worst openning day ever!

[ALS Mako]

I got the skunk, nada, zip, zilch. worst opening day ever. seemed like the "rainbows" stayed where they were stocked and seemed like there were less around. I know the state says they actually stocked more fish preseason this year, but I just didn't see it. anyway, was good to be on the water. spent the morning on the musky and the afternoon on the rockaway. covered a lot of water figuring all the rains must have spread out the fish- seems like they got pushed out to the Delaware or the ocean:eek: gotta go visit the shrimpman I guess.

[duranautic al]

wow...i hear ya...south branch was DEAD up around high bridge,saw about a dozen fish total caught in all the popular areas...

[GetANet]

Well at least you got to fish I on the other hand went for coffee and got cut of by a semi which caused me to slam on my brakes and proceed to blow a brake line! Lucky no accident but spent the better part of my opening day repairing my truck and while doing that i also found out i have bad axle bearings which i'll be spending next week end working on it again. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

[Tightlines74]

I got the skunk, nada, zip, zilch. worst opening day ever. seemed like the "rainbows" stayed where they were stocked and seemed like there were less around. I know the state says they actually stocked more fish preseason this year, but I just didn't see it. anyway, was good to be on the water. spent the morning on the musky and the afternoon on the rockaway. covered a lot of water figuring all the rains must have spread out the fish- seems like they got pushed out to the Delaware or the ocean:eek: gotta go visit the shrimpman I guess.

My son and I spent the morning on the musky at spots where have done very well for trout in the past and we got the same as you nada. Afternoon we tried pequest for a few hours and nothing. Most of the people I talked to at both rivers were in the same boat. Was great to be out on the water but we maybe throwing in the towel early on trout this year and focusing on other species.

On a side note, please be careful out there!! At the musky yesterday morning up the river a little ways from me an older gentleman took a really nasty fall, best wishes and speedy recovery to him!!

[rooferbird]

I would have to agree, I fished with my group of 5 regulars from 8 until 12. We fished 3 hot spots with one trout between all of us. First time I ever got the skunk on opening day. We fished the musky at Bloomsbury, Asbury, and the SB at Clinton (trout came from Clinton) I'm getting the boat ready today, Bring on the shad

[UglyStick]

It was a tough day indeed - I fished my favorite spot on the Big Flat Brook and managed only 2 stocky rainbows (all released) and 4 huge suckers. People were catching more suckers than trout at that spot actually. Slower than normal but most people were at least getting a trout, some got a few, I only saw 1 or 2 people limit out.

[SplitShot]

My daughter and I were at our spot in Monmouth County at 6am and people were pulling in one after the other. Fished 8-10 with not one bite... people next to us only got 1 fish that whole time. Did see a few big trout caught but after walking around the whole place not too many caught at all . Wind picked up pretty strong so we packed it in and we'll go back during the week when its empty again :D

[ithaca10]

Banner day for me on the "Musky" all rainbows on a silver bladed panther martin and a gold blue fox finished he morning off with fatheads.

[nutleysigns]

I have to agree, I was at the Ramapo ... HORRIBLE

[xperks22]

Ramapo SUCKED ! 1 fish between 2 days.

[SaltLife1980]

My father and I fished at our spot on the musky that we have fished at for opening day for as long as i can remember and we only came home with one fish. . . My dad was one of the lucky ones to catch.. Only saw about 6 - 8 fish even caught.. I got the skunk.. That has never happened to us.. Usually we limit out in no time and play catch and release..

[Almaink]

I fished the D&R Canal in West Trenton and caught 3 browns yesterday, the guy next to me caught 9. The other side of the bridge from where we were they caught nothing. That side is always better too, last year I caught my limit on that side. Went back this afternoon and a guy was in the spot I had yesterday and he caught 5 on garden worms. I managed two more from that spot when he left. Talking to others that fished there today it seems not to many fish have been caught as most took the skunk yesterday and today. They are stocking tomorrow and I hope they throw in some rainbows this time.

[EJS]

I caught 2 opening day in the South Branch, it was a battle just to get two. One was a hold over fish. So I went out again today, this time to Neshanic Station. Same result, 2 rainbows, both were recently stocked.

[ALS Mako]

I definitely think the lack of brookies was the issue this year. previous years the brookies would be 90% of my catch. have had 50 plus fish opening days in the past. just really hope they (f&g) get the pequest hatchery fixed up (anti bird nets). will just have to wait for next year.

