Passaic River Surprise (5/25)

[JDTuna]

Had a little bit of time after dinner on Memorial Day to take my nephew (who had never caught a fish) fishing. It was a last minute plan, and I figured I could pick up some worms and take him to the Passaic right by the house and catch a few bullhead cats. Unfortunately, the nearest bait store was closed so worms were out. I had a few scraps left over from a yellowfin tuna I caught on Saturday on an offshore trip, and grabbed a couple of leftover hotdogs as well.

We went down to the river and set out one rod with a piece of yellowfin, and the other with a chunk of hotdog (cooked by the way). Within a few minutes the yellowfin tuna chunk gets eaten and my nephew landed his first fish ever, a bullhead catfish. A few minutes later, the hotdog gets hit. Im thinking its another cat, but its fighting a bit harder. My nephew pulled the fish to the surface, and it ended up being a 24-26 inch pike! Here I am, thinking hard about lure choice when I fish, and this one decided to scoop a chunk of hotdog off the bottom. Unfortunately, it bit through the light line before we had a chance to take a picture, but it was a still a successful trip with his first two fish. And a pike at that!