Raritan River 4/28/12

[Lard Almighty]

I met up with Wilson in the morning to try my old stomping grounds on the Raritan River. The first spot we hit was a can't-miss stretch on the South Branch, tucked away at the end of a dirt road. Well, long story short, my can't-miss spot missed, and we left with nothing for our efforts. We stopped quickly at a bridge further upstream, but decided not to even try as the water was too low and there were several anglers already there. We decided to move on to the main stem and fish the only spot I knew there was plenty of water: Duke Island falls.

We parked by the maintenance facility and saw a bunch of guys carp fishing above the dam. One guy hooked up but the fish took him into a log jam, and he couldn't get the fish out (even with the ~20 lb. line he was using). We found the falls to be devoid of fishermen, so we started casting. We found a small pod of fish toward the middle of the river, which we reached chucking heavy metal; me a kastmaster, Wilson a big PM. I got two small rainbows, Wilson got a rainbow and a very nice ~16 inch brookie. After about an hour and a half there we got some breakfast at a local diner and planned our next move.

We made our way to the North Branch in Far Hills, as I had some decent luck there a couple weeks back. Immediately we saw trout from the bridge, and about half a dozen guys crowded around them. Predictably, though, there was not a soul downstream from the bridge, which is where we headed. Wilson found a pool where the fish were stacked up, and caught four rainbows fast on a spinner before throwing me a bone and letting me catch one. We continued downstream but couldn't find any big concentrations of fish. Wilson caught two more rainbows, including a nice ~16 inch specimen on a crawler.

On the way back up river we stopped by our little honey hole again, and Wilson proceeds to mop up with worms what he missed before on spinners. He tallied another three or four rainbows. I managed a couple of sunfish and a dink smallmouth on a trout magnet (why are they called "trout magnets" when they catch everything but trout?). By the time we made it back to the bridge most of the crowd had left, so we made a few more casts there but couldn't hook up with any of the numerous trout holding there.

I think it's safe to say that the effects of the rain that supercharged the trout earlier this week have worn off. The river is as low as it's ever been, and the ultra-clear water (coupled with today's bright, cloudless sky) made the fish extra wary. Most of them were in the shade holding tight to the bottom, or in the deepest pools. Lots and lots of fish in the water, but they were not active. At least not in the middle of the day. Despite that, it was a gorgeous day to be out fishing and a fun time was had by all.