[Capt. Lou]

It's a rough start for sure , not many in majors better off going to a lunker stocked lake ! Looking for any big stream trout will be tough !
Good luck to all better in2015 hopefully !

[15FOOTER]

Give it like 2 weeks...stream fishing is gonna be great thru end june possibly...the water is just too cold and high..fish are lethargic and spread out..we actually had a winter this year..this is a good thing q

[acaravaglia]

I hit the musky Saturday morning. I caught nothing (except for a lost net) but my buddy managed one rainbow on tube jigs. I ended up bailed and hit the pequest. I landed three bows, lost three more including a monster. Yesterday hit the pequest again, but got skunked. Saw one older gentlemen land a nice 18" rainbow. Very slow opener for sure.

[Michael82929]

Opening day was good / lots of fish caught. 3 holdovers from last year as well in the 16 inch range

Their were no big fish stocked in the major streams and will let you know if any brood stock make their way in.

If so, you will only see 16 - 18 inch trout make their way in.

Will let ya know.

[Angler Paul]

The Paulinskill sucked. I only caught 1 trout there in a total of 4 different places. I did not see another fish caught and there were lots of people fishing. They did not put many fish in there. I have been fishing that river for over 50 years and if they were there I would catch them.
I then headed over to the Flatbrook and caught 13 more rainbows. Most came from one area though. Many of the traditional areas in that stream that are normally stocked had nothing.

Paul Haertel

[EJS]

This year it's basic math! Less fish from the hatchery and more fisherman! The stocking on the South Branch was light to say the least, when compared to previous years!

[Dave B.]

Well, the stocked sections of the Paulinskill recieved more fish in the pre-season than the entire Flatbrook. Trust me they're there. If they get a case of 'lockjaw' due to a drop in temp, a cloudy day, whatever, it doesn't matter how great an angler you may be you won't catch any.

Regarding the Flatbrook I can assure you 100% that all the usual places got stocked and in pretty good numbers despite the issues at the hatchery. The pre-season allocations were only approx. 15% below last year's numbers on the major waters. The upcoming in-season stockings however are another story. Those numbers on waters such as the Flatbrook, Paulinskill, etc will be dramatically reduced, approx 50% below the average. As such anyone following the trucks on the major waters now should not be surprised to see only 2-3 nets of fish where they traditionally see 5-6.

For me the low opening day results simply mean more trout in the streams for a longer period, in essence extending the season considerably beyond the stocking period. Your milage may vary. Oh, and as Michael82929 said don't expect to see any excess broodstock. Remember those were the first fish hit with this outbreak back in Sept. The result was a mere 500 or so large rainbows left to use and 300 of them went into the 'Bonus Broodstock Lake' program. The remaining 200 or so may be mostly retained as hatchery broodstock, that decision is not yet made so there is still a chance of seeing some of them in the water but again as Michael stated they're only in the 16-18 or so inch range.

[EJS]

Well, the stocked sections of the Paulinskill recieved more fish in the pre-season than the entire Flatbrook. Trust me they're there. If they get a case of 'lockjaw' due to a drop in temp, a cloudy day, whatever, it doesn't matter how great an angler you may be you won't catch any.

Regarding the Flatbrook I can assure you 100% that all the usual places got stocked and in pretty good numbers despite the issues at the hatchery. The pre-season allocations were only approx. 15% below last year's numbers on the major waters. The upcoming in-season stockings however are another story. Those numbers on waters such as the Flatbrook, Paulinskill, etc will be dramatically reduced, approx 50% below the average. As such anyone following the trucks on the major waters now should not be surprised to see only 2-3 nets of fish where they traditionally see 5-6.

For me the low opening day results simply mean more trout in the streams for a longer period, in essence extending the season considerably beyond the stocking period. Your milage may vary. Oh, and as Michael82929 said don't expect to see any excess broodstock. Remember those were the first fish hit with this outbreak back in Sept. The result was a mere 500 or so large rainbows left to use and 300 of them went into the 'Bonus Broodstock Lake' program. The remaining 200 or so may be mostly retained as hatchery broodstock, that decision is not yet made so there is still a chance of seeing some of them in the water but again as Michael stated they're only in the 16-18 or so inch range.


