45 minutes on the Passaic.
 

I was heading home from work and I happened to be close to the 2 Bridges area and found a spot near one of the bridges. Only had about 45 minutes but they were hiting. I caught 2 nice looking Yellow Perch that were about a foot long, they looked indentical! I wonder if I caught the same one twice. I caught both on a Rapala and another one got away.

I switched to a Hula Popper just as it started to rain and caught a Bass, around a foot long. I'm pretty sure it was a Smallmouth. I had a 2nd pole and tried digging for a worm but no luck there so I used an artificial worm with a float, what the heck. Couldn't believe it was getting some hits under the bridge and I started pulling something in when it must have swam into some branches, line was snagged and I had to snap it. I hope the fish spit out the hook, or hopefully it will disolve in a day or 2.

Right near the bridge there were a bunch of dead fish, couldn't tell what they were. I think they may have been dumped there by someone.

No pike but I'll keep trying. But this was my 2nd time in that area and it seems like a healthy river for fishing. I still won't eat anything out of it though.

Re: 45 minutes on the Passaic.
 

not unless you want a third testicle or a tail coming out your back..

great report...:D

Re: 45 minutes on the Passaic.
 

nice job!

Re: 45 minutes on the Passaic.
 

That's a pretty good area to hit if you're limited on time. Good shoreline access and if the smallies are hittin', they're hittin'.

Re: 45 minutes on the Passaic.
 

I went to the same spot today on my way home from work for about an hour. I put a Senko on and hooked it weedless, or so I thought. 1st cast and snagged it, snap..GRRRRR. I then put on a mister twister and 1st cast and another snag. Snap, lost that one as well. So that's 2 consecutive casts and 2 lost worms.

Ok, I'm going top water. I put on a double jointed fireburst Rapala and I swear, 1st cast and I landed a Smallmouth that fought like a Bear. Really nice fish for the 14 or so inches he was, but these guys really fight. About 3 minutes later I land another one, slightly smaller but he fought like mad as well. And I had 2 more that both jumped out of the water and managed to spit out the lure. The Rapala was hot today. But all I ever catch is smallmouths on the Passaic. Maybe I need a boat to find the Pike?

Re: 45 minutes on the Passaic.
 

go get yourself a husky jerk 14 and just keep throwin it, it will get hammered. im surprised you havent caught one yet but it will happen

Re: 45 minutes on the Passaic.
 

Catching All Those Nice Smallies And You Want A Pike,go Figure

Re: 45 minutes on the Passaic.
 

I have a Husky Jerk Firetiger 12 that I was using, no takers. And no complaints about ever catching a Smally but I don't think I've ever caught a Northern Pike. I've caught so many Pickeral in my lifetime though biggest being one 28 inches long. Even Pickeral give you that Green Torpedo blast.

Re: 45 minutes on the Passaic.
 

Plenty of pike to be caught from shore, no need for a boat. And God knows there's plenty of snags in that river. First time I was there I lost $70+ dollars worth of Husky Jerks, Thundersticks and X-Raps. After that I switched to soft-plastics, cheap white spinnerbaits and Storm Swim Shads. I've had a lot of success on all of them. I found with the stickbaits that not only do you have to worry about the snags themselves, but if you hook one and the pike swims into brush or a blowdown, there's a pretty good shot you're not getting it out. The single hook on the back of a Storm shad or a spinnerbait makes it much less likely you're gonna get hung up when fighting a fish. Keep casting man, you'll catch one.

Re: 45 minutes on the Passaic.
 

BIG jointed rapalas or comparable lures that only "dive" to 6"-12" will catch them too. On the pause, they will float to the surface, keeping you snag free and hopefully scoring you an epic blowup. I caught my biggest one this year casting one into a fallen down tree. I've also caught them on a few different color husky jerks, but I've also lost them to snags like Catfish said.