Fly Casting the Claremont, South Branch Raritan River

Fished the Claremont with Oliver this morning, extending the range of my experience with the South Branch Raritan River, although we were after trout, of course, not smallmouth bass. I began with a parachute ant and Oliver with a big, ugly streamer that took three hits from a 10-inch rainbow. My ant got ignored, even though a few trout rose in the deep pool. I switched to a worm imitation, then to a white-bodied streamer with an orange flair. A trout had been rising on the other side and when I had got into position, took a solid strike but missed it.

We waded upstream and saw a lot of trout as large as 12 inches, but all we managed to catch was my four-inch brown on a stonefly nymph. Oliver's had some success here in January on tiny egg flies, since trout reproduce and eat eggs. The Claremont is trout production water and most of the year the limit is one trout over 15 inches. In March and until Opening Day no take is allowed. As far as I know, everyone who fishes this long section of river puts the trout back as they should. It hasn't been stocked since 1995 and for the most part it's a wild river in dense woodland with deadfalls to maneuver over and around and thickets complicating trails. A lot of it allows only roll casting, if that. So for the few who propel themselves over such challenges, there are trout here.