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Welcome to the site NJMountain Man. Those are some great catches. It's really great to see people doing well on that section of river. As a kid in the 1980's, I fished that area a lot for carp and bullheads.
I now live where the Dead River meets the Passaic River in Basking Ridge, but I never see any pike.
I just assumed the dams in Millburn and Chatham kept the pike from migrating up to those Northern reaches of the river. But then, I almost never kayak that portion of the river because fallen trees and low water force the paddler to portage too often. (Slogging through mud while you drag a kayak through pricker bushes is not much fun).
I know there are a few pike out there, though. Every spring, I see pictures on my Facebook page where trout anglers throwing small inline spinners are surprised to catch big pike.
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