Put the hurt on 'em at Ken Lockwood Gorge

[Dan_E26]

Beware, giant story ahead!

Let me preface this by saying I'm in HS and have little in the ways of gear, and up until yesterday I had close to zero knowledge on trout fishing. I'd just huck random flies and get lucky sometimes.

I rolled up to the gorge at 6:30am and got situated on my favorite rock. A few casts in my bubble indicator goes under and I hooked a skinny little rainbow. shortly after the sun rose and the bites stopped for me. I later learned this was the case because my drift was bad and I was using 6lb mono as "tippet" and was using the wrong flies. A fellow fisherman started to chat with me and turned out we were both from Union County, so we decided to fish together and he HOOKED ME UP with 6x tippet, split shot, an indicator, and some amazingly effective flies (some of which we picked out of the trees)

We went to a different spot and I set up on the best rock I could find but it wasn't working too well because I was still too far from the fish. This awesome guy let me wear his brand new spare waders so I could actually get into the water. What would've been a 1 fish day turned into a MASSACRE. He showed me how to get a good drift, where to cast, how to set the hook (much more delicately than my typical "blast their jaw off" hookset).

Once I had all the right gear and knowledge, I was getting a take every couple casts. We totaled 10+ fish in the net with nearly constant hookups. I broke off on one fish and lost my indicator to it, so we called the fish "Bobber" and watched as it swam around dragging the indicator behind. I then accidentally snagged the indicator only to have Mr. Bobber break me off again at the net. I would have loved to get the flies back from Bobber but he's still out there probably munching some nymphs right now.

I chose not to share the name of this guy or any photos of him because he's not a member of this forum (yet) and our choice of flies will be kept secret too. But to all you guys out there: BE LIKE THE GUY I MET YESTERDAY. Don't shun the beginner, help them out, teach them!

[FASTEDDIE29]

Great write up and report man! That's awesome that some stranger was willing to help you out and show you the ropes! Knowledge is key in this sport of ours. The more you soak in the better angler you'll be! Thanks for the report and keep em coming! Ohhhhhh, and nice fish as well!

[tycomps]

That's a memory for life! Pay it forward when it's your turn, congratulations!

[NickM221]

Awesome report and fish!

[njflyfisher]

Nice report and fish. Wait till you get some brownies and brookies out of there. You'll love that place even more.

[AndyS]

WOW !! great story ! Plenty of trout water to explore in NJ, move around to other locations too.