Local Rivers to be
Stocked with Trout in October
By Bruce Litton
Fall trout stocking by the state is
not met with the springtime crowds, and although fewer streams get fewer trout,
they’re larger. Last year, 20,000 14 to 16-inch rainbow and brook trout, and 1000 18 to 22-inches, were stocked in 17 streams and 15 ponds and lakes statewide over a
two week period beginning the second week in October. In our region, the North
and South Branch Raritan, Raritan, Musconetcong, Pequest, Paulinskill, Black,
Wanaque, Ramapo, and Rockaway rivers, and Pohatcong Creek and Big Flat Brook
are the scenic flows to be enhanced with fish, which by wintertime will be
quite adjusted and wild. According to the NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife
Fall 2012 Stocking Schedule, the ponds and lakes to be stocked are from
Middlesex County southward. This does include Farrington Lake near New
Brunswick. There are no stream closings on stocking days, but plenty of trout
escape the relatively few eager fishermen who await the hatchery trucks. It's still August, and as yet I haven't found information for the fall ahead.
Fall and winter fly fishing in the
Highlands and Ridge is not the popular pursuit that catches the eye of passing
motorists in the springtime when parked cars line up near stream access, but
those who enjoy it may feel rewarded with solitude in out of the way places. The Big
Flatbrook, for example, flows for 16.5 miles of remote Sussex County with great
views of Kittatiny Ridge rising above. The Paulinskill River features gorges--as does the Black River in Hacklebarney State Park--not as dramatic as the
South Branch Raritan River’s Ken Lockwood Gorge, but other gorges may offer solitude
when the popular Califon destination is packed with anglers.
Fly fishermen anticipate mild weekend
days in January and February to fish Hare’s Ear and stonefly nymphs, zebra and
brown midges, and wide panoply of possible bead-head weighted fly patterns.
With a winter as mild as the previous two, it may be possible to fish a late
afternoon midge hatch with tiny dry flies.
In any case—even with bait—winter
fishing is tough and you need to keep interest alive by fishing with serious
persistence. Angling, for all its contemplative value, is a game with a single
objective—to catch fish. And like any game, when you score, you feel satisfaction
as confidence is aroused and then the anxiety associated with a desire to win, so you move on with the next approach and try to involve
the whole outing. Every outing is unique, and what I find so cool about fishing
is that it’s never like returning to the same field format of other sports, even when the same
river is revisited. After all, it was the philosopher Heraclitus who said you
never step into the same river twice, and while you may not step onto the same
football field twice either, the field format is the same everywhere.
So fishing is inexact by comparison to other sports,
the variables as wild as nature itself, which means evaluations of how good the
fishing is are different according to opportunity and season, and the weather
and water conditions met with must be considered. In our region, the number of
trout stocked is about uniform on the streams mentioned. You don’t have to be
fancy and use a fly rod, and October will probably be your best bet to catch a
few on live fathead minnows, or even salmon eggs and two-pound test line for an
exciting struggle given the size of these fish. I tempted a 16-inch rainbow in
November from under the route 202-206 North Branch Raritan bridge using a baby
nightcrawler on two-pound test, and once tried nickel-sized sacks of salmon
eggs I brought home from salmon and steelhead fishing near Lake Ontario. They
did work, but I’m not sure any better than single eggs on size 14 hooks.
Use no weight besides a snap for
salmon eggs (on two-pound test leaders) unless depth and power of current require
split shot to get the bait near bottom. But fish the deep holes and weight
fathead minnows as lightly as possible.
I usually don’t bring home fish since
I usually judge them to be more valuable in the water, but I bring memories back
every time out. These are not necessarily sentimental post card depictions with sweet
feelings in the mist, but substance acquired directly from nature in the way
experience strengthens sense, the way game choices I make exercise my mind, and
the way successes confirm efficacy in specific, subtle ways. Don’t think for a
moment fishing is a bore sitting on a bucket. Give it the best.
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