Passaic River

[rcturner99]

Hello all...I'm in the Summit/Chatham area and nearby some stocking points on the Passaic. Being fairly new to fly fishing, I've never been out on opening day...or opening month for that matter. But this year I'm chomping at the bit. Anyone have any opening week/month tips? In April, can I go out at 5:00am thru 6:30 a.m. before work and have any hope of success? When fish are first stocked ,are their feeding patterns or tastes any different than later in the season? Any pointers on fishing riffles vs. pools this time of year, or should I just move around? Do they tend to hunker down in pools because of the new environment until they're aclimated? Thanks for any suggestions.

Artie

 

[rford]

Re: Passaic River - Help Matt!

Have not fished enough to judge or advise on this stretch, but Matt Grobert whom posts on this site should be able to give some good feedback!

Ralph

 

[JeffK]

You do not have to wait until Opening Day to fish the Passaic - the river above Bernardsville is a Wild Trout Stream where you can fish with artificials all year long. Hike in from the Cross Estate in Jockey Hollow NHP or go in through the Audobon Society Hoffman Sanctuary. If you go to the Audobon Society property please follow the rules and sign in at the office first. This is one of the few spots in NJ that is dominated by wild rainbows - although they are mostly small.

Stocked stream fishing is a whole nuther matter. The fish will stack up in the good spots, but many will also move around. Crowds can be an issue but you can generally find some peace and quiet by just walking a little. There are also popular and less popular streams for reasons I don't always understand. Most people head to the classic NJ streams like the Musconetcong, Flat Brook, Pequest, South Branch, etc and leave the lesser known ones far less crowded. Look at the NJ stocking list and look for local streams you don't recognize and try them out - you may be pleasantly surprised at what you find.

The trout will get to feed more naturally after a while, but the staples in early spring will be "junk" flies like egg patterns, San Juan worms, Green Weenies, Red Hots, scuds etc and generic nymphs like the tried and true pheasant tail, gold-ribbed hare's ear, and Prince nymphs.

 

[pmjasper]

The middles sections of the Passaic are great smallmouth bass waters as well. I grew up on the Passaic near Paterson and spent countless hours pursuing bass and pike. Great on the fly rod too.

 

[Catskill Mountain Man]

trout in the passaic? you gotta be joking me. how far up stream from patterson is it? it better be 40+ miles away from that place for trout to live. And WILD rainbows?

 

[pmjasper]

Trout to survive...maybe, but surprisingly I caught a trout very, very close to Paterson within the Passaic on opening day some years ago. It obviously was a stockie that had come from another river and I was very surprised when it hit, as I was looking for smallies.

 

[JeffK]

Too many people don't know the extent of decent wild trout fishing in NJ. Two weeks ago a lost a wild brown estimated at 24" in an unstocked wild trout stream (the one where Bob P electro-shocked a 23" one a couple of years back).

The upper Passaic only a few years back had the highest catch rate in a study of the 35 WTS streams at the time and it was a great place to take a kid because it was non-stop dry fly action in nice weather. The river has been degraded somewhat due to development in the Mendham area, but afternoons of catching 20 @ 6-7" wild rainbows with parr marks is still a good possibility. Not many big ones unfortunately and a wild rainbow over 12" is a real trophy.

 

[JeffK]

Wild rainbows aren't all that common in NJ - they dominate the upper Passaic and upper Whippany (another unloved urban river nearby) and are found in a few other streams. One theory of why they are found in so few streams in NJ is that the spring snowmelt produces an acid pulse (it is frozen acid rain) that kills the eggs and fry of the spring spawning rainbows while leaving the more mature fall spawned brown and brookie fry in better shape. The successful wild rainbow streams have some characteristic (like a pond in the headwaters) that buffers the acid snowmelt. Van Campens Bk has very poor year classes of rainbows in heavy snow pack years.

So there are wild rainbows in NJ, but you have to search them out.

 

[Drossi]

"trout in the passaic? you gotta be joking me. how far up stream from patterson is it? it better be 40+ miles away from that place for trout to live. And WILD rainbows?"

Funny, I once told people in Chester, PA that you could drink the water and there were wild trout in the Delaware. Of course they are a few hundred miles away from that but they were equally as skepical.

 

[rcturner99]

Thanks everyone for your input. Any thoughts on early morning(5-6:30a.m.) I'd like to get out before work....thats my only free time.:crap:

Artie

 

[Drossi]

You can probably get in some early season trout on the Passiac in Summit. They stock it along River Road. Strictly put and take and it gets too warm after mid May but for early morning excursions during the first few weeks of the season it would probably be ok. At least it's fishing.. I scoped it out when I lived in Union but never did fish there, I moved further west before the next season started.

 

[Matt Grobert]

I grew up in Chatham and fished the Passaic for carp and catfish mostly. They started stocking the mile or so through Chatham a few years ago and living 5 minutes from it in Summit now, I fish it regularly. Got my first brown on a dry there last year - on a sulphur. They are returning and every year there are more. Forget about summertime fishing, but the fall and winter are good, in addition to the spring. I've been getting some nice rainbows on streamers this winter, not many, but enough to make it worth the 5 minutes it takes to get to it. I fish it for maybe an hour at a time, its good for a fix if I don't have a lot of time.
I use wooley buggers and clouser minnows - slow retrieve on the swing has worked lately. My best day this winter has been 3 fish in about an hour. I've even caught carp on clousers there. Brown and tan with red eyes works best.

If you fish around the parks, bring thick skin, because you will get your balls busted by on-lookers sometimes. Either that or catch a trout, that shuts them right up.

 

[pmjasper]

Drossi, Let's just say that the trout I caugh wasn't 40 miles upstream from Paterson. Now while it is doubtful the trout would have survived the summer, I did catch one to my surprise, reminding me that you never can truly predict in nature where certain species will be located. As far as that section is concerned though, I'll take the smallies and pike on the fly rod there any day.

 

[mang]

I went to the great falls two years ago just to take a look. I walked across the bridge, checked it out, and walked back to my car. Before I got in, I watched a guy catch a fish below the falls and downstream about a hundred yards. I couldn't believe that someone was brave enough to hang out down on the river with all of the junkies lurking about, let alone that he caught a fish. I'm pretty sure it was a trout, though there's no way of knowing for sure. This fisherman is probably a member of this or "the other" site. In any event, if after reading this you feel emboldend to try it out below the falls, remember to bring your kevlar vest and steel shanked wading boots to keep those pesky hypodermics from poking you. Good luck!

 

[rcturner99]

I wont be down near the falls.....its a little quieter up here. I went down to check the river yesterday and the flow was pretty high. What do you guys on opening day if the water is up? Just stay close to shore and roll cast?

 

[pmjasper]

If the water is up, I look for obstructions where eddies are formed behind them and cast around there. Water near the shoreline can be good. I will also seek out quieter water, such as pools or if the water is really high I'll venture to ponds to trout fish.