BocaGrande Posted June 26, 2015 Posted June 26, 2015 I have a river near my house that I like to fish in, but I haven't had any luck! It feeds from a reservoir via a dam, then has this body of water below the dam that is very calm. And then there are the spillways. Mini waterfalls that flow down In to the tidal part of the river. The upper part is loaded with Lilly pads, downed trees, covered banks, islands.. kind of like a lake.. looks like a bass paradise. However, I've only caught 2 fish up there in my life! Does anyone fish at places similar? Does anyone know what I'm talking about lol? Quote
BocaGrande Posted June 26, 2015 Author Posted June 26, 2015 its kinda hard to me to explain.. but heres a pic i hope it helps. i fish north of the spillways.. where the good cover is. i have seen fish activity there (topwater blow ups) but only caught 2 fish EVER!. the orange is the main river. i have seen some activity there also but still no luck! any help would be great. P.S. i mostly bank but if i can get out on the kayak i would be out there all day! no fish finder, no electronics :/ Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted June 26, 2015 Super User Posted June 26, 2015 I know of a place similar that I have fished. One side of the canal is freshwater with an overflow spillway into brackish tidal waters. Haven't done all that well on the fresh side as I fish the brackish much more, caught some nice bass but more salt species. The brackish side has to be fished in accordance with high and low tide as well as incoming and outgoing. Quote
Super User Lund Explorer Posted June 26, 2015 Super User Posted June 26, 2015 Oradell NJ? The cat's out of the bag! Hard to believe all that time spent redacting street names that the OP missed the name on the bottom of the picture. 2 Quote
CeeJay Posted June 26, 2015 Posted June 26, 2015 I'm pretty sure the OP was asking how to fish it successfully, not what it's called. Quote
Shanes7614 Posted June 26, 2015 Posted June 26, 2015 I'm pretty sure the OP was asking how to fish it successfully, not what it's called. Is that why??? He may get more info if someone knows where he's speaking about. If it was that secretive then he should have blacked out everything. Quote
CeeJay Posted June 26, 2015 Posted June 26, 2015 Is that why??? He may get more info if someone knows where he's speaking about. If it was that secretive then he should have blacked out everything. I have no idea why he blacked out the streets....but he said he has only caught 2 fish there. So I just assumed he was looking for info on how to catch more. But what do I know Yeah it's definitely weird though... Quote
BocaGrande Posted June 26, 2015 Author Posted June 26, 2015 Guys relax lol I blacked out the streets because when I was editing this picture I was labelin spots and didn't want anyone to get confused with all the text. Then I decided to color coordinate the labels lol ANYWAYS so yeah this is the Hackensack river in north NJ and from the blue spillways up is where I mostly TRY to fish.. any suggestions? 1 Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted June 26, 2015 Super User Posted June 26, 2015 If you fill in your profile info regarding what state you live in people can better help you knowing your general location. Quote
BocaGrande Posted June 26, 2015 Author Posted June 26, 2015 If you fill in your profile info regarding what state you live in people can better help you knowing your general location. Gotcha. I live in bergen county nj. Northern most part or nj. This spot is in oradell, nj. From the oradell reservoir to the Hackensack river Quote
WhiteMike1018 Posted June 26, 2015 Posted June 26, 2015 I'ts possible that there just isn,t that big of a population of bass in there, theres a dam and 3 spillways so im guessing theres not many fish moving in and out does the dam have a fish ladder? How many times have you been there, it could be just a few off days that you had. What were you doing different on the days that you caught fish there as opposed to the days you didnt catch fish 1 Quote
Super User WRB Posted June 26, 2015 Super User Posted June 26, 2015 There are a few u tube videos showing bucket anglers catching bass below the diversion dams with live shiners. You could do the same using soft plastics split shot or drop shot rigged, above or below the dam areas. Frog fishing the pads, or soft plastics and jigs will catch these bass. Tom Quote
Super User fishballer06 Posted June 26, 2015 Super User Posted June 26, 2015 Does this area get a lot of fishing pressure? Quote
