Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

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BiggerThomas
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Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by BiggerThomas » Wed Mar 11, 2020 9:13 am

I stopped to wet a line in the Peapack Brook Monday after work. Bugs were coming off around 4:30 so I tied on a dark dry fly (an attractor, size #16) and nailed a few fish on top. Water levels were decent considering we haven't had a lot of snow or any recent substantial rains.

Spring pre-season stocking begins March 23rd and continues through April 10th, fyi.

BT
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martalus
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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by martalus » Wed Mar 11, 2020 9:39 am

Nice-what kind of fish?

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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by BiggerThomas » Wed Mar 11, 2020 11:40 am

Browns. I don't think they were wild although I understand there are wild browns in that stream. Mine were likely holdovers.
"Most anglers spend their lives in making rules for trout, and trout spend theirs in breaking them."

-From Letters to Young Fly-Fishers, (1926) Sir George Aston,

martalus
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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by martalus » Wed Mar 11, 2020 11:50 am

Holdovers from what/when? I thought the state hasn't stocked browns for years.

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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by BiggerThomas » Wed Mar 11, 2020 11:56 am

I think the last time the state stocked browns was 2014 or 2015. So that'd be a 5/6 year old trout...

But then again maybe it was wild. I wasn't sure.
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Jaybird
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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by Jaybird » Wed Mar 11, 2020 12:13 pm

Gotta bring the camera ......

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lightenup
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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by lightenup » Wed Mar 11, 2020 12:18 pm

Jaybird wrote:
Wed Mar 11, 2020 12:13 pm
Gotta bring the camera ......
doe she leave his phone in the car? ;)

martalus
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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by martalus » Wed Mar 11, 2020 12:19 pm

So you are saying it was a big old brown trout?

Jaybird
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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by Jaybird » Wed Mar 11, 2020 12:49 pm

What we have here is a good old fashioned Trout Mystery .... We need Columbo , but will settle for Ben Casey .

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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by BiggerThomas » Thu Mar 12, 2020 7:55 am

Not too big—I’m not good at measuring, but I’d say it was under a foot. And no, no camera this time; I fished a bamboo rigged with a dry fly and aimed for the minimalist/purist approach on the water. I’ll try to produce some envy-inducing shots next time I’m out.
"Most anglers spend their lives in making rules for trout, and trout spend theirs in breaking them."

-From Letters to Young Fly-Fishers, (1926) Sir George Aston,

Jaybird
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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by Jaybird » Thu Mar 12, 2020 11:04 am

I think it's probably wild .

PortMurrayAng
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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by PortMurrayAng » Thu Mar 12, 2020 8:41 pm

Agreed. Nice outing. I'm all for leaving the phone in the car when I remember to...

Jaybird
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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by Jaybird » Fri Mar 13, 2020 9:27 am

Agreed hate the phone , but I take the camera , just to many things you come across that you wish you had a picture of .

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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by Rusty Spinner » Fri Mar 13, 2020 1:11 pm

100% wild browns. We have no state holdover browns still alive at this point.
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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by Rusty Spinner » Fri Mar 13, 2020 1:11 pm

100% wild browns. We have no state holdover browns still alive at this point.
"A sinking fly is closer to Hell" - Unknown

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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by coaltrout » Fri Mar 13, 2020 1:47 pm

Rusty Spinner wrote:
Fri Mar 13, 2020 1:11 pm
100% wild browns. We have no state holdover browns still alive at this point.
i actually froze a bunch back from 2012 and on occasion throw them into the brook; once they thaw out they start swimming. That explains all the browns you guys catch, they are not wild. :mrgreen:

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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by Fishybig » Fri Mar 13, 2020 3:18 pm

Dont do that!!! Chunk em fer pike... at least a 10 hr soak

garden hackle
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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by garden hackle » Fri Mar 13, 2020 8:49 pm

Rusty Spinner wrote:
Fri Mar 13, 2020 1:11 pm
100% wild browns. We have no state holdover browns still alive at this point.
Serious question, if there are no holdover browns, how did a wild brown appear in a river. It must have parents somewhere. Is it the spawn of another pair of wilds?
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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by barkeater » Fri Mar 13, 2020 9:42 pm

Serious question, if there are no holdover browns, how did a wild brown appear in a river. It must have parents somewhere.
Browns do reproduce in our streams and previously stocked Browns from years past are the origin of the current "wild Browns". What Rusty meant was that currently caught Browns in the Peapack were not stocked but are progeny of previously stocked fish. In other streams you may run into holdover Browns from private stocking in fishing clubs.

garden hackle
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Re: Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

Post by garden hackle » Sat Mar 14, 2020 8:02 am

barkeater wrote:
Fri Mar 13, 2020 9:42 pm
Serious question, if there are no holdover browns, how did a wild brown appear in a river. It must have parents somewhere.
Browns do reproduce in our streams and previously stocked Browns from years past are the origin of the current "wild Browns". What Rusty meant was that currently caught Browns in the Peapack were not stocked but are progeny of previously stocked fish. In other streams you may run into holdover Browns from private stocking in fishing clubs.
Thanks

So any state stocked browns would have died off due to old age (or predation) by now. I wasn't sure how long ago browns were stocked or the age expectancy of brown trout.
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