The Urban fishing thread

[DarkSkies]

Stinky water
Pollution
Buried dead bodies
Limited access
Holes that swallow tackle and gear
Places that the COWS pass by on their way home...


I thought we could have some fun with this, as long as we stay general and are not too focused on specifics, as some areas are only good for a few at a time. So let's try to keep this as general as possible when talking about location.

There are some here, such as G and AA, that have grown up fishin these areas. They have had some great times and catches, all the while not managing to cause trouble for themselves or be denied access for trashing the places.

Let's hear of pics, stories, or anything else that reminds you of urban fishin!


Let's hear what you think...

[gjb1969]

i think its a good thing we all dont fish in pristeen water all the time and we do get fish in the urban waters so i think its cool and ther are many places to get reports from so lets see what others say when i cant get to the shore i stay close to home i have got my best fish close to home

[cowherder]

The only urban fishing story I have is fishing for carp in the passaic river. I used to go there when I was a kid. Some of the guys who fished there a lot would catch big *** carp with blueberry bagels. And some of the other guys would catch catfish with worms. The biggest catfish I got was only around 1 pound, it was 13" long. I didn't think there were too many other fish in there, but some guys said they catch smallmouths.

[gjb1969]

next year i will fish the dirty water more often i will have my little boat out there i know the fish are there i have got them before not to many people fish there so i will give reports on how i did most guys will turn there nose up at it but i am not one of them so as of now i am looking foward to next year good luck guys

[hookset]

Sometimes the urban areas have some of the best fishing.

[gjb1969]

i will be going out soon to take a look see the good thing in the back the wind wil not be as bad so mite find something if not is cool i still fish in to winter i will get the small ones on worms at least i have something i will keep u guys in the loop tite lines and good fishin to all

[DarkSkies]

I've fished the salt since I was a little kid, but for the most part it was bait fishin, and not that much as I didn't always have a way to get down there.

I grew up fishin fresh water. I'll never forget how I felt when I got my first pickerel, bass, catfish, and carp.

One of the best places to catch all these species is the Passaic River, about as urban you can get for a fishin place. At times it winds around some beautiful suburbs. Other times it winds down through some of the most depressing real estate, abandoned factories, housing projects, auto junkyards. Talk about keepin it real.

Springtime:
This is how it went down...

Sometime after the herring and shad run wound down in the Delaware at Trenton, we would go over to the Passiac looking for gizzard shad. If you think regular shad are ugly, gizzard shad are the demon stepchild to that!

Brown to black, not good for anything but bluefish bait, they are nonetheless great fighting fish.

When they used to come in to spawn, we would take treble hooks and snag em, reel em in, release, and repeat. At this time I realize it was probably cruel, but we were kids and had great fun back then. You could get some gizzard shad that went up to 6 or 7# and they fought like bulldogs.


Another great time was when the carp came in to spawn, about 3 weeks after the gizzard shad. We would go down and check every week, you didn't want to miss it. And when they did come in, it would be hundreds at a time, it was an amazing sight.

We snagged and released them too. Try to snag a 15# carp with light tackle and hold on - ya can't! We needed to bring heavier rods and reels when the carp were around.

Just some memories from yesteryear. I know some families still go down and do that. As I said, it may seem a little cruel to some, but IMO it's a good way to introduce a kid to fishing, as long as you release the fish quickly. For kids, it keeps their excitement level high.

[Rip-Plugger]

oh yeah,gotta love being like Mike Iccanelli[I think], doing some fish in a place where many think there is only trash and junk underwater.
I have several spots like that and I know them like I know me.
often these places are full of fish at most times and sometimes large.
I'll share a short story with you all now:

It was november 1990,I had a 1974 L[long]-T[tongued]-D[dog].
it was cold and my partner at the time and I were in back of the old store that bordered he water up a river.
my old machine had side pipes with cherry-bomb mufflers,I would let it run and when our hands would get cold we'd go to the pipes and warmour hands up from the hot exhaust and go back and fish for another 15 minutes.
this area had a parking lot that was right up to the water so,you could sit on your car and fish.

the tide was ebbing and I had a teaser on[clouser minnow] and a 4 inch shad[blue/white] with a 5/8 oz leadhead.my rod was an old St Croix glass rod with a diawa GS-13 full of 15 pound line.
we were bangin' bass up to about 8 pounds almost one after another,then it would slow.
so,after we both did about 30 fish each it almost stopped.
I hit a fish about 5 pounds on the teaser.as I fought this fish I noticed it was taking some line and got real heavy.
as I got it closer I could see another fish on the shad,it was much bigger than the top fish.
I got it to shore and lipped it,it turned out to be a tagged fish.
I cut the tag and harvested the fish.
the top fish was about 5 pounds and the larger fish was 24 pounds!
also,the tagged fish ended up being tagged of Hortons point NY at 14 inches 9 years earlier!
so,this fish went from 14 inches to 39 inches in 9 years.
Just wanted to shaer this with you.

