Northern Pike On The Fly - 11.10.2013

[golden beetle]

I'm an unabashed advocate of guides, and there are many good guides in the area.

Today I fished with Joe D. It is the third trip I've booked with Joe this year, and this time we fished the fabled pike waters of Essex County, New Jersey.

I use the word "fabled" because these fish are one of the top prized game fish in the world, right in our backyard, yet they've rarely seen a fly.

If ever.

Why not?

They've been stocked in our waters for over 30 years, but there is barely any access into the river where you'd like to be fishing for them.

Perhaps we'd prefer to fish for heavily pursued stocked trout in the Flatbrook... But there are 12 pound pike in New Jersey waters that have never seen a fly.

It takes a good guide to recognize a human enigma, and irony, of this scale.

Perhaps Joe has an unique ability to see opportunities for great fishing where others don't, not only within the Delaware, but anywhere one would least expect them.

Essex County, New Jersey.

Good luck wading these waters. Don't try it alone, or you literally may get stuck in mud that may just as well be called quick sand.

Pike are not, to my knowledge, native to these waters. But they grow enormous here, and they're stocked just a bit bigger than fingerlings.

They are no more wild as Salmon River steelhead, but certainly more game than any stocked trout that lasts no more than a season in our waterways.

Joe explained that Northern Pike survive in numbers sufficient to make a fishery here in Jersey, if they're put in at about 8 inches in length.

Which caused me to wonder...

Why can't they survive smaller than that?

The flood plain in New Jersey is so overdeveloped, that the floods rage unnaturally, so badly as to kill off the smaller fish.

So let this be a lesson in sustainable fisheries management.

This is why Rusty Spinner works to make a riparian buffer zone along the Musconetcong; I believe to protect against flooding.

So today was another day in Joe D University for me.

He is perhaps the best guide you could ever hope for.

Today I learned about my local waters, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Conservation's pike experiment.

Does it get any better?

 

[Oliver10]

I have tried many times from the bank in Fairfield and got no bites. I probably need a guide. I have always wanted to got one

 

[FIN-ITE 34]

GB, looks like you took that out of the stocking truck tank.

Oliver-Keep at it. Pike fishing on the Passaic is a hit or miss proposition on the right day you will have some action. I took a number of pike on articulated streamers this past late summer. Biggest was 30" and it came from Pine Brook, fishing from the bank. Most days I fished, I didn't get so much as a follow. But on the right day I would have a fish miss and come back on a subsequent cast to take the streamer.

 

[golden beetle]

GB, looks like you took that out of the stocking truck tank.

Joe and I have fished going back a few years now.

When I got the Leviathan to the boat, he declared it the smallest pike he's ever taken from these waters.

Here I am, confronting the saw toothed monster of the deep.

Oliver-Keep at it. Pike fishing on the Passaic is a hit or miss proposition on the right day you will have some action. I took a number of pike on articulated streamers this past late summer. Biggest was 30" and it came from Pine Brook, fishing from the bank. Most days I fished, I didn't get so much as a follow. But on the right day I would have a fish miss and come back on a subsequent cast to take the streamer.

Good for you on your success fishing for pike, although I think I can explain why your pike fishing is hit or miss when you're casting from the bank.

You need to cover a lot of water to have success fishing for these fish. The Northern Pike is an ambush predator. It's feeding patterns are more like a python or boa constrictor than a trout.

Trout will gorge themselves on a thousand small flies, over the course of a day, which gives an angler plenty of opportunities to target a feeding fish.

Pike will take a 14 inch sucker and hold in a deep pool, or under the bank, for a week, digesting its prey.

So fishing from the bank, you might be tossing a fly over a pike all day long, that unfortunately for you just had his meal for the week.

You need to cover more ground to find one of these hungry predators.

 

[Oliver10]

Joe and I have fished going back a few years now.

When I got the Leviathan to the boat, he declared it the smallest pike he's ever taken from these waters.

Here I am, confronting the saw toothed monster of the deep.

View attachment 9917



Good for you on your success fishing for pike, although I think I can explain why your pike fishing is hit or miss when you're casting from the bank.

