Passaic River Pike

[buzzbaiter]

They'll never stock above Madison/Chatham areas since its trout stocked. Pike do get upstream as far as Great Swamp/Lord Sterling Park but very few and that's the way NJDFGW likes it. They gotta be careful where they put them because they can be a nuisance if they take hold.

[UglyStick]

Originally Posted by catfishonthelake

And the proper way to land and handle a big Esox is to have a proper net to keep it in the water while it's being unhooked, hold it firmly by its gill plate with one hand without touching its rakers and to support the stomach closer to the tail with the other hand, holding it horizontally, never vertically.

Tight lines to you guys and remember that conservation is the only way our NJ fisheries can survive. Our friends in Hackettstown can only do so much.

X 2 ...... Mark nailed it here on both technique and promoting conservation. I'll also use this lead in to add an always big thanks to Craig and the men and women at the hatchery who work for extremely modest wages to raise and stock the fish that bring us soooo much enjoyment - thanks again to these folks...

[catfishonthelake]

Here's a demo of that hold.

[saxmatt]

Mark, can you post GPS coordinates to the spot where you caught that fish?

[catfishonthelake]

Lol. Yeah I gotta dig 'em up. Only reason i put this one up is because people can spend all day inspecting the background and not find the spot. Unless they're in Detroit.

[saxmatt]

I prefer the ice background. People won't be able to tell which lake in Saskatchewan I caught this.

[catfishonthelake]

Ha ha. Yes indeed.

[Oliver10]

I am a long time reader. I never post. I mainly fly-fish. I will fish anyway that I can though. I saw the original posters post and was impressed and felt like it sums up the way I feel about a lot of fishing. I catch and properly release 95% of what I catch. If it is mortally wounded I am eating it.

I don't understand why so many people are so ignorant about the fragility of most fish and that letting them flop around in the mud, dust, leaves or who know what else just shows a total disrespect for your quarry. If people who hunted came up to their wounded prey and left it suffer while they pissed around taking pictures, finding the right tool or whatever else, fellow hunters would see red.

For whatever reason fish don't get many people as incensed.

Here is how fishing should work.

Catch fish.

Decide instantly if it is legal and if you will be eating it.

If yes to both. Kill it humanely.

If no quickly and carefully release it giving it the best chance of survival.

There should be no in-between.

If you go fishing you should have the proper tools to release the fish you are going to catch. Anything else is irresponsible. Even if you plan on eating your catch nobody is assured of only catching keeper sized fish 100% of the time. There will be a need to release fish.

While I don't think that there are any secret spots in NJ. Anybody with Google maps and time can find where to fish. I do think that finding the spots is half the fun. I have fly fished the Passaic for pike a few times. I have not hooked up. I have do have to say that this year there are more people than ever out there. Most have no licenses and many don't know a thing about the rules or proper fish handling. I think as this fishery gets more well known it is going to decline. The river is urban and it flows past a lot of people who for the most part believed it was a dead gross river. As word spreads that fish live there they will be harassed until depletion.

I would like to see somebody post a good tutorial on how to safely and humanly release by-caught turtles. I have never caught one and am glad it has never happened. I see a lot being poorly treated though.

[NorthJerzyG]

Yup, the river is Def overfished and all the good fish have come and gone. No point in wasting a trip when there are far better fisheries nearby..........

[Suntzu]

There are parts of the river that are oversfished, parts not. To me its about preserving and protecting what we have and helping it grow through a combination of providing education and information on this site, characterizing this fishery as really something unique and special, and bringing peer pressure here and on the river appluading doing the right thing, and chastizing doing the wrong thing.

I set the post up in a way that is is found quickly when a google search is done.

This weekend will be my last on the Passaic as I will move on to the surf for the rest of the year. Leaves already getting bad. I may even post a report