Pluggin' Raritan River weekend!

[FASTEDDIE29]

Hit the river yesterday in between coats of paint drying. River was stained and coming up from the freak t-storms Friday night. threw the plugs and nobody was home to go after the big stuff. I looked down at one point and swore I saw a school of Shad circling 10 feet off the wall. Changed gears and started throwing, ummmmmmmmmmm,,,,,,, Trout magnets. Yea thats it, Trout magnets, LOL! Sure enough, 5 casts later I was into the Shad pretty good landing 4 out of 7 before the water became to dirty. Some big ass Shad in there this year fellaz. Still nice and fresh too!!!

Back at this morning hoping the water was still at a high level so I could throw my plugs. Nope! Water level dropped quick but it didn't matter as a plethora of species were caught today by a buddy of mine. Shad, White Perch, Crappie and a 19 inch Smallie all came to the wall today. All nice healthy species I might add! As for what I caught, well I was in charge of finding the migratory Stripers that swim in the freshwater! I found 2, 1 short and 1 29-30 inch drag ripping keeper that put up a hell of a battle on the new river set up! Crazy fish went for the smaller plug today. Good times on that river lately. Fish are on the move and feeding heavy. TIGHT LINEZ!!!:D
http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/fasteddie2927/image_zpsvvxkvsia.jpg

http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/fasteddie2927/image_zps70lhi6ri.jpg

[thmyorke1]

Yep, excellent day out there.

I lost something huge just an hour ago. Couldn't see what it was. Thought I snagged first! Maybe another day, I'm happy with the smallie ofc.

[FASTEDDIE29]

Yep, excellent day out there.

I lost something huge just an hour ago. Couldn't see what it was. Thought I snagged first! Maybe another day, I'm happy with the smallie ofc.

It was awesome watching you whack that Smallie! Good fish man and nice to meet you! Make sure you put some line on that reel of yours! You never know what's lurking in the Raritan!!!:D

[AndyS]

So in one small spot on the river I saw striped bass, crappie, largemouth and smallmouth bass, American shad and white perch caught.

[thmyorke1]

It was awesome watching you whack that Smallie! Good fish man and nice to meet you! Make sure you put some line on that reel of yours! You never know what's lurking in the Raritan!!!:D

Right when you left I came back with more mono ;)

I hope to see you again!

[tycomps]

Hit the same spot this afternoon. Picked away at white perch with a gold #3 vibrax then something else connected. It stayed deep with occasional head shakes but didn't feel real big. Brought him up to the wall and when he rolled on his side the guy next to me gasped. It was a big fat Walleye over 28 inches with serious girth. I had to walk him down the wall to the rocks since I didn't have my net. when I got there I slowly pulled him up on the stone but the first rock he hit caused him to spit the lure and slide slowly back into the water. I went in after him and grabbed him with both hands around his midsection but he was bigger than my two hands put together and slithered through leaving me speechless without a pic!!!!

[JackStraw]

Sweet....nice fish buddy.

[Bruce Litton]

Beautiful!

[NJSquatch]

I went in after him and grabbed him with both hands around his midsection but he was bigger than my two hands put together and slithered through leaving me speechless without a pic!!!!

UGH....oh man

Nice Big shad Eddie..Have to give those Trout Magnets a try

[Mark B.]

ummmmmmmmmmm,,,,,,, Trout magnets. Yea thats it, Trout magnets, LOL! Sure enough, 5 casts later I was into the Shad pretty good landing 4 out of 7 !!!




Ummmmmmmmmm,……………“targeting” A. shad, Yea that's it:
Seeing A. shad & casting to catch them.

It doesn’t matter what you call the lure on the end of the line. And, we all know that Trout Magnets are micro shad darts.

And, we all know that targeting A. shad is illegal in all NJ freshwaters, except the Delaware River.

[Eskimo]

.

Wow - looks like an awesome weekend at the weir.

.

[AndyS]

It's STANDING ROOM ONLY !!! Shucker just busted his cherry for Raritan river Shad on a 5" KEITECH !!!

I think I'm gonna set up picnic tables with umbrellas and get a hot dog cart.

If you really want to concern yourself with a problem, go to Boyd Park in New Brunswick and see the buckets over flowing with 12" striped bass !!

[Jigman13]

That's hilarious. Can't wait for low water so I can restock my tackle bag LOL

[FASTEDDIE29]

All the lure donations down there belong to me! Bwahahahahahaha!!! Looks like opening day over there now. Haha! Saturday nobody there! Sunday just a few river maniacs! Hahahaha! When it's low......... I just don't goooooooooo!!!! LOL!!!:D

Shad???? What Shad???? Moratorium????? Hehe!!!!!!!:rolleyes:

[JDTuna]

Great work Eddie. Mixed bag of quality fish!

[Mark B.]

There is a moratorium on Raritan River A. shad fishing because the population is a recovering one.

As someone else on this forum stated, A. shad are fragile fish.

Already stressed out from avoiding stripers & trying to find the entrance of the fish ladder,……hooking adds more stress.

Keep in mind, the ones you release have less of chance of making it upstream to spawn. Such stressed out A. shad, often, abandon the spawning run altogether & become “downrunners”, heading back to the bay / ocean.

It is ok to angle for them on the Delaware River, as that population is stable.
Not so on the Raritan River. NJDF&W did not even pull a seine to document the presence of young-of-the-year Raritan River A. shad, because they did not want to kill any.

[antgogz]

Looks like some good action Eddie. You are quite the plugger! When are you going out for toothy critters?

