Three summers ago
on our annual Delaware River float trip out of Barryville, New York, I was
appalled by green algae covering every rock resulting from low water and extreme
heat. I had never witnessed this before. The North and South Branch Raritans
are presently in fine shape; rocks should remain their brownish colors without
hosting a green mess to foul lures and fish alike. I haven’t seen such a green
reaction in these two rivers, or the Paulinskill and Musconetcong, although I did see a lot of green in the Pequest in March.
Situated in Somerset and Hunterdon
County, New Jersey, the Raritan rivers provide some of the best smallmouth fishing in
the state. Many consider the South Branch below Clinton to be the finest
smallmouth river besides the Delaware. Public evidence backs this claim. Three
summers ago a 6.6 pound smallmouth was reported by The Fisherman magazine to have been caught in the South Branch on a
live crayfish. Had this bass been weighed in prior to 1990, it would have been
the new state record. Big bass inhabit the North Branch from Bedminster and
below as well, as evidenced by a 21 inch smallmouth my son and I witnessed
caught six years ago. We have ourselves caught smallmouths as large as 19
inches on the North Branch, but in both rivers average size is closer to 10
inches. A 12 incher is a good fish and will fight harder than either a
largemouth or stocked trout of the same size. I won't venture to compare them against steelheads since I haven't caught enough to be certain. But I once caught a 13 inch steelhead with little account for itself.
Smallmouths may be much more abundant
in a given stretch than fishing results indicate. Last summer my son and I
explored a few stretches of the North Branch within walking distance of home
simply by wading, just out on an excursion for what specifically I don’t recall.
I carried my digital camera to take pictures rather than fish, and my son
carefully explored a 10 yard length of shallow undercut bank which, to my
angler’s eye, seemed insignificant. The current running along overhanging brush
had no more than a foot’s depth, the riffles leading into the cut flowed even shallower,
and the stretch below deepened to a foot and a half at maximum. But we were
amazed at about two dozen smallmouths ranging from five to 12 inches darting
away downstream as Matt scattered them out. A dozen of them would have been
sporting on a fly rod.
Summer stream smallmouths take nymph
and crayfish fly patterns, as well as streamers and poppers, often
unhesitatingly and in plain view. These bass feed on larval insects as well as emergers.
They also feed on terrestrial insects that fall into the rivers, crayfish—especially
small molting crayfish, they love these and sense their presence like food in a kitchen—as well as shiners, dace, killiefish, and immature fish
of other species.
The range of lures and bait to
possibly choose is wide and beyond this article’s scope. But for light spinning
and no more than six pound test line, my current favorite is five inch Senko-style
plastic worms rigged Wacky, hooked through the middle so that both ends flutter
on retrieve. Senkos are heavy enough to cast long distances and reach bass that
are unaware of your approach. Big smallmouths are usually shy and reluctant to
hit; Senkos give you advantage.
Otherwise, on occasion I like to haul
a big bucket carrying a dozen large shiners into one of my favorite holes at
sunset. I tie a size six, plain shank hook directly to the line, no weight, no
snap swivel, and hook a minnow through both lips. These holes are at least six
feet deep, but the shiner will swim at the surface. I cast directly onto the
hole; the first cast is most important. Sometimes the biggest bass in the hole,
which may be 16, 17, 19 inches, and could be larger, is aroused and on the feed
at the end of the day, and will rush to blast the shiner with full force of
muscle and weight before another bass gets to it. That’s a thrill to
experience! This summer a smallmouth nearly three pounds blasted a fleeing shiner four times, the fourth time it leapt clear out and crashed down on top of the escaping fish! I had no time at all to let that bass run with it as it tore under and upstream full force, hooking itself and fighting like a full grown bulldog.
When using live bait or soft plastic
lures, don’t let the bass take line for long to set the hook in the hard mouth
tissues rather than gut hooking it and jeopardizing life. You'll lose plenty fish but it's playing fair. Most will be under
legal size, and if you’re like me, you release them all. They’re worth more in
the water.
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