “Prince nymphs”. Here, take this one\u2026 I just mounted it. It’s my own invention\u2026 You’ll be amazed.”<\/p>\n
“Mmm, I can’t wait\u2026 OK, I’m going to see what’s behind the island. Are they still there, the chinese with their mortal spoons?”<\/p>\n
“They’re still there, so don’t bother\u2026 why don’t you go and fish on the ramp by the skating ring or on the side by the hot-dog stand?”<\/p>\n
You see, that’s what it’s like. That’s the “Harlem Meer”and there’s nothing like it anywhere, nothing.<\/p>\n
While I’m there the herons, little savages, come begging to fill their obese stomachs. On the grass at the lake’s edge, there’s a group of guys practicing karate while across the street in the prison, the “bad guys”, taking advantage of their time outdoor on the roof, watch them through the fence topped with razor wire.<\/p>\n
And then there’s the Cuban, an incredible guy who spends the entire day going around the lake on his bicycle with a “boom box” that plays the latest “salsa” hits. His bicycle is decorated with a hodgepodge of cuban flags and all sorts of garish and flashy stuff. And all the while he’s singing, or more like hollering Tito Puente songs like “Machito forever”.<\/p>\n
It is FANTASTIC!![\"Le](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemouching.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Le-mouching-fly-fishing-%C3%A9cole.jpg?resize=300%2C316&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n
And now for the serious stuff. I attach a nymph to the end of my line and “hop”, we’re off. Right away a sunfish\u2026 and then another\u2026 and again one! You have to understand that this lake is, in principle, a NO KILL reserve and in spite of the number of guys who dip their lines here, there’s plenty of fish in the lake. OK, it’s true\u2026 they’re not monsters nor are they “noble fish”, but it’s enough for the kids of Harlem to have a good time. The lake guards furnish the kids, for free, with fishing rods and all the supplies needed; all this in hope of brain washing them with a taste for “nature”. The guards also teach them to release their catch back into the lake. Great, no?<\/p>\n
A group of young students from a school nearby pass behind me and a little black girl, cute as a button, mockingly asks me: “So mister\u2026 any bites?”<\/p>\n
I respond: “Less than 5 minutes ago I snagged a white shark, not too big, but still!”<\/p>\n
The kids crack up. And me too. They continue on their way and I see the little blue and white uniforms disappear into the park.<\/p>\n
And the crazy Cuban makes another pass with “Hong Kong mambo” as loud as possible. This moron, he’s going to make me cry with pleasure.![\"Le](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lemouching.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Le-Mouching-fly-fishing-performance.jpg?resize=500%2C350&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pedro is there; it’s such a long time that I haven’t seen him! FISHING GUIDE AT CENTRAL PARK\u2026 you couldn’t even invent that. But my friend Pedro, it’s 25 years that he’s been wetting his line in the “Harlem Meer”. He’s happy to see me and me too, I’m happy to see him. “It’s been ages since I last saw you Frenchy\u2026 where you been?” “I’ve been in France my friend, like every year\u2026 6 months here, 6 months over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15854,15851],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-el-mouching","category-fresh"],"yoast_head":"\n