[kcritch]

Nice fish all around. I should have went there Sunday instead of the NB. The wife and i hit that for about 3 hours wading for miles and got absolutely nothin. UGH!!! They must have all washed downstream in the high water. Or I just suck at fishing....it's a 50/50 on that! HA!

[FASTEDDIE29]

Looks like some good action Eddie. You are quite the plugger! When are you going out for toothy critters?

Anthony!!! What's up dude? Got a new job in a different area and I'm just not near the Pike grounds as much as I used to be! It sucks, LOL! I've neglected my pets, I will be visiting them soon however! Gotta make sure I'm not too rusty for
PIKE-A-THON 4, coming this June!!!!!!:D

P.S. Thanx for checking out the post fellaz!!!

[Ken Lyons]

Would really like to see the fish ladder at some point but I don't have a helicopter. I can see where it is on a map but all the approaches I see seem to be on private property. Any suggestions?

[AndyS]

Just park on canal Rd (if you can find parking) and follow the crowds !

[dales529]

Great job. More curious as to what you decided to paint (that probably didn't need it) so that you could get out in between coats drying;)

Look forward to fishing with you again on the RFA FLUKATHON!

[JimmyL]

Yep, excellent day out there.

I lost something huge just an hour ago. Couldn't see what it was. Thought I snagged first! Maybe another day, I'm happy with the smallie ofc.

AWESOME catch ! You're doing great this year, quantity, quality, and variety. :)

[JimmyL]

Daammnn Mr. Eddie... You kill it there man!....And to keep in line with everyone else I was there late Sunday afternoon and got a little LMB on a rapala suspending minnow. My girl caught the white perch and a crappie on little jigs.. I also saw a gentleman catch a white catfish (as he called it) too. hahaha i have like 5 fish to my name there and some eels.

[JimmyL]

It's STANDING ROOM ONLY !!! Shucker just busted his cherry for Raritan river Shad on a 5" KEITECH !!!

I think I'm gonna set up picnic tables with umbrellas and get a hot dog cart.

If you really want to concern yourself with a problem, go to Boyd Park in New Brunswick and see the buckets over flowing with 12" striped bass !!

Do any game wardens go down there to crack down on that?

[thmyorke1]

Do any game wardens go down there to crack down on that?

Speaking of I've never seen one yet, or at least I THOUGHT I haven't seen one (they're professional stalkers! lol jk)

I thought I'd start seeing them more that the season is opened up but nope. Maybe I shouldn't complain? Although it's nice to know they're patrolling and cracking down in illegal acts and crimes against the fish.

I guess the best game warden are ourselves, up to us to report and have them arrive at the crime.

[Mark B.]

I guess the best game warden are ourselves,....

Correct.

And, importantly, as licensed NJ anglers do not brag about flaunting NJ Fish & Game Laws. Or, encourage others to do so.

Set a good example.

[NorthJerzyG]

Nice fish ALL around Eddie!!! And, while I fully agree with Mark about setting a good example......... Someone's gotta tell those shad they're off limits!!! :D

[RiverRat77]

Hit the same spot this afternoon. Picked away at white perch with a gold #3 vibrax then something else connected. It stayed deep with occasional head shakes but didn't feel real big. Brought him up to the wall and when he rolled on his side the guy next to me gasped. It was a big fat Walleye over 28 inches with serious girth. I had to walk him down the wall to the rocks since I didn't have my net. when I got there I slowly pulled him up on the stone but the first rock he hit caused him to spit the lure and slide slowly back into the water. I went in after him and grabbed him with both hands around his midsection but he was bigger than my two hands put together and slithered through leaving me speechless without a pic!!!!

I was there.... Just had read this, it was one big ass walleye. Yes you did go out to try and grab it..
You will get her keep plugging away.

[KenBeam]

Hit the river yesterday in between coats of paint drying. River was stained and coming up from the freak t-storms Friday night. threw the plugs and nobody was home to go after the big stuff. I looked down at one point and swore I saw a school of Shad circling 10 feet off the wall. Changed gears and started throwing, ummmmmmmmmmm,,,,,,, Trout magnets. Yea thats it, Trout magnets, LOL! Sure enough, 5 casts later I was into the Shad pretty good landing 4 out of 7 before the water became to dirty. Some big ass Shad in there this year fellaz. Still nice and fresh too!!!

Back at this morning hoping the water was still at a high level so I could throw my plugs. Nope! Water level dropped quick but it didn't matter as a plethora of species were caught today by a buddy of mine. Shad, White Perch, Crappie and a 19 inch Smallie all came to the wall today. All nice healthy species I might add! As for what I caught, well I was in charge of finding the migratory Stripers that swim in the freshwater! I found 2, 1 short and 1 29-30 inch drag ripping keeper that put up a hell of a battle on the new river set up! Crazy fish went for the smaller plug today. Good times on that river lately. Fish are on the move and feeding heavy. TIGHT LINEZ!!!:D
http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/fasteddie2927/image_zpsvvxkvsia.jpg

http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/fasteddie2927/image_zps70lhi6ri.jpg


Awesome Awesome fish Eddie! I`ve never fished there...... would love to try it with ya sometime

[Mark B.]

Speaking of I've never seen one yet, or at least I THOUGHT I haven't seen one (they're professional stalkers! lol jk)

I thought I'd start seeing them more that the season is opened up but nope. Maybe I shouldn't complain? Although it's nice to know they're patrolling and cracking down in illegal acts and crimes against the fish.

I guess the best game warden are ourselves, up to us to report and have them arrive at the crime.

NJ C.O.'s, They are watching,..........

https://www.facebook.com/NJFishandWildlife/photos/a.773570065998615.1073741828.769563899732565/1483224908366457/?type=3&theater