Musconetcon help
 

My son just moved to college in hackettstown. He is going to a small school on a wrestling scholarship called centenary.

Looks like the river flows pretty close to hackettstown. How is the trout fishing in this area. Thinking I can meet up with my son on a Sunday morning (his only day off) and do some trout fishing come springtime.



Any info appreciated

Re: Musconetcon help
 

it's excellent in season from the falls all the way to hackettstown

Re: Musconetcon help
 

The musky is great trout fishing. Lots of river to explore. If willing to travel a few minutes the pequest is just down rt 46 and is another great trout river

Re: Musconetcon help
 

I am afraid that it might be a little challenging for you. You will have to walk and wade rather than having the fish dumped into a hole in front of you. LOL The Ramapo has spoiled you.

Re: Musconetcon help
 

Give me a poke come springtime, I live 5 miles north of there....I can show you my favorite spots on the musky and the pequest.

Re: Musconetcon help
 

Eric
Didn't bother you that time when you had your best opening day ever:D

Re: Musconetcon help
 

Will no doubt do that! Thanks

Re: Musconetcon help
 

Some really nice Trout come out of the Pequest and Musky during the fall. You can find me out there quite a bit come November and December. You gotta make a day out of it. Quick breakfast, fishing, then off to Hot Dog Johnny's for a nice healthy lunch, lol. I'm all over that area. Need any advice shoot me a PM Shrimpy!

Re: Musconetcon help
 

That whole area is Ground Zero for trout fishing !! If he can't catch trout in that area he will definitely need to take up golf.

Re: Musconetcon help
 

Fortunately for him, there's a golf course right on the Musky in Hackettstown.

Re: Musconetcon help
 

It all sounds great. Thanks guys. I will definitely be in touch!

Re: Musconetcon help
 

Steve, I went to centenary college. We fish the Musky all the time as we live in Flanders. The Musky has many areas to fish, Saxon Falls, Stevens State park etc. Soon they will be doing (I hope) the fall stocking at SF.

Re: Musconetcon help
 

Sounds like a good day. I love me some hot dog johnny's. I didn't think they were open all year.

Re: Musconetcon help
 

January Johnnies followed by brutal exhaust fumes in the waders while basking in the afternoon sunlight... ahhhh, I love the river in the winter!

Re: Musconetcon help
 

Over the summer I fished through the Musconetcon in different areas through Allamuchy and Stephens State Park. Found different access points along Waterloo Road and the river runs through Stephens State Park. I would have to say that to effectively fish in there you need to be flexible as there are shores you can fish from but often you have to get in there. The nature of the river varies also especially around the Saxton Dam.

In some areas there are residential homes close to shore. I didn't go onto anybody's property but came near someone's home and a big dog came running out of the bushes and scared the doodoo out of me. It only chased me so far and went back to its yard, jut being territorial. The dog and his friend continued to harass me while I was near that house, even while I was on the other side of the river. They kept bluffing that they were going to charge across the river to get me.

Anyway, I wasn't fishing for trout. But based on what others have said regarding trout and from what I experienced there are a good variety of fishing opportunities in that area of the river and while it may seem difficult at some points to access, I found it manageable to cover a lot of ground while looking for deeper pools by combining shoreline movement with wading and rock crawling.

Re: Musconetcon help
 

There are no fish in the musconetcong...besides chubs. stick to the 'Po;):rolleyes:

Re: Musconetcon help
 

Steve, I fished the po out. Time to move on😀

Re: Musconetcon help
 

Back when I used to do more fly fishing for trout than bass fishing, I did pretty well on the Musk in the spring. I recall fishing a deep hole toward the north end of Stephens SP and I hooked into something big. Fought the thing for 20 minutes before it broke off. I have no idea what it was but it was huge. Maybe a big cat or brown, because it never jumped. A rainbow or a smallie will usually give you an aerial show, but I never saw what it was.

Re: Musconetcon help
 

Winter fishing on the pequest west of the hatchery is very productive.

Re: Musconetcon help
 

Hi Shrimpman Steve. Just saw this thread. Most of the spots on the Musconetcong that will hold trout year round are at the Point Mountain TCA and downstream. If you want to learn some good spots on Musky, I suggest joining the volunteer trout stocking crew on Wednesday October 12th. I went out with them a few times last spring, and learned quite a few esoteric spots. If you want the contact info for the group leader PM me. I know that he is looking for help.