Trout Update #6: Pequest, Paulinskill, Raritan

On Saturday I traveled to the river on which I learned trout fishing. The Paulinskill River in Blairstown, NJ is a narrow, deep, fast moving stream that the state stocks every week. Every Saturday during trout season my grandfather would bring me there. In the beginning, when I was under ten years old, he would hook trout and let me reel them in. In later years, he would watch me fly fish for trout - a type of fishing he always admired but never learned. It was my first time back since his death and I discovered, nostalgia aside, I don't like the river. I never liked it in the old days and I still find it to be tedious. However, I caught four brown trout on my grandfather's favorite lure: a golden rapala. No fish on flies.

I next went to the special regulation area on the Pequest, a strip of river that was stocked on Friday. I caught fourteen trout: six brook, six brown, two rainbows. Nine of those trout were caught on the rapala, and five on the fly (bead head nymphs). It was a very nice, very productive day.

On the way home, I stopped at the Raritan and enjoyed the evening at the Ken Lockwood Gorge. I caught four on bead head nymphs, including my first trout over fifteen inches. This big brown wasn't wild, but I could tell it had been in the water for more than a year because of its bright red spots. Trout receive their color from spending long periods of time eating insects and absorbing their pigments. Twenty-two trout yesterday - a very nice night.


Overall Total: 53


River Breakdown:

Pequest River - 17 (9 Stocked Brown, 6 Stocked Brook, 2 Stocked Rainbow)
Raritan River, South Branch - 16 (7 Stocked Brook, 7 Stocked Brown, 1 Wild Brook, 1 Wild Brown)
Stony Brook - 7 (7 Stocked Rainbow)
Brodhead Creek - 4 (3 Stocked Brown, 1 Stocked Rainbow)
Paulinskill River - 4 (4 Stocked Brown)
Faulkner Brook - 3 (3 Wild Brook)
Lawrence Brook - 1 (1 Stocked Brook)
Musconetcong River - 1 (1 Stocked Brown)


Species Breakdown:

Brown Trout - 25
Stocked - 24
Wild - 1


Brook Trout - 18
Stocked - 14
Wild - 4

Rainbow Trout - 10
Stocked - 10
Wild - 0


Stocked Trout - 48
Wild Trout - 5


Trout 15+ Inches: 1


Angling Breakdown:

Fly Fishing Rod - 29 (10 Stocked Brown, 9 Stocked Brook, 8 Stocked Rainbow, 1 Wild Brook, 1 Wild Brown)

Spinning Rod - 24 (14 Stocked Brown, 5 Stocked Brook, 3 Wild Brook, 2 Stocked Rainbow)


State Breakdown:
New Jersey - 46
Pennsylvania - 7