BocaGrande Posted June 26, 2015 Author Posted June 26, 2015 I'ts possible that there just isn,t that big of a population of bass in there, theres a dam and 3 spillways so im guessing theres not many fish moving in and out does the dam have a fish ladder? How many times have you been there, it could be just a few off days that you had. What were you doing different on the days that you caught fish there as opposed to the days you didnt catch fish I am not sure about the fish ladder but I doubt it. I've been coming here for years! Lol the low population of fish would be the most reasonable explanation. The times I did catch fish was 1 time 11am early fall. No foliage yet. Got a spotted with a TR havoc boss dog. The other was a monster crappie on a popper mid day Quote
BocaGrande Posted June 26, 2015 Author Posted June 26, 2015 There are a few u tube videos showing bucket anglers catching bass below the diversion dams with live shiners. You could do the same using soft plastics split shot or drop shot rigged, above or below the dam areas. Frog fishing the pads, or soft plastics and jigs will catch these bass. Tom I've done jigs and frogs all around the pads downed trees and structure that I could reach from the bank.. Nothin lol Quote
BocaGrande Posted June 26, 2015 Author Posted June 26, 2015 Does this area get a lot of fishing pressure? The tidal areas below the spillways do but only by other bank anglers and they usually just go for the white perch that hang out there. Below the spillways is all rocky bottoms until the river branches off into the main part Quote
Super User WRB Posted June 26, 2015 Super User Posted June 26, 2015 I've done jigs and frogs all around the pads downed trees and structure that I could reach from the bank.. Nothin lolTry it at dawn, dusk and night and also use soft plastic worms. If the water is flowing out, there is some current above those dams, bass point their nose into the current and locate wherever this current brings food to them.Do you see any fish activity, bass tend to be aggressive at times near the surface. Tom Quote
BocaGrande Posted June 26, 2015 Author Posted June 26, 2015 Try it at dawn, dusk and night and also use soft plastic worms. If the water is flowing out, there is some current above those dams, bass point their nose into the current and locate wherever this current brings food to them. Do you see any fish activity, bass tend to be aggressive at times near the surface. Tom i usually go around dusk after i get home from work, and now with summer here, ill stay until dark. durring those times once in a while a bass will agressively break the surface. more heard than seen. it doesnt look like much in the picture, but its a decent stretch from the main dam to the spillways. like a small lake Quote
Shanes7614 Posted June 27, 2015 Posted June 27, 2015 I grew up in Morris county. From what I know I do not believe there is a large population of bass in that part of the river. Mostly in the Resevoir above and a small amount of them in the lower part of the river. When I saw the picture it looked familiar which is why I had asked and now can give better info. Quote
Super User RoLo Posted June 27, 2015 Super User Posted June 27, 2015 The answer may lie in the title of your thread: "Location, Location, Location" I've lived in Jersey for 50 years, and know firsthand that many waterbodies are marginal bass fisheries at best. Hmm, you're nice and close to Greenwood Lake Roger 1 Quote
Shanes7614 Posted June 29, 2015 Posted June 29, 2015 Try the Passaic river if your interested in river fishing. Contains not only bass but pike as well. Rolo had great advice in trying greenwood lake as well. Tappan lake I believe also holds a decent amount of bass but not sure how much is actually in NJ. I can give you a ton of places and a few hook ups to some private lakes if your willing to travel to Morris and Sussex counties. PM me if you want any details. Quote
Shanes7614 Posted June 29, 2015 Posted June 29, 2015 Try it at dawn, dusk and night and also use soft plastic worms. If the water is flowing out, there is some current above those dams, bass point their nose into the current and locate wherever this current brings food to them. Do you see any fish activity, bass tend to be aggressive at times near the surface. Tom Tom, this area isn't very productive at all. The Resevoir above and river below hold the majority portion of the bass I believe he's chasing. The area he's explaining has very little in the way of bass and if any they are all very very shorts. 6-8" at best is the regular. Quote
BocaGrande Posted July 5, 2015 Author Posted July 5, 2015 That's guys! Very helpful. Shane, I was told about the good fishing in the passaic river, definitely will have to head there soon. And I guess there just isn't much bass in this area! Time to move on I suppose Quote
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