Screw Work Go Fish 5/5/11

[Lard Almighty]

My dad and I both took the day off from work today to do some fishing. As shucker is still without job, we invited him along as well. We had originally planned to fish the Raritan, but the rain last night put the kibash on that idea. So, we made our way to some smaller waters. We started out fishing the Mulhockaway below the last bridge before it dumps into the reservoir. We each caught two apiece, a mix of brooks, rainbows, and native browns. After a stop for breakfast we headed up to Peapack Brook. Fished the falls in Liberty Park, and the fish were stacked up and hungry. The rainbow trout-colored Panther Martin was the key, as I caught seven brookies in about as many minutes. Shucker pulled two out on Andy jigs. Dad missed one, but couldn't capitalize. Fished upstream to the Main Street bridge, and picked away at stocked brookies and native browns. Dad was unable to catch a trout from Peapack, and amazingly never has in the several times he has fished it! I guess he's just cursed?

Since it was on the way back we decided to stop at Natirar to see what was going on. Good thing we did, as the water was high and normally ankle-deep runs looked really fishy. The fish were spread out, and we caught one or two in just about every hole. It was a mix of stocked brookies and native browns, and we all did well, pulling 20-something trout out of there in about an hour and a half, as well as a few miscellaneous fish. Once again spinners were the hot lure. We called it a day with the final tally between the three of us somewhere around 40 trout, all between 3" (yes, I actually caught a 3" brown trout) to 12". All were released. A fun day fishing with Dad and shucker. Maybe if the water clears up we'll hit the Raritan on Sunday before Mother's Day activities commence.

Sorry, no pics. Left the camera at home, because we all know that, if you bring your camera, you don't catch fish.

[AndyS]

Peapack Brook is tight quarters for 3 guys fishing together

Natirar.....not stocked, but if it is open to the public now, maybe it should be on da list. Good report.

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by AndyS

Peapack Brook is tight quarters for 3 guys fishing together

Natirar.....not stocked, but if it is open to the public now, maybe it should be on da list. Good report.

I called the state last year to add this stretch of water to their list. It was being considered. It has a lot more water in it and is wider than the Peapack Brook. Also holds much more water in the summertime. A pretty place too.

[Lard Almighty]

Originally Posted by Cuz

I called the state last year to add this stretch of water to their list. It was being considered. It has a lot more water in it and is wider than the Peapack Brook. Also holds much more water in the summertime. A pretty place too.

I saw no stocking signs in Natirar. I thought it was a rule that signs have to go up if they put trout in. Are they simply doing some kind of trial stocking outside of public knowledge this year?

[Moz]

Originally Posted by Lard Almighty

Sorry, no pics. Left the camera at home, because we all know that, if you bring your camera, you don't catch fish.

I've caught quite a few nice fish when bringing the camera along.

However now that I've been packing my mini-tripod to ensure better pictures it's been nothing but skunks and dinks!

I didn't realize Natirar was open to the public now for fishing, if there's no crowds certainly worth a look-see.