Rockaway mixed bag - 7/17

[buzzbaiter]

Spent about 90 minutes tossing a spinner around in the Rockaway River. Pretty good tally for a short trip:

14 redbreast sunfish
3 northern pike
2 largemouth bass
2 yellow perch
1 smallmouth bass and
1 balck crappie.

Largest fish was a 12" perch. Pike sizes were 6", 8", and 10" which was disappointing. At least they are in there to grow bigger :)

[AndyS]

NORTHERN PIKE !!! :eek:

[The Birdman]

Nice, there are actually lots of small pike in the upper part of the river, i would catch them all the time when trout fishing.
Pretty cool catching such tiny Pike, you never really see them that small.

[Skunk City]

Cool mixed bag and pics. Background looks very similar to the Passaic. I guess these things are swimming upstream from there?

[The Birdman]

Cool mixed bag and pics. Background looks very similar to the Passaic. I guess these things are swimming upstream from there?

You may be right......but these pike must have to swim alllllll the way up from the passaic through the Boonton Res? I cought pike WAY north on the rockaway past rt15.
And if they did make it that far, how would they make it over those falls in Boonton?? Or they can swim from morris canal from the Passaic/Pompton.
I cought the exact same fish in April WAY up the river. I didnt take a real long look at the fish but it ws NO pickerel.

Also, I wonder if baby musky can swim to the rockaway via stehpens brook from LH?

[buzzbaiter]

I have caught a few adults in the same area but not many. Primarily sunfish water. Maybe the young are wild pike? I can't see a 2-6" pike - the size they stock - moving that many miles upstream against the current especially with the river being so high this year. Just wondering...

Skeeters not as bad along RR but still around. PR is absolutely horrible. Even in the sun they are in full attack mode.

[Skunk City]

Hopefully our resident fisheries expert Mark B. came chime in on this one. The fact that your Pike from yesterday were so small makes it that much more interesting.

[acabtp]

I live on and fish the Rockaway River all the time. Never once caught, seen, or heard about a pike above the reservoir, but there are plenty of chain pickerel up here.

Below the reservoir is a different story, that area is a pike nursery.

From the design of the dam, I don't see how it would be possible for fish to migrate from the lower Rockaway into the reservoir. Also, Boonton falls is 24' iirc, I seriously doubt that anything is migrating upstream from that either. Plus there are two spillover dams in the town of Boonton that block most upstream migration after that. And then more dams in Rockaway boro... So I doubt anything is moving up river

[acabtp]

Or they can swim from morris canal from the Passaic/Pompton
Morris canal is empty and dry except for a couple tiny preserved sections here and there

E.g. It is just a low spot in my neighbors' backyards

Could always have been some bucket biologist dumping them in

[NorthJerzyG]

So it's most likely they're swimming up from the Passaic and spawning in the lower rockaway?

Maybe recent stockers that swan upstream to stay away from their bigger cousins, lol? Have they stocked yet this year?

[bunker dunker]

I Have Lived In Boonton Most Of My Life.have Caught A Few Pike In The Basin Area And Have Seen Pike Caught In The Mouth Of The Res.not Many But Some

[buzzbaiter]

Smallest pike caught in PR was about 12-13".

FYI: last visit to river I saw 4 great blue herons, 7 mergansers and 2 kingfishers within a 1/4 mile. I think they are having their own Pike-A-Thon. lol

Banks are REAL slippery so careful if you shore fish unless you want a PR bath:eek:

[Mark B.]

That’s definitely a pike in the photo.

We stocked 6-7” Northerns about a month ago in the Pompton and Passaic Rivers plus Pompton Lake.

The Pompton & Rockaway Rivers flow into the Passaic River.

So, pike could swim from the Passaic R., up the Rockaway R., to the base of the dam @ Jersey City Reservoir (on stream impoundment of the Rockaway River), but no further.

Perhaps, anglers masquerading as amateur fish managers, illegally stocking waters?

We never stocked channel cats, hybrid stripers or walleyes in RVR, but have caught them in our gill nets.

[The Birdman]

they must be stocked by people because i 100% caught the same small pike off Berkshire road in the spring. saw others swimming too. off the beaten path tho, not the usuall trout spots along the road.
interesting.

[jmurr711]

That’s definitely a pike in the photo.

We stocked 6-7” Northerns about a month ago in the Pompton and Passaic Rivers plus Pompton Lake.

The Pompton & Rockaway Rivers flow into the Passaic River.

So, pike could swim from the Passaic R., up the Rockaway R., to the base of the dam @ Jersey City Reservoir (on stream impoundment of the Rockaway River), but no further.

Perhaps, anglers masquerading as amateur fish managers, illegally stocking waters?

We never stocked channel cats, hybrid stripers or walleyes in RVR, but have caught them in our gill nets.

Can Pike spawn natually around here?

[Mark B.]

Limited natural reproduction has been documented outside the northern pike's native range.

Some natural reproduction was confirmed in Spruce Run Res.