Raritan Surprise!

[DanH]

The"surprise" was I lost a MUCH bigger one 10 minutes later!
https://i.postimg.cc/nzt2sDVX/0310201158.jpg (https://postimg.cc/DWBLHmXh)

[thmyorke1]

Nice! pike? Im no good at esox/musky/hybrids.

I was planning on targeting them in the raritan just this weekend. Know some stretches where ive seen them but never caught a raritan-esox other than 1 dink pickerel.

[bigfishy]

Way to be persistent!!!. next time put somethin in the pic for scale....any estimates on length??

[FASTEDDIE29]

Nice Pike man!!! There’s a timer cam app you can download to your phone. Set a timer hit a button and boom, you have a pic of you holding your catch. Takes some work but easy if you do it a million times. :D

[DanH]

Nice! pike? Im no good at esox/musky/hybrids.

I was planning on targeting them in the raritan just this weekend. Know some stretches where ive seen them but never caught a raritan-esox other than 1 dink pickerel.

I haven't caught a lot of them in the Raritan , usually I am fishing for other species and just happen upon them. I am guessing they come from the Millstone, but these guys were far up from the confluence.

[Mikey topaz]

That’s a fatty! Nice job man

[AndyS]

Nice surprise, is it a Pike ?

[DanH]

Way to be persistent!!!. next time put somethin in the pic for scale....any estimates on length??

This guy was maybe 18-20 inches , but the one I lost was in the 28-30 inch range, !
The bite has been REAL slow but I think things are finally improving!

[DanH]

Nice surprise, is it a Pike ?

Yes!

[AndyS]

So silvery, that's why I asked. Very different in color than the one Fast Eddie caught a few years ago.
Not many Esox go through the ladder, they must be few and far between. Those numbers may ultimately drop even further with stocking discontinued on the Millstone.

[deaone123]

Somethings gotta eat all those sucker fish in the raritan, seen them trying to clear the damn they are some fiesty mofos

[JDTuna]

Awesome Dan! At least some of those Millstone fish are surviving!

[DanH]

So silvery, that's why I asked. Very different in color than the one Fast Eddie caught a few years ago.
Not many Esox go through the ladder, they must be few and far between. Those numbers may ultimately drop even further with stocking discontinued on the Millstone.

The fish Fast Eddie caught has spectacular colors ! All of the fish caught in the section where this pike was caught are more silvery. Last year I caught one closer to the Millstone that had more color.

The fish shown in the viewer, was that a pike or muskie?

[AndyS]

I thought the one on the viewer was a Muskie, who knows?

[FASTEDDIE29]

Somethings gotta eat all those sucker fish in the raritan, seen them trying to clear the damn they are some fiesty mofos

The Suckers swim upstream to spawn this time of year. Usually a March, April thing and when they run there’s usually a Musky in the area.

[Mark B.]

The Suckers swim upstream to spawn this time of year. Usually a March, April thing and when they run there’s usually a Musky in the area.

Dukes Farm Eagles are in the area too. Eaglets are hungry and growing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rMFY1CfgE8

[thmyorke1]

Dukes Farm Eagles are in the area too. Eaglets are hungry and growing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rMFY1CfgE8

Soon to be full of shad. :D

[Mark B.]

Soon to be full of shad. :D

And then, the third and final course: Pequest Hatchery Rainbows.

[thmyorke1]

And then, the third and final course: Pequest Hatchery Rainbows.

Curious , are there other species eagles prefer? Once the shad (and Hatchery trout) are all gone, do they just start nailing anything they see swimming?

[Mark B.]

Curious , are there other species eagles prefer? Once the shad (and Hatchery trout) are all gone, do they just start nailing anything they see swimming?

I believe that eagles are opportunists. Preying upon what is every most abundant / convenient. They eat road kills. On an eagle cam in another state there was dead cat in the nest.

[thmyorke1]

I believe that eagles are opportunists. Preying upon what is every most abundant / convenient. They eat road kills. On an eagle cam in another state there was dead cat in the nest.

thanks Mark :)