Main stem Raritan "plenty of fish"

[shucker]

I came down with an illness at work at 9:30am and was on my way to recovery on the river by 10:00am.Fished the main stem of the raritan downstream from Duke falls and picked up some real nice Bows on jigs.Most fish had nice fins which are possible holdovers and some were beat up with nubs.Popped off 2 real nice fish in the "deep" with heavy jigs never got a look at them.
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[AndyS]

YEAH BUDDY !!!! Seeing all kinds of baitfish in the river now. I just keep thinking this had something to do with it, and will continue all the way to New Brunswick if we can. Thanx for the report !!

[Jigman13]

Nice job Shuck. That last specimen is a chubby f'er!

[Skunk City]

Man, just imagine if that section of river was actually stocked with them...

[FASTEDDIE29]

HEYYYYYYYYY BUDDY!!! Nice bag o Trout you got there. Very nice fish coming out of the river these days. Great catching SHUCKER!:D

[Matt A.]

lets get some steelhead in there so i dont have to go to pulaski...

[bigfishy]

Second pic looks see runish or holdoverish to me....
What do ya think ANDY?? you seein lots a fish go through that ladder lately??

oh and well done shucker!!! Nice choice in presentation!!!

[AndyS]

The fish ladder is closed for the winter. Viewing and recording take place in April through June to track the migration of American Shad. Trout are viewed going UP river through the ladder each spring, about 100 trout annually.
As we all well know, and Mark B. has stated it COUNTLESS times, trout WILL NOT and CAN NOT holdover in the Raritan river. These fish are coming over the Headgates dam from the North and South Branch of the Raritan river.

[liveitup1.75liter]

R u being serious??

[liveitup1.75liter]

Nice RR troutys shuck!! Any other species in the mix??? N as far as RR holding trout yr round.. I vote yes!!.. maybe some yrs it just gets to hot n certain stretches but I know 95% there's surviors from spring!!!

[15FOOTER]

Wait wait..great looking fish man. Its great to see all these fish left in the river. Sorry to take your
thread off course but Andy when you say the ladder is closed do you mean its physically closed and the fish can not go through or is it just closed to observation. If it is physically closed for winter.....WHY?

[AndyS]

The ladder is closed ! Water drained. NJ American Water does this because of the ice that may build up in there and damage the ladder itself. Nice having a water company in charge of my fish.

[15FOOTER]

Wow that stinks. I guess I can kind of understand that reasoning even though I want to complain and yell about it. But Oct thru January is a great time for troutskies to move UP stream as well. Any new info on how the efforts down at the Manasquan are workin out? When will they give up on that? Were never going to get our wish are we Andy lol

[bigfishy]

Just keep trying guys!!! Squeaky wheel gets the grease:)

[AndyS]

Never say never. These photos are a huge help. I plan on going back and talking to the Fish and Game Council armed with these photos and all the clean up photos.
I will be asking for fall trout stocking to the town of Raritan in Raritan Borough and spring trout stocking to the town of Manville.
I try to do as much as I can, but keep most of it off here. I was back in Manville again tonight.

[bigfishy]

I was back in Manville again tonight.

Fishing or stream cleaning??Any fizz?er tirres?

[Mark B.]

MAIN STEM RARITAN RIVER
(Bound Brook) - From confluence of North and South Branches to Landing Lane bridge in New Brunswick and all freshwater tributaries downstream of Landing Lane bridge. FW2-NT

“FW2” means the general surface water classification applied to those fresh waters that are not designated as FW1 or Pinelands Waters.

NT = “Nontrout waters” means fresh waters that have not been designated in N.J.A.C. 7:9B-1.15I through (i) as trout production or trout maintenance. These waters are generally* not suitable for trout because of their physical, chemical or biological characteristics, but are suitable for a wide variety of other fish species.

The above from: http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/rules/njac7_9b.pdf

* Undoubtedly, there are cold water seeps / springs that maintain some trout over the summer months, but not many.

Within the above stretch of the main stem NT waters, trout are stocked in the spring & fall (when the water is cold enough to support them) @ Duke Island Park & Nevius St., Raritan because of the abundant public access. That’s where the vast majority of trout below Rt. 206 are coming from. And, of course, from the trout stocked in the NT & Trout Maintenance sections of the North & South Branches.

It is great that volunteer conservation groups are removing tires / other man made debris from the river. But, that action is not going to improve the water quality for the classification to be upgraded to Trout Maintenance from Non-Trout.

The title of this thread, Main stem Raritan "plenty of fish",..........says it all.
The fish are already there, & plenty of them. There is no need to stock.


As Brown Trout are no longer being raised @ Pequest, none are being stocked in the Manansquan River. The sea run program was initiated to make use of surplus browns that were not needed in our inland waters.