Wild Trout Hike

All about trout fishing in the great Garden State!
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Twism86
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Wild Trout Hike

Post by Twism86 » Tue Aug 28, 2018 10:24 am

Woke up early on Saturday and took a friend fishing for some wild trout for the first time. As a trout fisherman hes the kind of guy that fishes the Rahway when its stocked and keeps his 6 fish. Hiking up a mountain stream and catching 8" wild trout that you have to throw back is foreign to him. When I told him we can catch literally dozens of fish in a day, I got his attention.

We got to the stream around day break and fished until 1pm before hiking down, did about 8 miles total and landed a bunch of fish. Mostly small browns in the lower section, then all brookies further up. I caught one really nice brown for it being in the upper section, about 12" and chunky for its size. Had to pull a river runs through it move and jump in and get under a log to land it. Water was cold and flowing good from all the rain! Hes already asking when we can do it again!

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Excuse his poor handling, he was instructed how to hold them better. Being his first time going out for wild fish, I wasnt going to read him the riot act.

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joe_panella
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Re: Wild Trout Hike

Post by joe_panella » Tue Aug 28, 2018 4:28 pm

NIce pics, i preferred it before it was changed by the storms 7 or so years ago.

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njcatchrelease
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Re: Wild Trout Hike

Post by njcatchrelease » Tue Aug 28, 2018 5:02 pm

That's awesome! Nothing like hiking those small streams, enjoying the beauty, catching a bunch of trout then doing it all over again.
Tight Lines

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Twism86
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Re: Wild Trout Hike

Post by Twism86 » Tue Aug 28, 2018 7:52 pm

joe_panella wrote:
Tue Aug 28, 2018 4:28 pm
NIce pics, i preferred it before it was changed by the storms 7 or so years ago.
Yea years ago it was much more open. I haven't been there since late fall last year or maybe this spring but even since then there are A LOT more tree falls over and in the stream. A large portion of the lower reaches (down stream from the last bridge) are unfishable. Great cover for the fish but some pools are inaccessible or you will just be tangled instantly. It will take a biblical flood to clear much of it.

The upper section is still relatively clear if you enjoy the hike for some small brookies.
"Stupidity is scary but genius can be frightening.
Genius built the atom bomb. Genius topples nations."

martalus
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Re: Wild Trout Hike

Post by martalus » Thu Sep 06, 2018 3:01 am

Looks like a nice day! I have never caught or seen any fish in the two big swimming hole pools, but I always wonder what is lurking in them.

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Twism86
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Re: Wild Trout Hike

Post by Twism86 » Mon Sep 10, 2018 8:51 am

martalus wrote:
Thu Sep 06, 2018 3:01 am
Looks like a nice day! I have never caught or seen any fish in the two big swimming hole pools, but I always wonder what is lurking in them.
Ive caught a few out of there up to 12". You have to fish first thing in the morning or not in the summer.
"Stupidity is scary but genius can be frightening.
Genius built the atom bomb. Genius topples nations."

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