Pickeral / Pike
 

Hello all. I'm looking to get into some pickeral or pike action pretty close to home. I'm also new to freshwater so not sure about access points and what to throw exactly and what size. I live in Ridgefield, NJ if anyone can help me out, thank you.:confused:

Re: Pickeral / Pike
 

It's my understanding that what works best for pike and pickerel is big spinnerbaits in bright green or yellow, mepps 5's or bigger, rapala husky jerks 10 or bigger, or large shiners as far as live bait.

Re: Pickeral / Pike
 

As far as where to fish, this may be helpful

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/2003/plcpnds03.pdf

And here is a list of state stocked pike waters

http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/ima...g/map_pike.jpg

Here is a list of stream and river access points. Though this was meant for trout fishermen, many of the slower moving streams and rivers have populations of pickerel. And Pike are in the Passaic and Pompton rivers.

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/accesscnty.htm

Re: Pickeral / Pike
 

Thank you. I just bought a few things from the mepps sight. Very nice stuff!

Re: Pickeral / Pike
 

Thank you sir. Very informative!

Re: Pickeral / Pike
 

I just posted this on another thread and hope it helps some:
99% of my catches have been on #4 silver spinnerbaits or top lures like Jitterbugs or fake frogs/lizards on weedless hook setups. They're almost always hanging in the weeds or along the edges, and sometimes surprisingly shallow. Run a spinnerbait along the edges of the weeds and floating or weedless lures thru the masses of weeds. I've also had the most luck in late May thru June. I typically fish them in lakes, so the guys that pick them up in the rivers may have different approaches, but I doubt they vary that much. I'm in NNJ and have never fished central Jersey waters, so I can't help with what's in your area, but the fish will definitely hit the same baits. You can definitely catch these guys from the shoreline easily as well. Just look for water that carries pike and find yourself some weeds to cast. Each cast is a cast closer to catching one. My go to spinnerbait is the Blue Fox Vibrax #4, silver with a white bucktail. I tie in 2 strands of red thread with the white bucktail as well.

I also use and have luck with some of the Mepps spinnerbaits, I like this one and use it as my backup http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/160970095730?lpid=82. I just typically use Mepp's when my go to lure gets caught in a tree or something of that nature lol. I've had really good luck with the silver spinner/white bucktail combo Vibrax has and stick with that. It's done me very well for about 10 years now with Pike, Bass, Pickerel.

Re: Pickeral / Pike
 

thank you. good info and you got me to buy a jitterbug in frog pattern. it looks awesome :cool:

Re: Pickeral / Pike
 

Pretty much anything you use on a Pike or Pickerel will also catch bass. So if you're not catching Pike or Pickerel, there's a good chance you'll be catching Bass. Also stick to topwater lures mainly during morning and night when the water is quiet and the light is lower. When the water gets rougher and the sun brighter, change over to spinnerbaits, husky jerks and senko worms. Bass do well on the Senko worms, but if you pass one by a Pike or Pickerel, it will very likely take it. The dark green ones work excellent for me as far as Bass, even knockoff dark green worms.

Re: Pickeral / Pike
 

Most of us have the opposite problem.

Re: Pickeral / Pike
 

Here is a good link to an article on the NJ F&W site all about the pike in the Passaic river.
http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/artpassaicpike13.htm