Trout Reccomendations
 

Hey all! This is my first thread, glad to be a part of the site. I'm from Hunterdon county so there are plenty of local trout fisheries that are near me, but I'm looking to expand my horizons this year and find some new places to fish. Any recommendations are appreciated!

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

If you want to try the Rockaway let me know I can show you the river that I fish pretty much everyday during trout season.

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

Spring lake would be my #1... granted it's not you traditional trout stream with the waders and all but the amount and quality of trout in there is the best I've fished... not only is it state stocked by the shark river surf club stocks the lake with some monster trout every year for the kids on opening day..

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

the musconetcong river and the pequest are my go to rivers. i've fished the musky from lake hopatcong all the way to the delaware; lots of good access. also if you don't mind the drive the big flat brook and paulinskill are good too just a little further north. i would do a little on-line research to figure out and scout out access points and then hit the road. good luck

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

You have some of the best and heaviest stocked trout streams right in your backyard. It would take a very long time to Fish them all. Your not going to find anything better by leaving. If you really want to try another area I would recommend the pequest. It's not far from you either.

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

You are not wrong! I love fishing up here, especially having the creek only a 3 minute walk away. I mostly wanted to get out and explore more parts of our beautiful state! I will definitely try the pequest. Thanks for all the responses guys, tight lines!

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

Pohatcong river too. Spruce run creek.

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

I only know north Jersey so here is my take. It's hard to beat the Flatbrook. Good fishing all year round. And a very scenic place to fish.

In stocking season the Rockaway, Pequannock, Wanaque and Ramapo rivers can be really good. Much of the Pequannock holds trout all year round and I hear of holdovers caught in the Wanaque. I know guys who were catching browns in the Pequannock in the middle of downtown Bloomngdale last summer. Browns haven't been stocked there in a few years so they are holding over at least and probably reproducing even in the middle of a city.

The Pequest and Musconetcong are also very good. Both hold trout all year round in places. Same for the Wallkill River.

I hear Saddle River can be good and fish hold over in some locations through the summer, but I have no experience with it.

For lakes, Green Turtle Pond holds trout all year and is stocked pretty heavily. Hopatcong of course. Pretty much any fish that swims in NJ can be found in Hopatcong. Clinton Reservoir has a good year round trout population (permit requred from Newark, available at their Echo Lake Rd office on Saturday mornings and 9-4 during the week). Wawayanda has a great trout and salmon fishery. Further south Round Valley and Merrill Creek reservoirs are famous for their trout.

Hope that helps.

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

Spruce run is right behind my house, I love to fish there. I have a few secret spots that never disappoint! I've heard the pohatcong is nice. Thanks everyone I definitely have some places to try!

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

+1 for briansnat. I might be the source of a few of those. Holdovers in wanaque ramapo and peq plus a healthy population of reproducing brownies. Very fun- last year was great even with the low water
I also always do well in in the paulinskill and some feeder streams there have some massive browns
Tell us where you go and tight lines

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

Raritan river, you'll forget about small trout real fast !!!

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

Has the Raritan ever had migrating/anadromous trout? Maybe in historic days of NJ?

I'd figure that's how the brook trout native to the up stream regions got there in the first place.

Is it rare nowadays or is it completely void of migrating trout?

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

Brownies are all added- not native to nj- fun to read about. A lot of the Brookies got killed when we dammed everything up, then drying out their habitat.
I'm not sure about how brookies bred or if the go to sea or anything . Some people on here would definitely.

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

They reproduce in streams, and according to the wiki there are migratory trout. Safe to say the brook trout in our state all came from migrating trout in the Atlantic looking for a new place to spawn. Although it's funny to mention that when they're well known to spawn specifically where they were born themselves. I guess there are exceptions to that rule

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

Did I take that picture of Wilson or has he spent the last couple of years walking the banks of the Raritan with the same fish?? LOL

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

The NJ "heritage" strain of brook trout are hard to find now because we've stocked a presumably more hardy strain from Norhwest NY. But originally they were found all over. They spread through sea-runs, floods, migration, etc. And their DNA varies by watershed. Brook trout are the only trout native to NJ.

Back to the original question...Are you looking for a big or small river? Popular or off beat?

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

I like smaller rivers personally, but I'm willing to try anything really!

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

The peq. Is a smaller one. So is the wanaque. The paulinskill at source is small- but medium large thru blairstown. Ramapo is small in mahwah- medium towards Pompton/potash. Shoot me a pm if your gonna be around

Re: Trout Reccomendations
 

Sent you a PM with some spots. Some guys don't appreciate spot-burning.