Last 2 weeks of April on the S.Branch

[RiverRat77]

Fished mostly the S.Branch for the last two weeks and this is how it went.
I decided at first I would do a bit of walking in hopes to stay away from the stockies and find thmyorke1 and myself a nice looking hole in hopes of hooking some holdovers. We got off to a bit of a late start and we ended up with a nice bow (the only fish pictured being held) before the sun was directly above us and the bite turned off. Good reminder that mid day isn't the best time to go trout fishing. With that in mind I got an early start the day after the S.B was stocked and fished the best spot i could find close to a stocking point,but without being visible. Hooked up with a fighter, immediately shot down river taking drag (must admit I thought I hooked a carp) fought it for a couple of minutes before it came shooting out the river and was obviously a nice trout. Kept it out of a downed tree that was close by and some how got her into my net. Was another nice bow with some decent weight to it. Sorry for the pic she flopped out of my net onto the ground. I took the pic and got her back into moving water right away. She was worked back into shape and darted off in less then a minute.
Next trip I decided I would try to find the stockies. So I moved down river a ways to a hole that had produced many in seasons past at that exact time of year. Fished it with no luck! Being convinced that there were fish laying in there I returned late evening. Same thing no luck. I changed up the way I fished the drift about 40-50 yards walking down stream keeping closer to the bank. Bang! That made all the difference (fishing bait) landed more 18" to 20+" bows.
Still have not seen a stockie??
All fish were pictured, worked back, and released.
I hope May brings a good quality of fish as April did, but I wonder where the stockies are??

[AndyS]

Overall strange year for stocked trout. Those trout all have full fins and nice color, keeps me guessing what is going on.

[thmyorke1]

It's been very strange down there at the lower south branch. Looks like all you're catching are fall stocked fish and/or long term holdovers.

And for me nothing at the spots I fished for fall trout.

[RiverRat77]

I would say its the lower Hunterdon stem. Somerset County to me is the lower stem.
Anways... As I was telling Andy in a recent thread of his, I know those deep holes on the S.B are holding these fish year round. With the help of geological features, deep water, on " POSTED" stretches
thmyorke1 we need to go super early. The biggest one around is waiting for you to hook into it.
Andy I waited today for the truck just to make sure the waters are getting nets. Between waiting and going back two other times from 9:45 to 1pm I saw no truck which usually appears between 10:30-11:30am. Also hit the main stocking points multiple times and saw not a drip of water left by the side of the spots nets get thrown in.
How can I check with the state to make sure these waters are getting the fish they are suppose to? Maybe a new driver who is completely bypassing them. Wouldn't a notice go up on the states website if the waters were to stop getting its annual stocking?
Wanna make sure everything gets straightened out before the fall.
P. M me if you wanna talk exact locations.

[JDTuna]

Great fish, dude!

[FASTEDDIE29]

Sounds like you found a pile of holdover fish. That’s AWESOME!!! Stay on em’ dude!

[Hookmanski]

Awesome trout man!