You need to cover a lot of water to have success fishing for these fish. The Northern Pike is an ambush predator. It's feeding patterns are more like a python or boa constrictor than a trout.

Trout will gorge themselves on a thousand small flies, over the course of a day, which gives an angler plenty of opportunities to target a feeding fish.

Pike will take a 14 inch sucker and hold in a deep pool, or under the bank, for a week, digesting its prey.

So fishing from the bank, you might be tossing a fly over a pike all day long, that unfortunately for you just had his meal for the week.

You need to cover more ground to find one of these hungry predators.

GB that makes sense. I have gone 5 seperate times. I have covered 200 yards of water each time with out a follow. I will keep at it.

 

[golden beetle]

GB that makes sense. I have gone 5 seperate times. I have covered 200 yards of water each time with out a follow. I will keep at it.

Be careful of the deep mud on the banks!

 

[FIN-ITE 34]

I've walked the banks of the Passaic from Eagle Rock Avenue to it's confluence with the Whippany River (Rockaway) and from South Orange Avenue (Columbia Tpk) to Route 10. The biggest problem this year was the low water exposing all the mud flats. Usually you can fish from hard ground when the water is at normal levels. I have a bunch of buddies that fish the Passaic hard with spoons and spinner baits, and they also find that some days the pike just do not cooperate. Go back a few days later to the same area and hit some nice pike.

 

[madcap3693]

I'm not trying to steal anyone's secret Passaic River Pike spot, but could anyone recommend a somewhat decent spot spot for a newbie to try wading for pike? I have never swung a fly at a Pike yet, but would like to give it a try. Is a 9WT or an 8WT switch rod a good weight rod for Pike on the Passaic? What's the best time of year to target these guys? Many thanks!

 

[PRomano]

I'm not trying to steal anyone's secret Passaic River Pike spot, but could anyone recommend a somewhat decent spot spot for a newbie to try wading for pike? I have never swung a fly at a Pike yet, but would like to give it a try. Is a 9WT or an 8WT switch rod a good weight rod for Pike on the Passaic? What's the best time of year to target these guys? Many thanks!

Its very difficult to find sections of river for the wade fisherman. The only place I know is in Little Falls just downstream from the route 46 overpass.
If you had a small boat or kayak, you should concentrate in the three bridges area of Lincoln Park. I have seen the largest fish being caught in March and April. Good luck.

 

[Thursthouse]

View attachment 9917

Now I know why you're angry at the world.. uking-smiley:

 

[FIN-ITE 34]

A misconception of the Passaic is that the mud is bottomless and you will sink up to your waist. Not true. I have been hunting, trapping and fishing from Chatham down to Garfield and I promise, you won't find any quick sand. The mud is actually more of a pain in that the silt is very slippery and there is a better chance of falling on your ass climbing up and down the banks. A pair of hip boots in normal water levels is all you need to access the river. Many areas of the river actually have a sandy bottom, most notably in spots where the current runs with some speed.
As Pete mentioned, the best times seem to be as the water starts to warm in the Spring. A canoe or kayak is helpful to fish around any trash in the river that affords a lair for the pike. A 7-9 wt rod is fine. Keep your leader at about 3' and add a 6" wire with snap swivel to connect your fly. Use big flies, min 4" up to 8" long. White is always a good color in the Passaic.

 

[Future Fanatic]

JoeD is a business genius.

He's gonna have GB payin' to fish for Coney Island Whitefish next...

 

[golden beetle]

JoeD is a business genius.

He's gonna have GB payin' to fish for Coney Island Whitefish next...

Joe D is selling the idea that there's water worth conserving in New Jersey, my backyard.

He's also recognizing the effort of local DEP officials to build a fishery, which is worthy of recognition.

Hopefully he'll continue to do business here successfully. Perhaps a little pressure on the pike and carp will help the trout, too, without decreasing participation in the sport, and licensing revenue.

And damn straight I'm buying.

 

[Trout Fever]

you guys want to catch northern pike go a few hours north of port jervis and pick just about any lake / pond and you will catch pike just like the pickeral down here pike are relentless up there they just keep biting and cutting line!!