Passaic 10/15

[basspilot]

Hit the passaic today late morning with a little rain coming down and got the skunk unfortunately. Got sawed off once by a nice size pike with some type of deformity on its eye. Also got unbuttoned by a real nice size smallie. Fish seem to be holding in deeper water already which I thought wouldve happened in a few weeks. How has everyone else been fairing in the passaic. I know the striped ones will be arriving shortly so I hope to see some reports on em but am not expecting to either .

[Jigman13]

I hit the Passaic on Saturday 10/13 for a lil' 30th bday outing with a few buddies. Between the 3 of us, I was the only who caught anything--it was a 24" pike. Water temp seemed fine but the air temp was frigid. The cold prob dazed most of the fish. Either that, or the area I've been fishing is getting entirely over-worked. No one else had a tug the entire time we were on the stretch we fished...and I've had double digit days there.

I guess that's fishing! At least I didnt get the skunk... Catch em' up.

[basspilot]

The smallies that I have been hitting have been of really good size so that is encouraging. I honestly cant remember the last time I've caught a large mouth out of the passaic for some strange reason. I have somewhat limited myself to once spot since there is essentially no pressure at all on that stretch and have pulled some nice sized fish from this particular area. If anyones interested Ill be going out tomorrow morning just shoot me a PM.

[MaCe1]

I was on the Passaic near Fairlawn yesterday going for smallmouth, one hit on a buzzbait and was skunked. I did pretty well the first time I went in August, and got a least a few two other times since. But I'm still new to smallie fishing , so it could be the fisherman rather than the fish.

[basspilot]

Sometimes thats the case but usually when im hitting this stretch of river I manage atleast 6 or so, but lately there either big or I get skunked. So i suppose its kind of a pick your poison type scenario. Id love to jig the passaic but I dont have a $100 to throw out every time I go fishing.

[Skunk City]

Originally Posted by basspilot

Hit the passaic today late morning with a little rain coming down and got the skunk unfortunately. Got sawed off once by a nice size pike with some type of deformity on its eye. Also got unbuttoned by a real nice size smallie. Fish seem to be holding in deeper water already which I thought wouldve happened in a few weeks. How has everyone else been fairing in the passaic. I know the striped ones will be arriving shortly so I hope to see some reports on em but am not expecting to either .

What kind of line set-up are you running? I run 30lb. braid to a barrel swivel to 20lb flouro for the leader and have yet to get sawed off by a Pike yet. The abrasion resistance of both the braid and flouro has been great considering the amount of snags, rocks, bikes, cables, etc. that are under the water in the river. Give it a shot if you haven't already, you won't be disappointed.

[bigfishy]

Originally Posted by basspilot

Sometimes thats the case but usually when im hitting this stretch of river I manage atleast 6 or so, but lately there either big or I get skunked. So i suppose its kind of a pick your poison type scenario. Id love to jig the passaic but I dont have a $100 to throw out every time I go fishing.

100$ - WOW ... what kinda jigs do ya like to throw??

Besides being super effective, jigs are one of my favorites because their cheep in comparison to all sorts of other lures....Yes they are much more prone to snaggin and losing but if ur not snagging occasionally then ur not fishin the bottom or ur not around fish catchin structure......


When i'm in a super snaggy area i use bitsy bugs with a pork trailer....The jigs are under two bucks a piece at walmart and trailers are five fer five bucks.....Other jigs that i frequent , are plain jig heads from 1/8 oz. up to 1 oz. which only cost a few bucks fer a five pack and all the various plastics that can be used.....To me jigging is one of the most economical ways to fish,,Not to mention THE most deadly80% of the time, year round and multi species....Just my 20 cents

[basspilot]

I was exaggerating about the 100$ thing but I 100% agree if your not losing some tackle your more than likely not doing something right.