After our morning musky adventure, Chrisper and I decided we wanted to hit a stretch of river for some trout before heading. Well, especially me since I had a decent musky eat my lure at the boat, spit the hook and I'm pretty sure he laughed at me before swimming away. I needed to catch something before heading home.
The river was still rising but fishable. However, over all the fishing was pretty slow. Midway through the stretch, Chrisper picked up a nice brown trout in full fall coloration.
We continued on and saw a few fish but they weren't interested. I was running short on time so we couldn't sit and try multiple presentations on the few fish we saw. Just had to find a fish that would cooperate.
We got to a particular hole that usually holds fish. Sure enough, I saw activity as I approached. They weren't interested, so I switched to another "go to" lure. On the second cast, a fish hit. The fish rolled on top and I couldn't believe the size of the fish. He took off peeling drag. I knew I needed to get this fish in the net asap because of all the timber around the hole. The fish kept bulldogging, popping up top for a few headshakes. I waded in the hole to wait for my shot. Sure enough, he popped up again and I slid the giant male rainbow trout in the net. Got him on the tape and he was pushing 26 inches. My new personal best trout of any species from a stream in NJ. After a few pics, he was released to hopefully get even bigger.
