Garden State Trout

Again, thanks for the input! Got out on Saturday--the coldest day for me so far this season--and got a lot of practice at dealing with ice in the guides. (Every time out is a learning experience.) Saw some fish, but none of them wanted to take the flies I offered. Went back out on Monday, same venue...

FYI, from page 16 of NJ Freshwater Fishing Digest, under License Information: "License must be visibly displayed on outer clothing. So, it's the law--but no biggie?

I thought I read somewhere that your license is to be displayed while fishing. Seems reasonable. I guess it falls in the category of things like tinted glass in car windows (something I always believed to be illegal, that cops didn't want it, yet you see it) and needing a front license plate in NJ (...

Is it just me--or have I actually been seeing an increase in unlicensed fishermen (not a fisher-woman--yet) during this last year? Has anyone observed something similar? Seems to have been more people fishing through the pandemic--but more unlicensed folk as well.

Awesome!! Thanks to all the volunteers!

Mid-teens here this morning and I'm looking forward to it warming a bit before heading out. The 'bows have been biting lately. Anyone else going to be wading through the snow to fish this weekend? I saw that the SBR water temp. flat-lined at 32 degrees the other day. Does it ever get too cold and ad...

Okay, I thank you all--and feel enlightened. I will watch my step!

This might have already been discussed on here--but I wonder if anyone can clarify this. I'm walking along my local stream--part of which is posted with NJ DEP Fish and Wildlife tags on the trees--and then I see "No Trespassing" signs along another reach of the same stream, saying that that land (an...

I'll just comment that coaltrout's photo that began this thread shows something very different than the trout in the following three photos--that fish in the first photo is crowded with black spots--definitely seems like a different variety.

I'll just comment that coaltrout's photo that began this thread shows something very different than the trout in the following three photos--that fish in the first photo is crowded with black spots--definitely seems like a different variety.

Yeah, nice fish! How do you tell whether it's a stocked brown or wild?

See attached photo. It's the biggest brown to come my way yet--about 15 inches. Can anyone say whether it's wild or stocked?

How about Sucker Spawn pattern?

From yesterday...not sure if it took the egg pattern or the beadhead...

The interesting thing is that I've been finding rainbow trout in a waterway that was not included on the list for fall stocking--but the 'bows that I've been finding there I would say are clearly of the large, two-year-old fall-stocking variety. So, then would they have moved up into a tributary fro...

A friend and long-time fly-fisher told me the big, fall stocking rainbows may be coming up into the smaller waterways from where they were stocked in the SBR and Musky for breeding. Can anyone verify any of that?

Yeah, Vance, I am getting the understanding that trout are less skittish when water is turbid/"dirty"--and that they try to shelter from the faster flows (although I've seen video online of them holding position in fast water--and that video said that trout actually expend less energy maintaining po...

Good to hear from you folks! Postscript goes like this: We got more rain (Friday night) and the stream was again high and muddy on Saturday. But I fished there on Sunday, again, because the SBR and Musky were still running high. The idea was the same: The smaller waterway would rise quicker and fall...

P1000921 (2).JPG With everything flowing high and muddy last Tuesday, I decided to try a local creek thinking it would have come up sooner and would go down sooner. The water there was elevated, muddy, but looked wade-able. As I geared-up on the side of the road, a guy pulled up to comment: "Don't ...

I want to thank everyone for the input. Seems it comes down to whether or not you're willing to risk losing a big fish because of a previously-bent and re-bent hook. I'll admit that sometimes I'll use a tippet for more than one outing, telling myself that I probably won't be catching anything big en...

Any opinions about the performance of hooks that get bent from snags and you re-shape using forceps?