Wild browns, rainbows and a big surprise (11/18/17-11/19/17)

[JDTuna]

Sat 11/18/17:

I headed out to chase some trout in the rainy, cloudy weather. First fish of the day was the most colorful rainbow I have ever seen in NJ. The colors, flawless condition and the perfect fins lead me to believe this may have been a wild fish, or a longtime holdover. It was also a good size, stretching the tape to just over 19".





The next fish was the complete opposite. Another nice fish, this stockie rainbow more closely resembled a coelacanth, or a prehistoric ancestor to a trout. Hope to see this fish again when he's really big...he'll be the river dinosaur!



Bounced around a bit and got into a bunch of wild browns to 14".





Sunday 11/18/17:

With my plans for striper fishing in the salt cancelled due to high winds, Chrisper and I decided to do an exploratory trip to try some new water for wild browns. We weren't disappointed. We ended up landing a bunch of wild browns to 15", and some missed swipes from even larger fish.







As we were wrapping things up, I had quite the unexpected surprise at the end of the day.

I took a cast into a deep pool. As I worked my lure back, I saw a very large fish appear and engulf my lure. My first thought was: "that is the biggest brown I've ever seen in NJ!" The fish flared its gills and shook its head in a familiar fashion...I was tight to a nice esox! Since my small trout lure was attached by straight 4lb test, I did not expect this to last long. I chased the fish toward the shore, attempting to box it in. I knew I was working on borrowed time. Boxing a green fish in did not work, and the fish raced past me and took a long run upstream. My heart began to sink the further the fish ran. This couldn't end well. Then, the fish stopped. I moved through the water towards the fish. I got close, and with a swipe of my (thankfully) oversized net I scooped up a nice pike. I expected to see the lure on the outside oc the pike's mouth, but it was nowhere to be seen. We opened up his mouth and the lure was all the back in his mouth. No clue how the line didn't cut. The hooks were quickly removed, and the pike was sent on his way.



Great day on new water!

[thmyorke1]

Jdtuna: so good at catching trout that he cant help but catch some pike in-between.

another great post of marvelous trout

[AndyS]

Awesome fish !!! A big Pike, just crazy !!

[Jigman13]

That's pretty epic. Nice job Justin. Wild that it stayed pinned with the lure that deep in its mouth.

[acabtp]

awesome fish man

big happy trout and big happy esox living together, how about that

[BT67]

wow again, you are the man when it comes to trout, im seriously jealous

[Chrisper4694]

I really shouldve filmed that!

[NJSquatch]

only you could catch a pike in trout waters...

[antgogz]

I wonder how many trout that pike has eaten. I would love to know which river this was because i have no clue. Thats an absolutely amazing story. Great job bro.

[NorthJerzyG]

Nice fish all around man but that pike shot is awesome!!! Nice catch, cool story, and great shot!!