A little surprise this evening

[briansnat]

I drove down to the dock at Fayson after dinnner tonight with the goal of smoking a cigar and having a beer and casting a bit. It's not usually the best place on the lake to catch fish there so I was chiefly there for a smoke and didn't expect to catch much. Just as I was about to call it a night I hooked into this guy a little after sunset. With my UL rod it took me quite a while to bring it in.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/3bfbhNKV23uEeMAMfNBAwMzA-fpXVxEV_0hPjfXyrxY=w488-h650-no

[Jigman13]

Sweet hybrid man. Def a worthy night cap!

[FASTEDDIE29]

YEA BUDDY!!! That's a fun fish to catch. Strong, fast and never give up fighting HYBRID! What are there numbers like in your lake? Nice one!!!

[briansnat]

YEA BUDDY!!! That's a fun fish to catch. Strong, fast and never give up fighting HYBRID! What are there numbers like in your lake? Nice one!!!

They stocked them about 6 years ago, but I'm not sure how many. I've heard few reports of catches though. This is only the second one I've caught. Last one was two years ago and about three pounds. This was over 5 so they are definitely growing.

I caught them both on tiny lures and UL tackle while fishing for trout. The one two years ago was caught on a tiny Snap Bean. This one on a small Kastmaster spoon.

They do provide a heck of a fight. It was dark so I didn't know for sure what it was until I netted it. I could see surface swirls as it got closer to the dock, but not the fish. I suspected it was a striper from the last time I caught one, because it fought like hell and never jumped. Just a bunch of long and deep runs peeling off the drag.

How are they to eat? I threw this one back, but if they are any good the next time I might keep it for the frying pan.

[FASTEDDIE29]

Great to eat, great gamefish. However, they don't reproduce. You might want to let them live just because you don't know the next time they'll be stocked. Eat a couple out of the other lakes that have 1000's of them.

[NorthJerzyG]

Nice catch!! Bet it was a great fight on light tackle.

[flatcreek]

Nice going on an ultra light. There great eating, I've heard the best tasting ones come out of Lake Hopatcong.

[420*NightCrawler]

I've caught some of my best fish just taking a few casts passing time. Nice catch!

[UglyStick]

Nice.... It's great to get them when you're fishing hard but even better when you nail a good one just chilling and taking a few casts... Expect the unexpected...