Last Saturday I had made plans to chase some Shad up north, with a buddy & his son. Was really looking forward to wranglin` up a few fiesty Shad. But that didn`t happen. We called it a day around 10am as a steady rain stated to fall. Now I`m definitely not one to call it quits because of a little rain, but hell, when the fishin` sucks, I ain`t getting a wet ass & not catching anything!
So we said our goodbyes & parted ways for another day.
But I was still locked in that “fishing-mode” as I pulled into Dunkin` Donuts & grabbed a coffee.
As I headed back towards the house, they were calling for the rain to blow out by early afternoon. “Perfect” I thought to myself. Time to get my `Yak & head out to the Passaic River as I had some “New Territory” to scout out in the Great Swamp.
Got home, changed my gear, loaded up the `Yak & away I went. Forty-five miles to my destination to be exact. By the time I arrived, The rain had stopped & the sun burned off the clouds & it was turning out to be a beautiful Spring day in Jersey.
Tied down all of my gear in the `Yak & made my way slowly down-river working my Chartreuse Spinner-Bait among the blow-downs & submerged brush. As I diligently searched for those toothy river-Wolves lurking in the murky waters of the Passaic.
I was using my left-handed Gold Calcutta Spinner Bait Reel paired with an Ugly Stick Rod tossing the spinner-bait accurately in precise spots that I knew would hold a Pike……sooner or later.
Then……BAM! Pike on! And a nice at that, as my pole doubled over. As Esox thrashed on top of the water, I estimated it to be about three feet long.
Here`s the Go PRO Video I shot that day:
He was a dandy as he was 34″ & a little over eight pounds. Definitely a nice way to start the fishing season eh?
Well I guess……. some of us take lunch and some of us need to quench that “thirst” for adventure! Ha! Ha!
I opted for the latter today and took my Ronco Pocket Fisherman to the river for a hour to see if indeed I could tangle and wrangle with a Northern Pike.
I think you`ll enjoy this quick Go PRO Video I shot of my Friday Lunch-time Adventure;
Well the title alone ought to give ya an idea as to how this day panned out! ha! ha!
So turn those speakers up and watch this Video of the day`s as I do a little NJ Pike Fishing on foot!
So for those of you that have written to me asking if it was possible to catch Pike on foot, well here`s your answer. I did manage to wrangle up one Pike this morning and had another one swat at and miss my lure.
So yes, you don`t need a `Yak to get the job done.
Took a vacation day yesterday as I was planning to venture way down South Jersey, to have a go at some
Snakeheads and Bowfins. Well with all of the torrential rain storms the last few nights, I decided not to chance it, because of possible high/ muddy waters in the Delaware River tributaries that I wanted to target.
So I decided to head east rather than south for a new fishing adventure.
Loaded up my `Yak, gear and gassed up the truck and made my way up Rte. 80 to head to my targeted destination about forty five miles away. I mapped out a spot on my Passaic River map, Googled a general street in the area(As you can`t just Google “Spots on the River”! ha! ha!) got my directions and was on my way.
Got the `Yak on the water and made my way upstream
The river was definitely a bit on the muddy side, but I did indeed like the looks of this part of the Passaic River. It seems to split in various directions. As a matter of fact, so many different directions, I`m not positive where it becomes one main river-artery. As I said, this trip was really about scouting new fishing territory and that is exactly what I was doing.
Did manage however, to wrangle up a decent Smallmouth Bass in the muddy water.
The sky`s started getting dark and threatening as a storm seemed to be brewing on the horizon with thunder in the distance, I did manage to catch a young Northern Pike also.
Turn up those speakers(a little louder towards the end, as I had the protective cover on the Go PRO so it muffled me a bit) and watch this short clip of the day`s adventure:
Turned out to be a really nice scoutin` adventure and got to give advice to a very enthusiastic, younger fellow-fisherman. Which is something I enjoy doing when I`m out and about.
I`ll have a go at those `ol Snakeheads another day down in South Jersey.
To be continued……
