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Main Stem Raritan Trout
I have been having a very nice late spring chasing trout and smallmouth on the Raritan when the flow hasn't been crazy. The last few trips have yielded anywhere from a few to a dozen feisty rainbows up 18" plus the occasional dink smally.
This past Sunday I headed out for about an hour with my 14-month-old daughter Penny in a chest pack. This is something I did quite a bit with my son but haven't had as much opportunity to do with my daughter. Unfortunately, most of the spots that have been producing fish for me I just cannot scramble down the bank with a toddler strapped to my chest. After a longer than planned hike to find a safe access and wade-able situation I finally found a place that worked. It didn't take long the land my first stocky rainbow and it was nice to get a fish with Penny. After a few more minutes and another average rainbow I waded down a few more yards to fish out the bottom of the run. The first cast I made got absolutely slammed and I immediately knew I had something decent. I quickly saw the tail come up and knew it was no rainbow. The fish just bull dogged with a series of short runs and a few big head shakes but thankfully stayed down and didn't jump or go crazy. Eventually the fish started to tire and i was able to slowly work the fish and myself over to the bank. As I worked to the bank, I took a quick video of the fish as I knew with Penny on my chest, I probably wouldn't be able to get a good picture of the fish once landed. I also don't bring a net most of the time I am wet wading so I knew landing the fish would be challenging. I managed to bring the fish to the bank quickly pop the lead treble out the fish’s mouth. I keep a small flexible measuring tape in my pocket and with the brown in the water I taped it out to somewhere right around 22” I didn't want the take the fish out of the water any longer then I had too. After a few seconds of reviving in the shallows the fish took right off and shot back out into the current. After that I just packed up and headed home with Penny for lunch. There was no way the trip was going to get any better. I am guessing it was a club fish that traveled way down during one of the recent rains, but I really don't know. All the fins looked perfect except for one (I think the right) pectoral that looked really ragged either from being grabbed by something or a botched snip job. The photos below are pulled from the 14 second video I shot as I worked the fish to the bank. |
#2
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Re: Main Stem Raritan Trout
Outstanding catch. That kinda looks like a tiger trout?
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#3
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Re: Main Stem Raritan Trout
Thanx for the post. We just had a short discussion about Brown Trout in the Raritan river. You are probably right, a club fish washed down from (who knows where). Always wonder what swims in that river.
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http://www.cjstreamteam.org/ |
#4
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Re: Main Stem Raritan Trout
Epic, another incredible fish out of the raritan, i hope Penny remembers
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#5
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Re: Main Stem Raritan Trout
Really nice brownie, thanks for the story. One never knows...
Dave |
#6
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Re: Main Stem Raritan Trout
That's awesome! Great story. Thank you for sharing!
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#7
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Re: Main Stem Raritan Trout
Wow!!! You never know on that crazy river that’s for sure! Awesome Brown man! Hell yesssss!!!!!
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"Go BIG or go HOME" "STRAIGHT OUT OF JERZEY" |
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