Short but interesting article on the upper S. B. Raritan in Field and Stream

[Dave B.]

Here's the link... http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/...NTIxMjcyODcyS0

[buzzbaiter]

Anyone who fishes regularly for wild trout like I do is never surprised by #'s or sizes our streams hold. I'd put our best up against any PA or NY stream. Of course w the lack of rain this summer, I see numbers dwindling in coming year. Cant spawn if theres no water. Our major river tribs are nearing critical levels and no significant rain in the next ten days.

[Skunk City]

Wow, very cool indeed.

[YUKONPETEY60]

I saw that article as well, very encouraging, never thought to post a link here.....I volunteered with NJF&W to participate in an electroshock study on the Big Flatbrook years ago with TU, but it never came off. Bet that would have been a learning experience......

[Dave B.]

Originally Posted by buzzbaiter

Anyone who fishes regularly for wild trout like I do is never surprised by #'s or sizes our streams hold. I'd put our best up against any PA or NY stream. Of course w the lack of rain this summer, I see numbers dwindling in coming year. Cant spawn if theres no water. Our major river tribs are nearing critical levels and no significant rain in the next ten days.

Agreed Mark. I keep tabs on the guages regularly and like you can pretty easily extrapolate them into a relative level for the nearby smaller waters. Fortunately it's still only mid-Sept, there's a fair amount of time yet for us to get some precip and still be within the spawning window for most of our WTS's.
If you recall we had similar conditions last year as well with very low flows lasting well into Nov, yet most of the wild pops seemed to do okay despite that based on this years YOY sightings. Time will tell, but I hope we get some reasonable precip soon!

[buzzbaiter]

Originally Posted by Dave B.

Agreed Mark. I keep tabs on the guages regularly and like you can pretty easily extrapolate them into a relative level for the nearby smaller waters. Fortunately it's still only mid-Sept, there's a fair amount of time yet for us to get some precip and still be within the spawning window for most of our WTS's.
If you recall we had similar conditions last year as well with very low flows lasting well into Nov, yet most of the wild pops seemed to do okay despite that based on this years YOY sightings. Time will tell, but I hope we get some reasonable precip soon!

Yes they are remarkably resilient. In the past, I have seen sections of streams completely dry - like the upper flat brook - yet next time there was water in them, trout were there. They seem to hold up in the deeper pools and I think migrate up or down as flows dictate. We really could use a day or two of steady rain before the brookie spawn starts which is just a few weeks away(around October 1st).