Garden State Trout

All - Finally getting my new fly fishing outfit (thanks NJcatchrelease for the help on that) and want to find out how the fishing in the summer is. Normally I focus on the salt water fishing with stripers and fluke plus largemouth bass. Wanted all of your feedback on this.

Goal is by the fall to get the casting / reading down. Also taking a half day lesson as soon as I can.

thanks for the feedback

Opinions on this will vary, but many say don't fish for trout once water temps exceed ~67 degrees F. At that point, I like to fish for bass or bluegill.

I'd also recommend reading Lee Wulff's Trout on a Fly (1986) if you're new to the world of fly fishing.

Have fun-

BT

Things change , mayflies get smaller , terrestrials can become important and the dryfly game will soon change from late night sulphers and a few Iso's to early morning tricos, and finer tippets and longer leaders .But the most important thing to do is watch water temperature . 68°f call it off , will you catch trout yes , will you stress them yes , will they die yes , just cause you see them swim off dosent mean they don't die.
It only takes a few guys to really hammer a population of holdover trout , it's easy math . Just be responsible check the temps if it's hot target warm water species .

Thanks guys, I am a former BASS tournament guy who gets the stressed out fish game. Will be cognizant of that and practice, practice and practice more on the panfish to get my casting down. Can wait for the fall to go back to trout.

You can totally fish in the summer just pick and choose your times and spots . Concentrate on limestone spring creeks , the lower musky stays cool . Also tailwater streams . Like the ones in NY . Plus just go early to our local streams and watch the weather , avoid heatwaves , and low water . After a good steady rain is always good .

With all the rain and cool temps we have had we should be fishing well into the middle to late parts of June with no issues. Then like everyone said just pick your timing to go

We should be trout fishing on most waters safely well into June this year. Too soon to say if much beyond that until we get closer in time. I personally use 70 degrees F as my cutoff limit as that is more the norm than 67 or 68 F. Some clubs go as high as 72, but I know from science that any temps above 70 degrees are not good when it comes to trout going into stress from being caught.

Rusty Spinner wrote: ↑

Tue May 29, 2018 11:47 am

We should be trout fishing on most waters safely well into June this year. Too soon to say if much beyond that until we get closer in time. I personally use 70 degrees F as my cutoff limit as that is more the norm than 67 or 68 F. Some clubs go as high as 72, but I know from science that any temps above 70 degrees are not good when it comes to trout going into stress from being caught.

There's nothing "magic" about the difference between 68 and 70.
Nice round easy to remember numbers were selected. With two different commonly used temperature systems, they became 70 F and 20 C. I believe the "68 F" came about by converting 20C to Fahrenheit, (but that defeats the purpose of a nice round number).

After your eyes get older, you'll understand the virtue of using round numbers while using a thermometer that's small enough to fit in your shirt or vest pocket...AND... A person who only fishes occasionally will remember them, because they correspond to the air temperatures that most people find comfortable.

Pete wrote: ↑

Tue May 29, 2018 2:52 pm

Rusty Spinner wrote: ↑

Tue May 29, 2018 11:47 am

We should be trout fishing on most waters safely well into June this year. Too soon to say if much beyond that until we get closer in time. I personally use 70 degrees F as my cutoff limit as that is more the norm than 67 or 68 F. Some clubs go as high as 72, but I know from science that any temps above 70 degrees are not good when it comes to trout going into stress from being caught.

There's nothing "magic" about the difference between 68 and 70.
Nice round easy to remember numbers were selected. With two different commonly used temperature systems, they became 70 F and 20 C. I believe the "68 F" came about by converting 20C to Fahrenheit, (but that defeats the purpose of a nice round number).

After your eyes get older, you'll understand the virtue of using round numbers while using a thermometer that's small enough to fit in your shirt or vest pocket...AND... A person who only fishes occasionally will remember them, because they correspond to the air temperatures that most people find comfortable.

Just because your Red Ball waders are older than 90% of the posters here doesn't mean anything

JK, I do understand about old eyes as my 53 year old eyes have let me down more than once and getting worse by the day.

