Raritan river float 10/27:

[AndyS]

Floated from Robert St. to the 2nd 287 crossing. I had high hopes of bagging something nice but it turned out to be a scenic ride with some excercise. Ended up throwing mostly small stuff due to the amount of leaves in the water. Saw all kinds of birds, must of been a Blue Heron and a Loon for every half mile of river. I got down below Bound Brook and I got to watch a huge Bald Eagle, he was fishing also. He would hover above the river, dive down close, then go back around again, the eagle did this a few times. Seems he had no better luck than myself today. Floated from 7am to 1 pm, steady rowing toward the lower end since the North East wind was against me. Great beautiful water and river, a place Fish and Game refuses to admit even exsists when it comes to stocking.

[bigfishy]

i agree with you in the fact that the stretch is widely ignored....I would usually float from the nevius access and float to the fork and paddle up the millstone to the first dam....ALWAYS did well with the smallies but would stop and spend a good amount of time in some deeper holes and eddies, especially ones with logjams and or better sized boulders....Caught my first tiger trout in that stretch and saw my first rr sturgeon just below findern...This time of year and exact area is prime if your targeting bigger than average smallies but i have never gotten them on small baits...Ya gotta throw the meat and patatoes at em...

Jig n pigs , large stick baits and if conditions are rite, large topwaters...

But i guess you were targeting trout....which they do stock in the spring, and fish move around but unfortunately do not holdover through most if not ANY summers....In my opinion trout should be stocked only in waters where it is proven that they can holdover and possibly sustain populations...Just my two cents...

Good report....A fishless day on the water is better than a day on the couch or workin...Take some pics next time, there are some pretty senic sections you went through:p

[Capt. Lou]

Why this is contantly ignored as trout water worthy of stocking is beyond me. I personally don't fish it since I have many streams close to me .
Some waters that are strictly put-take& die fisheries should be cut back on fish amounts & funneled into a fishery like the Raritan that can actually have a chance to support trout survival & fisheries year round!

[Wilson]

But i guess you were targeting trout....which they do stock in the spring, and fish move around but unfortunately do not holdover through most if not ANY summers....In my opinion trout should be stocked only in waters where it is proven that they can holdover and possibly sustain populations...Just my two cents...

If I know Andy...and I do, he was looking for a big smallie or even better a big Walleye.
You never know what you can catch anywhere any more with all the floods.

This Trout was caught in April of 2009. You can see from the back round where it was caught, even if you don't wear glasses.:D

[Moz]

How was the water on the main stem Andy? I hit the North Branch for a few hours yesterday AM and the water was really clear.

I watched one of them big bows come up and bite my spinner but I didn't get a hook-up. To rub it in, after he threw the lure he jumped straight up about 2 feet out of the water right in front of me to rub it in. lol.

A dink smallie avoided the skunk on the day.

[tycomps]

Caught my first tiger trout in that stretch and saw my first rr sturgeon just below findern

tiger trout and sturgeon, how long ago was that?

[bigfishy]

tiger trout and sturgeon, how long ago was that?


Tiger trout was two years ago...There are usually a couple thrown in during spring stockings...And the sturgeon were about five years ago in the long riff below findern....

Tiger was about 13" and the few sturgeon seen and caught were about 3' ..

[bigfishy]

If I know Andy...and I do, he was looking for a big smallie or even better a big Walleye.
You never know what you can catch anywhere any more with all the floods.

This Trout was caught in April of 2009. You can see from the back round where it was caught, even if you don't wear glasses.:D


No need fer glasses at that highly pressured honey hole...Looks like its most likely a holdover from the previous fall....Don't forget thats not more than a mile from stocked water in manville...

Would be so nice if they introduced a sea run brown program like i've heard others mention....I think it would take very well in the raritan....And who knows it probably has the potential to one day become the premeir fish species of the raritan....But thats sea runs that can move in and out of the river as needed....

The stockies we seek have very little chance of surving even fairly mild summers in the raritan ...The lower south and north branches get waaay too warm to hold them over....I know of only a handfull of springs that will keep a lucky few fish, but still it would have to be a mild summer with plenty of water.....

Need a good winter...So pray for tons of snow

[ithaca10]

Maybe it doesn't get stocked because of access, tiger trout according to F&G haven't been stocked for many yrs.

If you would like to have it stocked i suggest contacting the F&G and have a petition circulated to have sportsman sign. Or attend your county sportsman federation association.

Union Cty will be having a meeting on the 5th of Nov. a biologist from F&G will be in attendance.

My son with a tiger caught on the south branch cpl yrs ago thats what prompted the call to F&G.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r230/ithaca100/Copy2offishing09011.jpg

[Jigman13]

I fished where Andy is holding that trout this past Saturday and got the skunk. Threw husky jerks, jointed rapalas, bounced jigs in a variety of colors and even drifted gulp crawlers on worm hooks below the ladder. Nada... any pointers or is that location simply hit or miss?

[AndyS]

Trout are alot tougher than most people think. Very rarely do I see alot of dead trout in the summer.

I'll just keep writing my letters to F&G. They can't even stock walleye or pike ?

[tycomps]

I fished where Andy is holding that trout this past Saturday and got the skunk. Threw husky jerks, jointed rapalas, bounced jigs in a variety of colors and even drifted gulp crawlers on worm hooks below the ladder. Nada... any pointers or is that location simply hit or miss?

that's wilson holding the trout from april 2009, I believe the confluence is most active in the spring.

[tycomps]

Maybe it doesn't get stocked because of access, tiger trout according to F&G haven't been stocked for many yrs.

If you would like to have it stocked i suggest contacting the F&G and have a petition circulated to have sportsman sign. Or attend your county sportsman federation association.

Union Cty will be having a meeting on the 5th of Nov. a biologist from F&G will be in attendance.

My son with a tiger caught on the south branch cpl yrs ago thats what prompted the call to F&G.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r230/ithaca100/Copy2offishing09011.jpg

beautiful fish!

New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs- http://www.njsfsc.org/

[tycomps]

Trout are alot tougher than most people think. Very rarely do I see alot of dead trout in the summer.

I'll just keep writing my letters to F&G. They can't even stock walleye or pike ?

try writing shawn directly:

Shawn Crouse
Principal Fisheries Biologist
N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife
P.O. Box 394, 1255 County Route 629
Lebanon, NJ 08833
Tel: (908) 236-2118
Fax: (908) 236-7280
shawn.crouse@earthlink.net

[Jigman13]

that's wilson holding the trout from april 2009, I believe the confluence is most active in the spring.

Oops! My apologies!

It's suck a nice piece of water. Has anyone had much luck in that area? Or shall I say/ask, is anyone willing to divulge a bit of info on the area?