Pike-a-thon, No Winner, New Develpoments - NJFishing.com Your Best Online Source for Fishing Information in New Jersey

cmoran719 · #1 05-05-2013, 10:06 AM

Was cool meeting everyone. It was too bad no one got a pike, but at least some bass were pulled in.

Btw, after leaving I went down below the dam to try for some smallies. Had a crayfish jig on. Once again, the area was swarmed with carp. The water was so low and it was pocket water so you could see like 20 carp bunched up in one little pool. No smallies, but I managed to get a carp hooked in the mouth, I would assume I snagged em but since it was in the mouth is it possible he would have went for it? I doubt it. I snagged 1 more briefly that luckly came off, I saw he was snagged in the tail. Decided to leave at that point since there was no sign of smallies and I didn't wanna hurt any carp.

Was a fun fight landing this guy in close-quarters pocket water

Pike a thon pre-launch

Doug Vitale · #2 05-05-2013, 10:34 AM

Don't feel bad, guys. Last summer in June my friend came all the way up from Florida to do some NJ fishing, especially to do some piking in the Passaic. We put the boat in at 2 Bridges Road and headed a couple of miles upstream into the Great Piece Meadows.

I don't think I've ever seen a "fishier" stretch of river...weeds, fallen trees, lily pads, you name it. I was sure the place was full of bass, pickerel, pike, etc.

You can imagine my disappointment when, after 3 hours of near nonstop casting of lures and live-lining shiners, that we didn't get a single bite...not "a single fish", but a single bite.

We headed back to 2 Bridges Rd. and turned upstream into the Pompton River. After just one hour there, we had gotten four or five fish (all small, and all bass). The famous Passaic Pike were MIA that day.

NorthJerzyG · #3 05-05-2013, 11:09 AM

Just as I suspected, SKUNKED!!! Funny thing is, in the first 30min after launch my buddy had a mid 20" fish follow right up to the boat. After a couple more casts and no fish we breezed by thinkin we need something bigger, lol. Oh well, that's fishin. And I gotta say, it was def interesting having 10+ pound carp crashing into the bottom and back of the boat every so often. I think one was trying to get busy with my motor, lol. The carp had the water so stirred up Im not surprised there was no catchin goin on.

Def cool meeting some fellow members and great anglers. And thanks again to FastEddie for puttin it all together. Lookin forward to seein what kind of beasts get caught and posted in the coming month (just remember to take it easy on the fish during weigh in). I know ill be out there huntin for "another" money fish, lol..........

birddog · #4 05-05-2013, 11:14 AM

Is bow fishing allowed there?

Skunk City · #5 05-05-2013, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by birddog

Is bow fishing allowed there?

I've seen guys bowfishing out there. I want to try it after seeing so many on Saturday.

buzzbaiter · #6 05-05-2013, 10:54 PM

Please kill as many as you can. Damn things muddy up the river. I've been on the river at dawn a few times only to find it yoohoo. No rain for days so the only source was the carp. Annoying sob's...I wish pike ate them

Quote:

You can imagine my disappointment when, after 3 hours of near nonstop casting of lures and live-lining shiners, that we didn't get a single bite...not "a single fish", but a single bite.

Warmwater fish don't really start to show up in the river until July or when temps reach and stay above 70F. I work near the river river for years and never saw any sunfish/baitfish showing up until the river hit the 70F mark. Once they show up, the gamefish show up. This is true of most large rivers as well. The river seems empty all spring then one day you see redbreast sunfish, smallmouth, suckers and rock bass. I often wonder where they heck they hide all spring???

Fish n Jeep · #7 05-06-2013, 11:45 AM

I enjoyed meeting everybody! A bad day fishing is better than a good day working, as they say. I pulled in 3 dink smallies on my go-to lure and got a start on my farmer tan. All in all, a good day in my book.

ScowardNJ · #8 05-06-2013, 12:11 PM

Good day on the Passiac despite the carp orgy. Thanks to everyone putting this together! After this weekend, the kayak will be on the roof everyday until June 4th. Anyone looking to do a midweek, after work, 2 vehicle float trip in upper Passiac stretches, PM me and we'll see if we can get something going. Good luck everyone!