It's official. ..my honey holes are no more

[Mark B.]

I'm curious,...........

PM me the stretches you refer to as producing in the past,....but currently are not.

Thanks.

Mark B.

Mark Boriek, Principal Fisheries Biologist
NJDF&W
Bureau of Freshwater Fisheries
PO Box 394
1255 Route 629
Lebanon, NJ 08833

908-236-2118​

[Predator]

Fished the Passaic about four times in the past two weeks with nothing to show for it. I even got a dozen of giant shiners one day which I never do for Pike . Getting nervous with the Pike-a-thon starting on Saturday. The lakes are calling my name.

[buzzbaiter]

I will take some samples of the water. I can run some tests on it including bacteria. Let you know what I find.

[slider]

Could be results from over fishing every one that fishes isn't into catch and release..But Passaic River has been subject to all types of changes, years ago biggest problem was some industry along the river released some sort of toxin,resulting in fish kills..Heavy rains would wash out the evidence b4 anyone realized what damage was done and where it came from..Good idea might be to hit the river for bass or pan fish to see if they still hold a good niche in the river.

[muskynut]

Find cooler water.....incoming springs etc........

[msgdan]

I am sure over fishing could be the case in some areas. But the places I am talking about are remote areas that I have been kayak fishing for years without hardly any presume at all. In 6 years, I have never seen another fisherman in these spots. Not many people would drag a kayak through hundreds of yards of woods to access these spots.

Trust me, I am not someone who is crying about not catching. I have put in hundreds of miles and hours on the rivers and I am just hoping for a rebound in the stock so we can all enjoy this great fishery that we have been fortunate to experience.

Danny V

Anyone think it's possible with the cold winter and the amount of ice we had on rivers that fish or forage were killed or that fish moved to other areas of the river possibly due to lack of oxygen. I remember a post about shallow lakes where persistent and thick ice during the winter have wreaked havoc on the fishery, is it possible the same can happen in a river system. Or as I said, were there low levels of oxygen and fished moved to other areas of the system or the bait moved and the predators moved with them?

[FASTEDDIE29]

These river fish are capable of swimming up or down stream for miles and miles. A couple spots I hit in April and May were the Dead Sea! Then I hit those same areas last week as I posted and it was game on with all kinds of fish over the 30 inch mark. I wouldn't give up hope at all. The river game can be tough and sometimes the fishing just shuts down. I have been fishing the P for almost 20 years. Still learning a few spots and still have a few spots left to float. Checked 2 areas today for the contest and the water was super low. Didn't see any bait, just big Carp. The fish can move way upstream in a day if there hungry. There's fish to be caught in your area Dan. There just being picky!

[slider]

Eddy has good point, hard to tell a fish where he should or shouldn't be..mention was made that not much of any thing to be found in the previous high productive areas..Something may have prompted bait size fish to leave the area, pike sure to follow..Might just need a more serious time spent exploring..Good luck..And Tight Lines..

[Suntzu]

There was a fish kill on the river last month I saw it, and saw the consequences
That coupled with much higher fishing pressure and poor handling of fish has led to a significant deterioration in the fishery. fish porn hurts, just saying I have seen more people fishing the P this year than the last 5 years combined

It will take awhile but it will bounce back if treated properly