Passaic River 7/23

[buzzbaiter]

Since the recent rain, the pike seem to have shut off. Even though the river barely rose a few inches, its was muddier than before. The passaic is normally a bit turbid but when its downright muddy - either due to rain or carp stirring things up - they just don't hit. I hit a 'hotspot" which produced 20+ pickerel for me just 2 weeks ago. Last sunday - nada not a damn thing. Only difference was the water was up about 3-4" and it was muddy, not cloudy, muddy. You couldn't see the lure 2" below the water. I ended up fishing the river waaaaay upstream out of pike territory and caught a ton of redbreast sunfish along with some fallfish, lmb and even a few crappie. One thing it has plenty of is snags and fallen trees. Great cover for fish but a real nuisance for anglers.