Garden State Trout

Hi All, Had a good day fishing in Jersey to day. Fished the Musky and had a very good time. Caught 11 and missed about that many. Half of the ones I missed were on for a second or two but then got off and the others just hit and I was just too late to hook them. Caddis flies were about and did not see a single May fly. All were caught under the water nothing on top and three were caught on. size 12 Prince and the rest were on a size 16 or 18 Zebra nymph in a red body or olive body. Started with 8 zebras in my box and by the time my friends got their hands on them I have one left. All in all my friends and I had a great time and we all got fish. We did not keep any of the fish so the Musky is still loaded with trout. Bill the mailman

Nice report! Sounds like a good day.

Awesome Bill sounds like a great day

Wish I went there as opposed to the SBR, nice day you had Bill!!

Damn, I thought you caught a Musky from the title...nice day on the river is good enough though!

congrats........................

Hello All, Wed.Day Musky today South Branch. Caddis flies were hatching and only saw three risers. Every thing I caught today was under the water. It was a bad day for me not because of catching fish but lost four flies in the rocks. So had to sit down and put new flies on. Let m tell you the fish were eating today Point fly size 14 pheasant tail with a zebra dropper about 12 inches back. Caught 5 with this combo then tried a prince point fly with an olive zebra dropper and caught some on the zebra. I started experimenting with a combo of 2 pheasant tail in size 16. Started fishing at 1:00 and finished at 3:45. My friend John caught at least 10 or 12 and I was behind him because I caught 8 and missed a bunch. The
best combo was a pheasant tail point fly with a red zebra in a size 16. Every fish I caught today was on the dropper fly. I tie all of my zebras with a gold bead. I did not fish the Ken Lockwood Gorge. The south branch has a lot of fish in it. Next week up to NYS for a few days B’kill,Willo, and theEast Branch. Will let you all know how I do. Bill the mailman

All 3 prime rivers up in NY State. The big or small willo ?

Hi, I fish the big Willo. I park on old 17 and walk across the quickway to the river. Very good water and not a lot of pressure on this area. Just have to watch out for the cars on the quickway. I have been fishing this area for years and has a lot of trout in it. The other area is the flats which is behind Darby’s old house up to the rest area. My aunt had a house trailer on the flats so I would stay there as long as she was not using it with her boy friend. Bill the mailman

Okay, I have to ask the obvious question. You're seeing caddis hatching and we know trout eat 99.999% of all caddis subsurface. So you choose to use a Prince nymph or pheasant tail and a zebra midge? Yes, you caught 8 or 10 trout, but now try swinging a LaFontaine or other caddis emerger at the ends of your drift and you should conservatively triple your hook ups. That's your pro tip for the day.

Hey Rusty, Thanks for the tip. I will try that upon the B’kill. I wanted to leave for NYS on Tuesday early but my wife has me doing a lot of things so I think I can leave about 1:00 PM. Pit stop at my daughters in Saddle River get gas on 17 then thruway,quickway on up to Roscoe. My friend has a house on Horton Brook Rd. Will have some supper then fish for awhile. Can not wait to get some big browns on the B’kill or East branch. Bill the mailman. Are the volunteers still stocking the musky on fridays like we did when stonefly was around? I would ride with Harry Z. Again, Bill

nice bill sounds like a great day. i was out last week and found myself in a massive dark grannom caddis hatch. they were crawling all over my legs. on my hat. and the trout knew what was going on. all i had on me was the normal elk hair caddis in my box and it was still a hook up per cast, some fell off and some landed. luckly i had the right size on me. was a great day on the musky. i am also forntuate to live on the musky. i have all sorts of bugs on my deck and house siding. i keep a pair of nikon binos in my kitchen to look at the trout rising through the window lol.

Vance wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 21, 2023 3:47 pm

Hey Rusty, Thanks for the tip. I will try that upon the B’kill. I wanted to leave for NYS on Tuesday early but my wife has me doing a lot of things so I think I can leave about 1:00 PM. Pit stop at my daughters in Saddle River get gas on 17 then thruway,quickway on up to Roscoe. My friend has a house on Horton Brook Rd. Will have some supper then fish for awhile. Can not wait to get some big browns on the B’kill or East branch. Bill the mailman. Are the volunteers still stocking the musky on fridays like we did when stonefly was around? I would ride with Harry Z. Again, Bill

Wave when ya pass butternut ...goin up Thursday evening...good luck up there!!!

Vance wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 21, 2023 7:43 am

Hi, I fish the big Willo. I park on old 17 and walk across the quickway to the river. Very good water and not a lot of pressure on this area. Just have to watch out for the cars on the quickway. I have been fishing this area for years and has a lot of trout in it. The other area is the flats which is behind Darby’s old house up to the rest area. Bill the mailman

I see that area all the time on Rt17 on my way up to the west branch. I always wondered how to access it