A PB @ Seeley's Pond in Watchung

[Jigman13]

Quick post as I'm swamped at work. Hit Seeley's yesterday after hitting a bunch of other places in Watchung. Dink bass for the most part on Senkos. Nothing picture worthy.... Until I look down into the spillway.

I'm d*ckin' around pitching a senko from the top of the falls and pull another dink out from 30+ ft up. Fish prob had no idea what the hell was going on. Released. And cast again. Then I see it... A very large shadow coming up and swimming back down in the hole at the bottom of the spillway. I have no idea how deep that is in there but it was deep enough for this whale to disappear into. So I creep down as my friends are looking at me like "what the hell is he up to?". I tie on a Mepps #3 Aglia with a silver blade and make a few casts then BAM!!! I couldn't tell what it was at first b/c the water clarity and depth of the hole I was fishing--but it was fuggin' big! I fought the fish for what seemed like an eternity but he had no where to go really as the water levels were pretty low. He could only go down and circle. I got the fish up on a rocky flat and scooped him with my hand. I was in awe... Easily the biggest brown trout I've ever had the pleasure of catching. It weighed 6.0 lbs on the digi scale... And I kept it b/c it was beat up and prob wouldnt have survived much longer in that hole as the water temps are rising. Before anyone reacts to my keeping of this fish, please note that this was by far a personal best for me. I also rarely keep freshwater fish unless they're of the stocked trout variety (which this clearly is).

Anyhow... who wouldve thought that I'd pull something like this out of a place like Seeley's Pond...???? Catch em' up!

[Wilson]

It's ok to keep the fish...don't sweat it.
You are right, that fish was not going to be living to much longer at the base of the falls.

Too bad you couldn't of hooked it in the pond, it would of been more fun.

The state should of put that fish in a better body of water!

[shucker]

Wow,that suprising it must have went over the falls.They only stock dinky trout in the green brook but seeleys was slated to recieve broodstock.

[acabtp]

wow, nice brown!

[Jigman13]

Thanks guys... And yea, wouldve been a bit more fun in the pond but it was fun nonetheless!

[NorthJerzyG]

Nice!!

I enjoyed the bonus broodstock myself this year. Great fish.

[iceehot6766]

Nice monster tout!!!

[bigfishy]

Not too suprised of where you caught it...
They stock large fish in the oddest places:D

In the eighties, my dad and i pulled out a shopping cart from the
botoom of the falls...Inside was THE biggest box turtle i have seen to this date....In the 25-35 lb. range:D

Congrats on the catch and way to go on the keep...
Theres no-way he woulda lived much longer, and a least
a worthy angler got the meal:D

[danyeo]

NICE. I live right up the street from Seeley's but I don't fish there much, go figure. About 100 yards downstream there's a nice sized pool about 7 feet deep that the fish might of survived in had he made it down there. And with the amount of people who fish there I'm surprised there's any Trout left over.

I did see a really big goldfish in the pool below the falls and a few in the pond. I've also seen Pickeral prowling around in there as well as some REALLY BIG carp in there, the pond that is. Maybe I should give the pond some more chances.

There's also another small waterfalls down where the stream gets close to route 22.


Checkout the flow when Irene went through.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bxi64DpnZY&feature=plcp

[Jigman13]

Yea, the flow was much lighter on Sunday lol... Scary stuff though. The bridge I fish by @ my honey hole in Union County was washed out for weeks after Irene. The entire concrete base and concrete walls were completely gone and the roadway began collapsing into the river.

[captanabolic]

That woulda went right on the grill!!! congrats!!!

[flatcreek]

Great catch, Nothng wrong with keeping some fish as long as not more than your limit and there is nothing wrong with throwing some back.

[Jigman13]

Thanks! It's nice to see that many on this board are educated enough to know that fish like the brown I caught would not survive much longer in there. Aside from stockies that I caught earlier in the year, I never keep anything else. Low levels of dissolved oxygen and raising water temps mean imminent death for the stocked trout in a good amount of our waters that do not support holdovers.

I've been looking at pics of this fish since Sunday and I'm still on a high...:D

[kyle7683]

Theres fish in there??? Holy hell i gotta head there more often

[bronzeback]

thats awesome!!!

every time i see a giant.. it never takes..

wow incredible!!!

[Jigman13]

Now I want a substantial smallmouth lol. Anyone willing to point me in the right direction? I've caught nice fish in Merrill Creek and some really nice fish in the Wanaque Reservoir before they stopped fishing in there completely. It's been several years since I've tangled with an adequate bronze-back and would love to do battle again... Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks!!!

[Skunk City]

Now I want a substantial smallmouth lol. Anyone willing to point me in the right direction? I've caught nice fish in Merrill Creek and some really nice fish in the Wanaque Reservoir before they stopped fishing in there completely. It's been several years since I've tangled with an adequate bronze-back and would love to do battle again... Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks!!!


Splitrock Reservoir. State designated Trophy Bass Lake. No gasoline motors allowed, only electric or paddle power. If you don't own a boat or kayak, I'd suggest the Passaic or Raritan Rivers. This time of year, Monksville is great for night time topwater Smallie action also. Plenty of reports out there, with a lot being by yours truly :cool: .

Just realized the Smallie in my avatar picture was from Splitrock. Solid 19" fish that took a 6" pink powerworm last summer.

[Jigman13]

Thanks for the tips. I've never fished Splitrock. I've fished Monksville, though. There's terrifyingly huge fish in there. I've had beasts prey on the smaller fish I was reeling in several years back. It put the thought of using 6 lb test into perspective.

No boat but considering a yak in the near future.

[AndyS]

Shore line fishing is not permitted in Split Rock res.

Merrill has some HUGE smallmouth !!

[tycomps]

just fished the pond and the falls last week, small picks and huge snappers. wish I'd seen that bad boy! congrats.

[jimmythegreek]

that trout wouldnt have made it, u did the right thing, especially a stockie, thats why they are there. Really nice fish, awesome catch!! side note: I work in sussex county and theres a pond right next to the county college thats got bass in it and the PBA puts about 1000 trout in a year for derby's and what not. A few weeks ago a co-worker and myself hit it for some bass after work and after getting around the other side we found almost 2 dozen trout in the mouth of a drainage tube trying to survive the hot water and 2 dead ones floating. a few were nice and one 3-4 lbs all sitting there in reach. we ran back to his house got a net and a small tub and caught all of them via net and tubbed them w a small bubbler. I ran them down to aeroflex (waywayanda) and released them off the boat ramp. They swam away just fine, but their color and gills looked rough, Im hoping they lived for someone to catch (hopefully me lol) I never realized how many stocked trout die each year that arent caught because they cannot survive the summer where they are placed, its kinda stupid to me, Im against that type of stocking

[aluislugo]

Wow that's a a huge fish. I knew they were in there but never saw anyone catch one. I have gone there a few times and have never really caught anything there. I always feel that this is one of the worst places to fish so I am glad someone got a big one there. Anyway anybody have suggestion on time and bait for successful fishing at Seeley's? thanks!