Farrington Lake 03-21-15 Open Water

[Andrushkin33]

So back again to my old nemesis

Anyways was more of a scouting trip than fishing but still I stayed for open 3 hours.

Fished of the Riva Ave bridge with 4 other souls that were there.

Got there late around 11 am and stayed until 2 pm.

Water was more or less clear but still cold. My poor shinners were begging to go back in a bucket.

So in 3 hours I didn't see anything but had a nice chat with the other guys fishing. Yet another story of the pike being caught 3 days ago of the bridge where we were. Great ....I thought to myself....another story ...

I swear with all the pike being stocked in this god forsaken puddle why am I having such a hard time getting one .... all good though I will get that sucker this year ....

I proclaim this year a year of Farrington pike ....

Andre

[RyanMac14]

I am ready andre. Lets get this! I will be going out on the lake this week or next week. How did the lake look in terms of level and stuff. i usually launch right there at the bridge. Any tips from the old timers?

[Andrushkin33]

Ryan,

Yeah I think I have to get on the boat to get to where we are got to go.

Correction facility and summer camp areas that's where the fish is at but honestly god knows where it is.

Numbers are just not adding up and that's what worries me. Over 2000 being stocked each year but the I have been only able to find report from 2005 when the nets were put in for survey. And in nets only 8 were caught with the biggest pushing 14 lbs +

Look at the numbers below of pike stocked:
2008: Farrington Lake - 3,071
2009: Farrington Lake - 4,155
2010: Farrington Lake - 3,168
2011: Farrington Lake - 2,715
2012: Farrington Lake - 2,900
2013: Farrington Lake - 2,903
2014: Farrington Lake - 2,925

It got to be at least one somewhere there with our number on it.

Andre

[Mikey topaz]

Only fished farrington as a kid years ago dont remember it to well ..... Try to find some drop offs like 8ft going to 3 somthing like that fish the points and feeder creeks,when the water warms up these fish tend to hang in these shallow water runoffs and stuff ,dont be afraid to go exploring man!!! Go get em!

[UglyStick]

There are some pike in there... trap nets don't lie...

"7 northern pike were captured from March 24 to March 28 (2014). Of the seven pike, 4 were males and 3 were females. The biggest female was 37.3 inches long and weighing 12.28 pounds."

Because of the long winter, there will be trap nets there again this year... in fact I think they are in there now.

[Andrushkin33]

Ohhh I have no doubts that they are there.

Just number wise that's what worries me. I mean I do understand that not every pike caught there will be posted on the web but still. With the numbers stocked there should be a bigger turnover rate unless a very small percentage of the fish stocked makes it.

With a female being over 35 inches you know that fish is over 7 years old.

Also only 8 being caught in the traps. 8 out of thousands stocked? Either fish is smarter or they are not making it out there for some reason.

I'll go with a fish being smarter since I cant seem to catch any.

I know I been talking about it non stop but the lake as much as I hate it is dear to me. I grew up fishing it and been fishing it for over 20 years. At the end just want kids growing up enjoy it just like I did back in a days.

Andre

[RyanMac14]

You know you are welcome to hop in with me andre. I just picked up a fish finder so maybe we can find some of these drops and weedbeds We haven't tried yet. Its a little boat so you might not feel great about it but the offer is always there.

[Gatto1227]

I'm with ya man. That's a local lake for me and I've spent a ton of hours there looking for pike and have come up empty handed. Never have seen one caught but have heard stories. stories that I don't even believe half the time because I see people Catching pickerel and calling them pike. I'm gonna try the deep water near the dam. Maybe troll some bigger baits. Farrington pike and millstone pike - two NJ myths if you ask me lol

[UglyStick]

Farrington pike and millstone pike - two NJ myths if you ask me lol

Add Cranberry pike onto the myth list too...

[Andrushkin33]

LoL,

Man I don't want to start on Cranberry but truth to be told I only ice fished it this year and pretty much never fished it before so its early for me to tell.

And as far as people calling pickerels pikes I can relate to that. To me pickerel, pike, muskies were always under one category - pike and that's it. Truth to be told two of my biggest pickerels did come from Farrington last summer. 26 and 28 inches both 3 feet of the shoreline in about 4 feet of water.

Being spawn time for pike right now just trying to get them by the shore since I do fish mostly from shore and for me to get one from shore the time would be right now. Pretty much caught all the species in that lake besides pike and trout and I don't know why but just want to cross both of those of the list.

And I am telling all ...this year will be the year ...

Andre

[Jigman13]

Gotta keep in mind that they go in as fingerlings. Small enough for most medium sized predators to eat. The pickerel population likely feasts on them when its stocked. 2900 fingerlings really isn't that many for a lake with so much acreage. After seeing the monster I saw in there, I know they exist... Lurking the edges of the deeper sections looking to ambush their next victim. Also, this time of yr, check for where the state sets up the broodstock nets. These are ideal locations for finding mature fish right after ice out.

[Chrisper4694]

I bagged a 31" pike from cranberry a few years ago and had a follow from a smaller one. That was my one pike trip there, I'm sure I just got lucky but at least you know there are at least two in there haha

[NJTransplant]

Heh ...i cut my teeth at farrington and fished it for 20 years and saw 1 pike caught by a friend of mine out in the middle of the lake where you would never expect them to be ......BUT i did hook one on a black buzz bait in the beginning of nov that turned my canoe around ( early days of fishing in the yak ) ......try off farrington BLV ...thats the deepest part of the lake with shallow flats ...HINT ....you have to walk a little .Fishing is memories ......many a time with Getthenet on there ,westonmills....ETC .I miss fishing with my Bro ..... with that said ....i am going to DESTROY all the R@*$ fresh water records this year so suck it brother ...F your 8 #Hybred
:D

[GetANet]

For sure Bro!!! Fished it a Ton back in the day!!! We Had some great days but took our lumps too! Lots of Bass Pickerel and Crappies but no pike!!! :confused

We used to do really good fishing there in the winter when it wasn't frozen over too!