Passaic River for Northern Pike

Jay and I went to the Passaic river looking to catch pike, smallmouths, and maybe a carp or too.
Jay had never fish the Passaic for pike.  This river is eighty miles long and I have spent
years fishing it below the Dundee Dam where the water is tidal and polluted.

The past year or so I've fished it above the dam.  There are smallmouth bass, pike, and carp for sure.
My goal is to catch a pike and or carp in the western side of the river.
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Since it was forecast to be a very warm day, we decided to try and wet wade.  I'd spent hours
looking at maps and satellite photos to see if that would be a feasible option.

The river at the kayak launch was brown and was too deep with drop offs to be waded.
We looked at the map and decided to try another access point a quarter of a mile away.

We found the shore line there to be covered in a very slippery mud that when stood upon
would not support our weight.  It was like a slippery slope without the slope.

Where we were able to wade, we found few feeding fish.  We did locate a place where carp
seem to hold but saw no signs of fish in the brown water.

Jay standing on one of the few firm areas.  In these places we waded up to our knees in the river.
This was the only respite from the relentless attack from thorns and mosquitoes that were everywhere!

Late in the afternoon, while I changed flies , I heard Jay screaming at the top of his lungs.  He was yelling that he had hooked a northern pike and needed the net.

I scrambled to get the net to him.  Jay was about fifty yards from where I sat.  I ran through the
thorns and hopped over dead trees to reach him with the net.  He netted the pike (about 30 inches long).

You should have seen the grin on his face.  He was a"CPA" (Carp ,Pike Angler).  A local
warned us that coyotes were in the forest and might be rabid.