Garden State Trout

Yeah, me, too as far as C&R for browns. Wild populations seem to be holding their own--why not help that along?

Thought I'd share this experience--took place a couple of evenings ago on the local trout stream. Arrive to find the place empty and fish are rising. Attempt to get down the steep bank and enter the water with minimal disturbance, then move out to mid-stream position where I could best cast to the f...

Hey, B-Thomas--thanks for the tip about the Allen Bear Creek Micro Chest pack. Ordered one and it has remedied all sorts of dificulties for me--especially my net problem. Don't know how many times I've cursed at that landing net for coming around from the side of me, clashing with my wading stick, g...

Yeah, I've had Gear Keepers zinger on my wading stick for a couple of years now. Just ordered a smaller version of same for the clipper and knot-tool--maybe forceps. Tired of my little bungee tethers!

Thank you all for the input. I am going with a chest pack that will have a proper D-ring in the back. I already have a retractor for the net that's been collecting dust for about a year at least. With another, smaller retractor in front, for clippers and knot-tool--should be a sweet set-up. No more ...

As I see it, there are three or four ways of rigging the landing net to keep it out of the way. (Something I haven't accomplished yet.) I have seen the D-ring, between-the-shoulders hang on a dedicated zinger; the magnetic-release (with zinger?) between-shoulders-hang; and the net-holster (on sling ...

I've already been through some crappy, W-mart brand zingers that came apart after a short working-life. Any recommendations for more durable brands?

Pretty fish! Yeah, the wild ones just count for more. I had three hatchery rainbows under my belt yesterday when I caught this one--to me, best experience of the outing...

...So much for wasting money on products to clean those stinking waders...

Thanks for the responses--even if they are tongue-in-cheek ones.

Another chest wader question: Is Gore-tex worth the premium price over Toray fabric? I do fish one or more days per week, throughout all seasons.

Getting complaints. BTW, these were my first chest waders. In the beginning, I didn't know anything about wader maintenance; I didn't even turn them inside out to air after using them. After years of use, now it's time to try to get the stank out. Any recommendations on products to safely wash breat...

There are few roads that allow entry to the NJ side of the DWGNRA. How about putting a gate and ranger booth on each of them and charge an entry fee from Memorial Day to Labor Day? Seriously, is that so far-fetched? I've heard that the DWGNRA is chronically under-funded. Entree fees! The National Pa...

Caught this fish yesterday on SBR. If you look closely, you'll see some additional talon-scratches, beside the obvious wound--hopefully, healing. Osprey or bald eagle? Co-incidentally, a couple of months ago, I watched a bald eagle flying low over the SBR before it swooped up to land on a thick bran...

I had to admit it, but I may have lost some fish lately by playing them with a too-flat (horizontal) arched rod. Or the small fly's hook pulled out?

How can it be identified as a "Kamloops" rainbow?

Thanks to Shannon's for their winter stocking, anyway--but that fish came from downstream of Clinton.

Don't have more to say about the winter stockings--but I had heard that the KLGorge had NOT been included during the FALL stocking. So, I recently asked someone from Fish and Wildlife. That person said simply that the number of fish allocated for SBR during the fall stocking DID include "the Gorge".

Hey, I'm more impressed with SBRtool's three wild browns--but this was my catch on 12/31/20--one of those fall-stocking 15-inchers. I'd seen this fish holding in a certain hole--and had fished for it on several different outings--without success--a tricky lie: undercut bank and submerged roots to co...

Yeah, isn't exploring what it's all about? Fishing, gambling, or prospecting for gold--hoping to find that mother-lode. Nice photos! Keep at it!

So, I've seen the videos and have heard of the Christmas stockings of the Point Mtn. TCA and Califon stretch of the SBR. But I ran into a fisherman the other day who said the State had recently stocked some fish in Ken Lockwood Gorge. Maybe this was a misunderstanding on his part--or on mine. Anyone...

Am I making things hard on myself? I seem to be the only fisherman that I see assembling his fly rod and stringing it where he parks by the river. Especially in winter conditions, it seems that anything you can do to speed-up getting into the water and at-it fishing is a good thing. Yeah, I've seen ...