[Eskimo]

Funny this thread shows up now. I was just there on Saturday afternoon.

I was too hung over to do a real fishing trip, so I decided to fish in town. I just parked across from the sewer plant on Snyder Ave and walked along that path downstream. I haven't fished the Passiac since I was in high school.

I didn't catch a damn thing. The weather was gloomy and overcast. The water was completely barren of fish. I left there feeling depressed.

As near as I can figure, none of the pike stocked down stream make it past all the dams and get to Berkeley Heights. The nearest dam is in Summit or Chatham.

I know a guy who caught a small pike on the opening day of trout season in Summit on the Passiac, but I'm not sure exactly where he was fishing.

As a kid, I used to sit on the banks and throw out a handful of whole-kernal canned sweet corn and catch a lot carp in the 5-10 pound range. There were also a lot of Yellow Bullhead Catfish in the river.

As far as Seeley's Pond goes, I go there every year for opening day of trout season for the past 22 years. The trouble is that there are a few sure-fire, guaranteed spots on that lake where the trout accumulate and people show up earlier and earlier every year to claim those spots. This year, I showed up over an hour before the 8:00 a.m. opening and ALL the good spots were occupied.

One guy had a propane stove and was cooking breakfast! I can't imagine what time some of those people get there. It's like those people who wait outside the Apple Store to be the first to buy a new model of iPhone, except there just sitting in the cold waiting hours and hours for the 8:00 a.m. opening. I expect to see people camping overnight there soon. Then there is always that guy who shows up at 7:55 and practically sits in your lap to get to the good spot. I hate urban fishing.

I'm not seeing any evidence of poaching anymore at Seeley's Pond. A bunch of years back, only a few fish were caught there on opeing day. Some poachers had stolen almost all the trout before opening day. I caught a single trout and that was already gut hooked with a few inches of line coming out of his mouth. I showed the game warden (or whatever he was) and he just shrugged and said they couldn't be everywhere all the time. As I said, this was a long time ago and every opeing day has produced trout there for me since then.