Raritan river mixed bag 5/1:

[AndyS]

Got a text from Shucker and he said he was going to fish the falls in South Bound Brook for a bit before dinner. I finally decided to get off my fat arse and told him I’d meet him down there. I hadn’t seen Shucker since opening day. Expectations low, I wanted to take him to the big run below Queens Bridge in Bound Brook, but figured what the heck, falls it is. We started tossing in and around the falls, nothing. I told him we may have a shot at a walleye if we go down to some slower water. ( he needs to break his walleye cherry) Made our way along the rocky shore and settled into a spot. 1st fish was a chunky white perch, very healthy looking. 2nd fish a small striper about 11” long, very, very healthy looking fish. 3rd fish (by now Shucker is getting sick of watching me hook fish) a real drag burner. I thought I foul hook a good sized carp. Fish smoked my drag across, up, and down the river. Finally got him close and it was a very big shad. Great action on my UL with 4 lb. test. A photo and a release. We kept fishing seemingly getting a lot of bumps and near misses. Again I connect and got a good look at the shad, big one, spit the hook after a quick run. I packed it in and came home for dinner. Figures, neither one of us had a camera, only a cell phone. I packed my GoPro in hopes of practicing filming, batteries were on my dresser at home, no video taken.. Water wasn’t up at all just a heavy stain, felt cold, and had a lot of tree stuff, you had to clean your lure after every cast. The Raritan is a diamond in the rough, and it’s only 5 minutes from my house, gotta love it.