Passaic River Q's

[dopderbeck]

My son and I took some casts on the Passaic this afternoon looking for pike in several spots from Elmwood Park to Hawthorne. Not a nibble. It was our first time trying the Passaic. A few questions:

1. Are there pike in the stretch of the river I mentioned? I saw some guys dropping cheese balls for carp. The only fish I saw was a big carp that for no apparent reason torpedoed out of the water right in front of me next to the bank and scared the pants off me. (We were fishing from shore).

2. We were using stick baits and spinnerbaits. Good choice for lures?

3. What do pike actually eat in the Passaic, especially in that stretch -- rats and carp? I really hard a hard time feeling comfortable fishing there. I grew up in Hawthorne and used to play baseball on the Wagaraw Road fields -- so I did feel a little nostalgic -- and I've commuted to Newark on Route 21 for 20+ years, so the Passaic for me has always represented the kind of waterway that attracts Dioxin and body parts....