I use 70 degrees as the toggle point for trout fishing. Above 70 then it's off to hunt "bronze trout" on the Delaware. I use pretty similar streamer tactics so it translates well when you switch back in the fall.

Don't let the time of year stop you. I have fished WTS in August. Some probably never get above 70. Adequate water is another story.

With good flows and cool nights you can fish portions of the lower Musky, Flatbrook, and similar colder water streams along with the colder Brookie streams through the Summer. To me it is fishing from 6 to 8AM or at dusk if the water is cool enough. I use 66F a my max for wild bookies and 68 if I am after browns or rainbows. Most seasons we do not have ideal summer Trout conditions in July and August and I give the fish a break. A good option for the Summer drought years we have had recently is to head to PA and fish some of the many limestoners there.

Also if it does get too warm for trout casting dry flys at a local pond for sunnies is always fun and good way to hone your casting and hook setting skills!

Glad someone asked about this - I’m fairly new myself in that I’ve fly fished before, but only on numerous vacations out west in Montana. I’m looking to start fishing locally on a more regular basis. When I fished the Missouri River, it was 95 degrees in the middle of July, and it was a zoo of people (and fish). So when I read that anglers virtually disappear in NJ in the summer, I couldn’t figure out why. Last weekend i took a walk through the Gorge on the South Branch of the Raritan, and I saw only one angler over the span of almost a mile. Finally I realized that the water temp mostly isn’t sustainable for trout. Bummer.

I guess I’ll be spending the summer driving around scouting locations and hopefully getting an occasional sunrise/sunset session on the Musky - I’ve heard that it stays cooler than most other local waters.

Take a stream thermometer with you. As has been discussed, you don't have to stop fishing until the temps hit at least the upper 60's. Exact # is open for debate as this thread shows. You can also fish early or late and let the fish rest in the middle of the day. We still have good water unlike the last few years.

The Musky was 64 degrees along Rt. 57 this morning, FYI (at the banks, i didn’t step in). Saw a couple guys fishing the bridges off Rt. 57 and a few more at the one lane bridge of the Point Mountain TCA.

Still a lot of good looking water in my fairly uneducated opinion.

Luke_M310 wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 17, 2018 8:50 am

The Musky was 64 degrees along Rt. 57 this morning, FYI (at the banks, i didn’t step in). Saw a couple guys fishing the bridges off Rt. 57 and a few more at the one lane bridge of the Point Mountain TCA.

Still a lot of good looking water in my fairly uneducated opinion.

It could get too warm over the next few days with temps approaching 90. Likely will push daytime water temps to 70. Flows are still ok but we could use some good rain. Otherwise wait for breaks in the weather that drop temps backwards then fish early or late. Or take the summer off from trout and target smallmouth in the Delaware or mainstem Raritan. They are great to catch on a fly rod also.

For those that have to take a drive to get to the South Branch or Musky, Shannon's posts the water temp from the morning on the South Branch on their web site which will give you an idea. They don't do it every day but it has helped me several times to decide whether to take the drive of over an hour with no traffic. The temp posted today is 63 and I believe they take it most days at the bridge which is slow flowing water which may be a little warmer. The Musky naturally will be different but close.

barkeater wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 17, 2018 10:36 am

For those that have to take a drive to get to the South Branch or Musky, Shannon's posts the water temp from the morning on the South Branch on their web site which will give you an idea. They don't do it every day but it has helped me several times to decide whether to take the drive of over an hour with no traffic. The temp posted today is 63 and I believe they take it most days at the bridge which is slow flowing water which may be a little warmer. The Musky naturally will be different but close.

Good to know, thanks. It’s about 35 minutes with no traffic for me to where I went today. I drove mostly to actually get my eyes on the water for the first time. But if I want to fish during the summer, it’s nice knowing I can just look up the temp.

As if I didn’t hate hot weather enough, this is a new reason...

Hi, if you go to usgs conditions it will give you a whole list of streams and rivers. It is for the flow and not the temperatures. It shows the Delaware and most of New Jersey flows. It is up dated about every hour. Just click on the number to the left and that stream conditions (flow) will come up. Like today the SBR is flowing at 59.9cfs. As of 12:30pm. Bill themailman