Good day on lower raritan=variety

[shucker]

Decided to try the lower Raritan in SBB and was surprised at all the activity,carp and pickerel seemed to be on the spawn.The carp were doing there belly rolls and splashes and the pickerel were along the banks in pairs of two and three.I managed to bag one big brookie which was a surprise that far down,2 decent slimers,a few yellow perch and an odd looking carp.I fished mister twisters,large spinners,rattle traps and rapalas all offerings caught fish.
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[Skunk City]

Nice Slime Darts and Trout, but that Carp looks like it had a romantic encounter with a cheap hooker from Newark. Needs some ointment!

[AndyS]

I love the color on those BIG BROOK TROUT on the lower Raritan river. Plenty of room for a back cast, yet you seldom see anyone fly fishing down there.

[SkillfulAngler908]

Thats an awesome looking Brookie. Nice Job!

[Gatto1227]

Nice fish. I'm yet to hook a RR pickerel

[Polelock]

real nice variety!!

[saxmatt]

You might want to set up a doctors appointment and get checked out after handeling that carp.

[Lard Almighty]

I would send that carp photo to a biologist. Looks like it could be disease or parasites.

[buzzbaiter]

Pickerel spawn at ice out (about a month ago) not now. They are shallow seeking warm water and slamming baitfish. I've almost stepped on them they were so shallow and near shore.

[FASTEDDIE29]

Interesting catch, interesting indeed!!! Nice job on mixing it up!!!

[GetANet]

LOWER RARITAN RIVER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's all I have to say about that!
Nice job looks like everybody was hungry.............

[shucker]

The little carp had faint horizontal black stripes on it,is that coloration common with juvenile fish?

[shucker]

Pickerel spawn at ice out (about a month ago) not now. They are shallow seeking warm water and slamming baitfish. I've almost stepped on them they were so shallow and near shore.
Yeah I know thats when they spawn but these fish were close together maybe less then a foot and in pairs?

[NorthJerzyG]

Sweeeeet!! That's a NICE mixed bag!!

[njfisherman1975]

Nice brookie...might need to soak those hands in Clorox though after that carp!!!

[saxmatt]

The little carp had faint horizontal black stripes on it,is that coloration common with juvenile fish?

They can have black dots down the middle that look like a line. Sometimes it's very pronounced, sometimes it's not there at all. There is a lot of variety in color and shapes of carp. Also, they probably weren't spawning but it won't be long until they do. They jump against rocks or weeds when spawning spraying their eggs but they don't do that until the water hits the mid to high 60's. When the weather warms up and they become more active they'll start to jump. I think it's because they're feeding more and they surface to try to clear the sand and mud from their gills.

[buzzbaiter]

Yeah I know thats when they spawn but these fish were close together maybe less then a foot and in pairs?

Anything is possible. I go after them ice out each year, The activity peaks when the water reaches 45-50F and you'll see splashing near shoreline structure like a stump or deadfall or where there are tree branches in the water. They are solitary hunters(unlike bass which are often in hunting 'packs') so any pairing would be unusual. Then again I've fished some ponds where several were close together but not together if that makes sense.

I forgot to take into account you were fishing a river. Rivers take longer to warm up so spawning may take place later in the spring so you could be right.

Carp spawning is very aggressive as the males chase the females in the shallows. You can practically grab them by hand if you want but they are damn strong.