Your 15% number doesn't add up. Using the saved 2013 PDF of trout stocking numbers state-wide and the latest F&G 2014 pdf.


Let's use the South Branch of the Raritan River for the sample. The 2014 initial stock is 49.4% less trout. In 2013, the inital stock prior to opening day was 13,410 trout. In 2014 the inital stock of the South Branch was 6790 trout.


The week 1 stocking is 28.6% of last years stocking number for the same time period, a reduction of 71.4%. Week-1 of 2013 was 5230 trout vs. 1500 trout in 2014.


One can claim there is less miles to cover, however that same claim can't substantiate a reduction of 49.4%. I will add up total stocking numbers between years and get a rough estimate to compare statewide.

[Almaink]

We are still not catching anything in the D&R Feeder Canal. WTF did F&G do this year to our fishery? It's also odd that nobodies caught any other fish, not even sunnies. By now in past years I would have already caught a few small mouths and crappies in there while trout fishing, but this year nada. A few token browns have been caught by a couple of us regulars, but none from the holes that historically produced for the last 30 years. IMO putting browns in there was a bad idea. We always got brookies and people are set up to catch them and rainbows, not browns. I understand they didn't have brookies to stock this year but why did they dump only browns in there? You'd think they would have used the browns for up north like in passed years and stock us with rainbows, but apparently they did it the other way around this year. Anyone from up north have tips for catching these browns? Powerbait doesn't seem to work in any color we have tried. I've tried CD1's in every color, rostertails, also in every color, and the only lure thats caught anything so far, foe me anyway, is an 1/8 oz. light brown rostertail with a copper willow blade.

[acabtp]

WTF did F&G do this year to our fishery? It's also odd that nobodies caught any other fish, not even sunnies. By now in past years I would have already caught a few small mouths and crappies in there while trout fishing, but this year nada.

hahahaha, yeah it's DFW's fault, had absolutely NOTHING to do with the extended winter we had or the cold runoff from the SNOW that is still melting off the north sides of the mountains up here (where your rivers come from)

[Jigman13]

extended winter we had or the cold runoff from the SNOW that is still melting off the north sides of the mountains up here (where your rivers come from)

He's right. Give it a lil' time. They'll start chewing. Water needs to warm up a tad as it is really cold still. Try jigs and fatheads. Work your lures slower than you normally would. On opening day I had to slow roll everything to get strikes and lots of the strikes were meager and misses. Patience and persistence are key--you'll get them.

[Dave B.]

Your 15% number doesn't add up. Using the saved 2013 PDF of trout stocking numbers state-wide and the latest F&G 2014 pdf.


Let's use the South Branch of the Raritan River for the sample. The 2014 initial stock is 49.4% less trout. In 2013, the inital stock prior to opening day was 13,410 trout. In 2014 the inital stock of the South Branch was 6790 trout.


The week 1 stocking is 28.6% of last years stocking number for the same time period, a reduction of 71.4%. Week-1 of 2013 was 5230 trout vs. 1500 trout in 2014.


One can claim there is less miles to cover, however that same claim can't substantiate a reduction of 49.4%. I will add up total stocking numbers between years and get a rough estimate to compare statewide.

Well if you've read the stocking lists then you know the entire upper 1/2 of the river is not getting stocked, including the KLG TCA. Of course the numbers aren;t going to add up since you don't have the percentages allocated to the various stream sections. Every major stream is divided into 2-3 major segments and the percentages of the total stream allocation vary by stream section. These variations do not necessarily depend upon the average size of the water body although that is one of the factors. Also taken into account are the amount of public access, the water quality in a given section, the average amount of angler usage, the proximity of other trout stocked waters, and other factors.

Bottom line, trying to use the SBR as a guage for this particular discussion is neither practical or feasable. Also the percentage of reduction numbers I gave were as I stated averages so attempting to nail it down to fractions of a percent is again neither practical or realistic.

All that aside I was simply trying to help my fellow anglers understand the nature of the situation using the information I've obtained. If this has disturbed you well then I apologize.

[UglyStick]

Dave B - we appreciate the info - keep it up as needed - thx

[Almaink]

I caught two more small browns yesterday at the D&R Feeder Canal on a Chartreuse 1/8 roostertail with a gold blade. Caught one on the side where none had been caught yet too. I hope you guys are right about it just being cold water. I can't remember it ever being this slow.