Fly Fishing New Jersey's Rockaway Creek, Hickory Run, and Little Brook

Last Monday I decided I needed to catch a few wild trout after hooking into all those stocked Massachusetts fish. The Rockaway brown I caught earlier in the year was perhaps the most beautiful fish I've landed in a long time. A reprise seemed appropriate, so I drove north. The river, however, is somewhat tricky to fly fish. Indeed, its big boulders create deep, short holes that prohibit great presentation. These spots also provide trout with ample hiding space. In addition, the Rockaway's clear water enables fish to detect predators (including me) with relative ease. I've had success standing on top of the river's large mid-stream rocks. This allows me to penetrate the aforementioned holes without invading the trout lies. In the end, I caught three more wild brown trout (one on a brown bead-head wooly bugger, one on an olive wooly bugger, and one on a lure).

After my time at Rockaway, I headed to Hickory Run. As I've mentioned in previous posts, Hickory Run is a tributary of the South Branch of the Raritan River. You can access this small wild brook trout fishery by parking near/along Route 513 near Califon. I would, however, advise any enterprising anglers to wait until some of the riparian vegetation will begin to disappear this fall as the stream was overgrown and practically impenetrable. Nevertheless, I caught one wild brook trout on the wooly bugger. After catching that small trout, I followed the stream to its confluence with the South Branch. I then noticed a nearby stream that emptied into the Raritan. I walked over and fished it. Although the streamside conditions were extremely tight, I caught two wild brook trout on a Panther Martin spinner. I later found out that the run is called Little Brook. Feeling content with six wild New Jersey trout, I drove back home and prepared for a busy work week.


Image #1 - Wild brown from the Rockaway
Image #2 - Milkweed in bloom
Image #3 - Overgrown Little Brook

Overall Total: 99

River Breakdown:

Teetertown Brook - 18 (18 Wild Brook)
Raritan River, South Branch - 12 (8 Stocked Rainbow, 3 Stocked Brown, 1 Wild Brown)
Marshalls Creek - 8 (8 Wild Brook)
Swift River - 6 (3 Stocked Rainbow, 2 Stocked Brown, 1 Stocked Brook)
Elk Creek - 5 (5 Wild Brown)
Elk River - 5 (3 Stocked Rainbow, 1 Stocked Brook, 1 Wild Brown)
Penns Creek - 5 (5 Wild Brown)
Spring Creek - 5 (4 Wild Rainbow, 1 Wild Brown)
Stony Brook - 4 (4 Stocked Rainbow)
Paulinskill River - 4 (2 Stocked Brook, 2 Stocked Rainbow)
Rockaway Creek - 4 (4 Wild Brown)
Bushkill Creek - 3 (2 Stocked Rainbow, 1 Stocked Brown)
Fishing Creek - 3 (3 Wild Brown)
Lost Cove Creek - 3 (2 Wild Rainbow, 1 Wild Brook)
Brodhead Creek - 2 (1 Stocked Brown, 1 Wild Brown)
Hickory Run - 2 (2 Wild Brook)
Little Brook - 2 (2 Wild Brook)
Roaring Run - 2 (2 Wild Brook)
Little Glade Creek - 1 (1 Wild Brook)
Mill Creek - 1 (1 Wild Brook)
Mud Run - 1 (1 Wild Brook)
Poplar Run - 1 (1 Wild Brook)
Trout Brook - 1 (1 Wild Brook)
White Deer Creek - 1 (1 Stocked Brook)


Species Breakdown:

Brook Trout - 42
Wild - 37
Stocked - 5

Brown Trout - 30
Wild - 22
Stocked - 8

Rainbow Trout - 27
Stocked - 21
Wild - 6


Wild Trout - 65
Stocked Trout - 34


Trout 15+ Inches: 8


Fly Breakdown:
Olive Wooly Bugger, size 14 - 22 (21 Wild Brook, 1 Wild Brown)
Bead-head Pheasant Tail Nymph, size 14 - 10 (8 Stocked Rainbow, 2 Stocked Brown)
Green Weenie, size 12 - 6 (3 Stocked Rainbow, 2 Stocked Brown, 1 Stocked Brook)
Tan Caddis, size 14 - 5 (5 Wild Brown)
Sulphur dun, size 16 - 4 (2 Wild Rainbow, 1 Wild Brook, 1 Stocked Rainbow)
Bead-head Copper John Nymph, size 16 - 3 (3 Wild Brook)
Black Caddis, size 14 - 3 (2 Wild Brown, 1 Stocked Brown)
Gummy Stonefly, size 14 - 3 (2 Wild Brown, 1 Stocked Rainbow)
Bead-head Black Stonefly Nymph, size 10 - 2 (1 Stocked Brown, 1 Stocked Rainbow)
Brown Stonefly nymph, size 10 - 2 (1 Stocked Brook, 1 Stocked Rainbow)
Green Weenie, size 14 - 2 (2 Wild Rainbow)
Bead-head Green Weenie, size 14 - 1 (1 Stocked Brook)
Bead-head Hare's Ear Nymph, size 14 - 1 (1 Stocked Rainbow)
Brown Wooly Bugger, size 14 - 1 (1 Wild Brown)
Blue Quill, size 16 - 1 (1 Wild Brown)
Blue Winged Olive, size 18 - 1 (1 Wild Rainbow)
Golden Stonefly, size 8 - 1 (1 Wild Brown)
Scud, size 16 - 1 (1 Wild Rainbow)
Sulphur dun, size 14 - 1 (1 Wild Brown)


Angling Breakdown:

Fly Fishing Rod - 70 (25 Wild Brook, 16 Stocked Rainbow, 14 Wild Brown, 6 Wild Rainbow, 6 Stocked Brown, 3 Stocked Brook)
Spinning Rod - 29 (12 Wild Brook, 8 Wild Brown, 5 Stocked Rainbow, 2 Stocked Brook, 2 Stocked Brown)


State Breakdown:
New Jersey - 47
Pennsylvania - 35
North Carolina - 9
Massachusetts - 6
Virginia - 2