Smallmouth feedbags on

[basskicker]

I continue trying to master river fishing with the Passaic being the closest body of water to me. The smallmouth have their feedbags on lately which helped me eclipse my PB with 22 fish landed from 8am-noon. Even the small ones fight hard but I managed better size fish this trip with 4or 5 measuring 13inches. Fish were hitting fast moving baits and plastics today. Here is one of the better fish.

What is the largest smallie someone has caught on the Passaic? Are there 3lbers in there or do the pike get them before they can get that big?

[gnuisance]

That's a good fish for the Passaic

[Skunk City]

22 fish is a good day!

My PB Smallie from the river was a 19" caught in February of '12 on a live shiner. All my bigger Smallies have been bycatches while Pike fishing, so maybe try upsizing your bait. I landed a 16" Smallie over the weekend on a big HJ-14 Husky Jerk, so they will hit the bigger stuff. Granted you probably won't catch 22 fish, but the size should be a bit better.

[Eskimo]

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I just tried the Passaic River for the first time this weekend. I was very impressed. I caught a mix of Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass. The bass seemed really strong and healthy. They had more girth to them than any bass from any other body of water I have fished in NJ. The Largemouth Bass had so much girth that their mouths and heads looked small on their bodies.

I was very hesitant to drive East and try this urban fishing. I've grown accustom to fishing with bucolic scenes of mountains and trees and the sounds of birds singing. It took me a while to get used to the urban raucous of loud engines, sirens, music blaring, people yelling and the ugly scenery of buildings and the backs of houses. The rotting metal objects in the water looked horrifying and the tires were just gross.


Word is getting out about the Passaic River. When I was unloading my car, I met a Russian guy packing up his car who drove out from New York. (I found it funny that he admonished me for starting fishing at two o'clock in the afternoon. Hey, I was out late drinking on Friday. Saturday morning was kind of rough.)

The whole afternoon I only saw one jon boat, four guys fishing from kayaks, and four guys fishing from the shore.


Here is one the Smallmouths I caught.





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[dboyd101]

love to see that you're using a PA on the PRiver... can you ping me a safe launch spot and if you have had any issues with depth and the fins hitting the ground?

Thanks and awesome catch!

[Mark B.]

Big D. smallies got their feedbags on too.

Caught several to 16” on crawdad tails & rainbow trout Rapala.

Shadlings are, no doubt, in those feedbags. Last week, our seining crew captured shadlings @ sites from Bulls Island to Reiglesville.

2 PA Waterway patrolmen in a boat put their binocs on me & asked me to show my license. Turned around, pointed to it on my back. “Thanks,…..good luck!” & they were on their way upriver.

[jimmythegreek]

good job on the smallies, they fight great no matter what the size

[basskicker]

Eskimo that is a monster smallie and give me hope.

I grew up near the Passaic and as crazy as it sounds the river is much cleaner now then it ever was. Water was super clear on Sunday, I could easily see turtles on the bottom and monster carp trolling the shallows.

[420*NightCrawler]

Nice bass, basskicker!

Good to see your trip to the passaic paid off, Eskimo. I'm with you on the scenery aspect of the passaic. I've lived 10 minutes from the river my whole life, but only fished it maybe 3 times 20 years ago. I much prefer peace and quiet while fishing. One of these days I'll hit the northern part of the river. I believe it's nicer scenery up there, at least what I can tell from the pics I've seen on here, but it's still relatively urban.