R-P

[Rip-Plugger]

got OTW at about 1:30 am,tide was near TOF still 40 minutes till slack. took the Jimmy Houston sig series shimano heavy LMB rod * [7 foot] out for some urban stalking.
put on a, albino sea-shad[8 inch] and a 5/8 leadhead. slung it out and the spool was stiff from too heavy an oil[3-in-1] I put on the bearings,reeled in and went in my trunk and got out the western auto spray lube,shot the bearings and slapped the gear side back on and BAM!,I was free as a bird!.
made my first good cast and reeled in,slung it out again and allowed it to sink,while I was watching the bow in the line,I see it snap,I slam the hook into a 22 inch fattie,fights good. I take a shot and release it.
I make another nice,smooth,long cast to the channel,allow it to sink,after 5 seconds I see te line snap again,I slam the hook to it and lean on it,it's heavy,REALLY heavy.
then some lne slides off and I amp up the drag a bit,it slips but,I gain on it.
makes a dash up river with the tide and I hang on. finally it turns and comes back against the tide near shore. I slide it to some rocks to my left and ease down to the water.it's a fat,fine 32 inch fish.
my freezer has no fish in it,but, now it does.
I take a short break,drink some D&D tea and lite a cigar. after 10 minutes,I cast some more,on the 6th cast I get hit as I am reeling in,i see the swirl,it was a small fish,it only nipped on the tail as I almost took it out of the water.
next cast waay out to the channel,,I suddenly hear 5 fast pops,this is not near me but about 2 miles away near a walmart,sounded like it came from that direction.
about 7 minutes later,I hear a siren over that way. I guess someone was shot.
anyhoo,I casted again waay out to the channel and allow it to sink,I get a heavy thump,I slam the hook home and I am into a fat shorty maybe 20 inches and full of ****.
I fished for another 30 minutes without a tap,the tide had turned so,I knew they moved.
I did see and feel some bait near the channel at times.once it turned,I didn't feel them anymore.
I packed up and headed upriver.
once there I fished 30 minutes and saw/heard nothing,water was a bit murky so,I headed home.
had fun doing this in December!

R-P

[pescador29]

big fish hudson on the northeast internet

[gjb1969]

good fish there i got a 40 in fish around there two months ago when no one was geting them i was out in the snow two hrs ago cant see a thing cold and wet but have to be in it to win it will try some other spots when its a little nicer so we will see how it goes

[albiealert]

I was wondering if you guys catch fish in urban areas when the water temperature is in the low 40's, or it it stops? There is a river that goes past some of the most populated cities in Connecticut. The small bass stack up in there and guys catch them in channels all winter.

[gjb1969]

we get the same here the small bass but sometimes u get a big fish but u will be there a very long time but its mostly a small bass thing but if u dont mind getting cold u can go by some of the warm water disscharge and u mite pull a keeper but u do need a boat u cant get there on land

[plugginpete]

In LI it's all about the bridges, or taking the drive to fish Manhasset, City Island, or the E River. There are some cool parks in the Bronx that hold bass in the spring, but folks are afraid to go there.

[gjb1969]

well its not that bad i have bin there if u judge people by the way they look then that place will scare u so if folks dont go there more fish for those who do and ther is some big fish up there

[DarkSkies]

[stormchaser]

Some recent pictures from another site. I think one came from NY, the other from NJ.

[gjb1969]

nice size bass and the cute little rat will be looking to get some bigger fish next year so this thread will start looking better will try to do some vids and pic of some other urban places so be on the look out next spring and summer will also try to get to some how to on fishing the the dirty waters

[DarkSkies]

Bridge at night

[dogfish]

so this thread will start looking better will try to do some vids and pic of some other urban places so be on the look out next spring and summer will also try to get to some how to on fishing the the dirty waters

I love the dirty waters too.