Passaic River 8/29 new pb smallie thanks in part to divine intervention

[tjc76]

Fished my favorite area of the river today for about 40 minutes. First spot no hits, nothing. I moved upstream about 200 yards to a very rocky stretch of river and on my very first cast while retrieving my heddon torpedo with the current it got absolutely crushed.

The stars were aligned. I had just retied after I found an overhand knot in my line. My drag was set perfectly, the fish made many frightening jumps where I thought I would lose it. I worked the rod tip like a pro and avoided stumps, tree branches, and boulders all trying to take this fish away from me.

I tired her out and jumped in the water to land her. I removed the treble hooks, and then it happened... the fish slipped out of my hands and into the water. Here is where the divine intervention came into play. When the fish flopped into the water, it got wrapped up in my slack line laying on the bank. I was able to pull her back in.

I will not give the size or weight, but I will tell you it greatly eclipsed my previous pb of 3lb 6 oz and 18 inches.

Everything comes with a price, however. While fighting the fish I dropped a plastic case with 50 dollars worth of xraps in the river never to be seen again. I stopped fishing after this fish as anything else I might catch would not compare to this fish. On the way home, I blew out a tire. So, 50 dollars worth of xraps lost, and a 200 dollar tire.

I would lose 250 bucks 8 days a week if it guaranteed me fish like this!

What a slob....there are MONSTERS in there just waiting to be caught....Great job and congrats on your new pb!!!

[basspilot]

That fish is a beast! Hopefully ill see you down there soon I haven't been able to get out much lately.

[AndyS]

Congrats on the PB ! Sux about the 50 bux in x raps tho.

[NorthJerzyG]

Nice slob!! In high water, on top water, Awesome!! So, where did you drop those lures again...........

[Skunk City]

Damn!!!

[mcfish82]

What a HOG!!! A slammer for any body of water in NJ! I'm going to have to join you over there again one of these days!

[FASTEDDIE29]

That's SMALLIE IS A TANK!!!! Congrats on the PB!!!

[jimmythegreek]

Impressive girth on that pig, makes u wonder what else is hiding in that river congrats on your PB its a great feeling

[Eskimo]

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Bad things can happen when we leave the security of out homes and embark on an adventure. That sucks about losing your tackle in the current.

Thinking back on this summer:

* As I was loading up my wet kayak, it slipped from my hands and crashed against the side of my car leaving an ugly set a scrathches and a small dent.

* I dropped a $400 Canon SX40 camera while trying to take a picture of myself holding a fish on Spruce Run Reservoir.

* While ambling along a rough dirt road in a state park I drove past a tree branch growing out into the road and left a conscipuous set of scratches in my car running from the headlight to the tail light.

But if we don't take these chances, nothing good can happen to us either.

I wouldn't mind having a clean, scratch-free car and a working camera, but I wouldn't trade them for the fishing I've experienced this summer.



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