NB Raritan Smallies Sunday 7/10

[kcritch]

Spent a few hours wading the NB on Sunday after getting back from a weekend in Seaside Park. The river was flowing well after the rains we got. It was good to see some water for a change. The smallies seem to like it as well. Ended up with 10 SM...6 of the rat variety and 4 in the 1.5 to 2 pound range. Also had the "one that got away". Took a few acrobatic leaps pulled drag up and down stream got her to my feet and she spit the hook in my face. Ugh! Really nice fish that would have been nice to get a hand on. But at least I got the thrill of the fight and close enough for a good look in the water. She was a beast for sure. All fish came on a weightless 4 1/4 inch green pumpkin BPS Stiko or senko t-rigged or wacky rigged on a 1/0 offset worm hook. There was a ton of bait fish in the river and that setup seemed to match the size pretty well so I went with it. Just let it float with tiny twitches every once is a while. All fish caught in the deeper sections but that had some decent water movement...the real deep slow pools didn't pay off at all. Definitely some of my favorite type of fishing. Sorry no pics...never carry a camera in the river. I'd drop it for sure.