Trout small

[americandesi]

Bill, I've stocked trout in the lower Musconetcong River in the past as part of a volunteer effort. I volunteered for the preseason lower Musconetcong River stocking this year, and we did stock some nice broodstock. What I've noticed is that the trout stocked get bigger as the season goes on. There were a lot of 9" fish in the preseason stocking, but the fish at the final stocking in May were mostly larger than the 10.5" average. The extra month or two of living in the hatchery makes a difference!

Also I'm not sure what methods you are using and where you are fishing. I can tell you that my friends who are skilled fly fishermen are reporting catches of leftover large fish from the fall in the major NW NJ trout streams. I was surprised myself given how low the rivers were last fall. I fished the Musky yesterday and saw some nice fish in the 18" range get caught. Caught a couple in the 12-14" range myself.