Just another day at the office..

[goodfishin]

Had a couple hrs to fish and was trying to figure out where to go. Got thinking about the earlier thread about not underestimating small bodies of water and decided to go throw a line in the tiny pond in front of a local office building. I thought it was mainly there for landscaping purposes and probably had scarcely more than some sunnies and a bass or two but boy, was I wrong.

I ended up pulling out about 7 or 8 bass mostly in the 14-16" range and then saw a fish that certainly didn't look like a bass take a swipe at a soft bait. Threw the kitchen sink at him, hooked him and lost him and then on my second pass through that section of shore, I finally nailed him on a creature bait. Turned out to be a pickerel that measured just a hair over two feet. That dramatically beats my previous personal best of, we'll, never catching a pickerel before.

Good times. Now I have to scout out some more small water.

Mike

p.s. I know holding him with the towel is not ideal and it looks like have a Vulcan death grip on him but my hands were all slippery from three doses of bug spray (damn Mosquitos were fierce). Actually got him back in the water lickety split in fine shape to make someone else's day.

[Worksforjerks]

Sure looks like a pike to me more so then a pickeral

[gwl2oneida]

that's a pike.

[acabtp]

no black teardrop = not a pickerel
nice pike!

[acabtp]

now... how did the pike get in there? my guess is that the office drainage pond is somewhere that was flooded by the fair passaic?

[june181901]

Wading birds can transfer fish eggs from one body of water to another.

[acabtp]

Originally Posted by june181901

Wading birds can transfer fish eggs from one body of water to another.

yeah, sometimes maybe with other fish, but Pike in NJ aren't found to successfully spawn... so unless that bird flew down from minnesota or something...

The Division has no concern about fishing for pike during the spawning period as the fishery is not dependent on natural reproduction. New Jersey is outside the native range for northern pike and although successful reproduction is possible, any recruitment would be considered a bonus and is not expected to contribute significantly to the fishery. Our pike fisheries are maintained by annually stocking fingerlings reared at the Hackettstown State Fish Hatchery.

much more likely it was moved by water than by a bird

[FASTEDDIE29]

Wow, nice Pike!!! Wheres this pond located?

P.S. While fishing my pike spot last weekend I saw quite a few Pike fry coming in and out of a small under water bush. These little guys were 2-3 inches in length. Nature always finds a way.

[goodfishin]

Haha, the fact that I can't tell the difference between a pike and a pickerel shows you just how often I've caught either of those toothy bastards... In the one year I've been freshwater fishing around here, only reeled in one small, accidental pike in the Passaic, so while this one was a mere kindergartener compared to some of the fifth-year seniors some of you guys haul in, it's still a personal best for me.

Re: the pond, it's located a block or two from the Passaic and I only discovered it because I was walking back to my car after getting skunked from the banks one day. You're really not supposed to fish in it but the day I walked by, there was a guy fishing in it who happened to need my pliers to get a hook out of a sunny. Since the offices were all closed and I'm discreet and respectful, I figured I'd throw a cast or two in and happily move on if asked to.

Re: how the pike got in there, my bet is on either flood overflow or drainage to the Passaic as a couple of people have speculated. While it would take a pretty heavy flood to get him from the river to the pond, certainly possible. There's probably a drainage outlet from the pond to the Passaic too.

Now that I know it was a pike, I have half a mind to try to catch him again and relocate him back to the big water so the bass can enjoy their own private Idaho. There are tons of sunnies in there, so it'd be like a Vegas buffet for them if they weren't getting mauled by the pike.

Mike

[dboyd101]

first off, weird movie. second off, are you fishing that new york financial building pond off two bridges?