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View Full Version : Raritan River: bass and trout

thmyorke1
10-20-2018, 07:16 PM
8 days ago the river temps were 70F, yesterday it bottomed at 55F!
And today it started to warm up just a bit.

After a cleanup with AndyS, I hit the river in the same stretch.

I was using a 1/4 oz jig with a Zman TRD in PB+J color, ned rigged.
(Thanks for the zmans, Andy)

Nailed three nice smallmouth in some fast + deep water in a nice run,
then last fish was a surprise rainbow trout.

I then fished some slower sections downstream with a mix of some runs, nothing there.
Tough for me to find these smallmouth in this big river :p They got so many places to hide

Whole river to myself on a Saturday.


https://i.postimg.cc/8PNJ1YhX/IMG-20181020-143336676.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/ydRgd4Qt/IMG-20181020-141632864.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/brHZx0jR/IMG-20181020-141059151.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/Kcn3hbgg/IMG-20181013-141237955-HDR.jpg
Nice pic of the river i snapped some trips ago.
AndyS
10-20-2018, 07:46 PM
We knocked it out of the park at Nevius street in Raritan/Hillsborough, thanx for the help and nice fish ! Who needs fall stocking on the big river, we will just catch the left overs from the spring stocking.
JDTuna
10-20-2018, 08:22 PM
Awesome fish, dude!
NJSquatch
10-20-2018, 08:24 PM
Very nice. Karma paying dividends.
Lard Almighty
10-20-2018, 09:08 PM
Surprised you found so much trash. The place looked pretty clean last time I was there.

Clean up those Bitsy Minnows and keep them in your tackle box, they are dynamite!
thmyorke1
10-20-2018, 10:21 PM
Surprised you found so much trash. The place looked pretty clean last time I was there.

Clean up those Bitsy Minnows and keep them in your tackle box, they are dynamite!

Gonna need new hooks it seems. Unless somehow the rust isnt as bad as it looks and I can just sharpen them. Expect a follow up report of them catching fish perhaps, lol.
AndyS
10-21-2018, 11:59 AM
Post Raritan Borough Duck Race on the Raritan river. managed to fill 3 bags !!
thmyorke1
10-21-2018, 12:28 PM
Post Raritan Borough Duck Race on the Raritan river. managed to fill 3 bags !!

Cant believe how many ducks they didnt end up collecting and left in the river. :mad:
AndyS
10-21-2018, 05:25 PM
Then I went to Manville, then over to Peters Brook Greenway in Somerville !
FASTEDDIE29
10-21-2018, 06:09 PM
Good stuff buddy! Good karma for sure! That rainbow looks pretty good! No front fins though, hmmmmmmm!?!?!?:D
thmyorke1
10-22-2018, 01:46 AM
Good stuff buddy! Good karma for sure! That rainbow looks pretty good! No front fins though, hmmmmmmm!?!?!?:D

Other side's fin was alright :D see no problem here. I guess a bluegill nipped at the other fin that's all ;)

https://i.postimg.cc/02z4m188/IMG-20181020-143318351.jpg
Fun King
10-22-2018, 10:01 AM
Sunday was cold and windy, so instead of chasing albies I thought I would check out the famous Raritan River. I want to thank you guys for the suggestion. I went to North Branch Park because that sounded appropriate and I had no idea where else to start. The park is very nice but the fishing is not too good. There's about 8 to 12' of cliff down to very shallow water. I walked along the river downstream until I came to a weir. I got a big fat rainbow and two smallmouth under the weir. Then I walked upstream past the park to another place where I could get close to the water and got three more fat rainbows, all on a funky looking spinner/rapala combo I found. The fish were all in the pro-creation mode, one was oozing eggs.

So it was a good day. Thanks again.
thmyorke1
10-22-2018, 10:50 AM
Sunday was cold and windy, so instead of chasing albies I thought I would check out the famous Raritan River. I want to thank you guys for the suggestion. I went to North Branch Park because that sounded appropriate and I had no idea where else to start. The park is very nice but the fishing is not too good. There's about 8 to 12' of cliff down to very shallow water. I walked along the river downstream until I came to a weir. I got a big fat rainbow and two smallmouth under the weir. Then I walked upstream past the park to another place where I could get close to the water and got three more fat rainbows, all on a funky looking spinner/rapala combo I found. The fish were all in the pro-creation mode, one was oozing eggs.

So it was a good day. Thanks again.

That park you went to is very shallow but as you found out there's spots up and down it. There's some better parking to hit those spots fyi. ill pm you it.
Glad you had a good day on the first try
AndyS
10-22-2018, 05:21 PM
Looks like that NON fall stocked Raritan river is coming back to life again.