Black and Lamington Rivers, 4/17/2013, Pottersville and Chester

[Doug Vitale]

Still being in the mood for some classic-style trout fishing after my previous outing to the Musconetcong, I decided to pay a visit to the Hacklebarney area and fish some pools. Fished from 11:00 - 4:00, only saw two other fishermen, and most of the sounds I heard were the trickling of flowing water and birds chirping.

The distinction between the Black and Lamington Rivers is not clear; technically they are the same body of water. According to Wikipedia, the "Black River" refers to the river upstream of Pottersville while the "Lamington River" flows downstream from Pottersville. However, if you look at Google Maps the river is called "Lamington" upstream from Pottersville and is only called "Black River" north of Hacklebarney in the Black River Park/Kay Environmental Center. However, signs in Hacklebarney Park refer to "Black River" which accords with Wikipedia, so I will use this naming convention.

I started the day fishing the Lamington in Pottersville. Found a nice pool and pulled three brook trout out of there. Two on butterworms, one with a Mepps Aglia.

I followed the river upstream with my car (Black River Rd.) and was disappointed to see "Private property - no fishing" signs everywhere. This had me really confused because that property is a public park (Hacklebarney). If you look at Black River Rd. on Google Maps, you'll see what I mean. Can anyone explain this to me? How can park property also be private property? It's too bad because I saw several nice spots on the river, but since I didn't want to risk any unpleasant altercations, I decided to drive into Hacklebarney and walk down to the Black River where I know fishing is permitted.

The water level, current, and clarity were ideal for good trouting. Fished about a 1/2 mile stretch of the river. I got about ten brook trout - about half on butterworms, half on a black Panther Martin with a gold blade. Had about five missed strikes on my lures from other trout.

From Hacklebarney I drove to check out the Passaic River in Basking Ridge (Morristown Road, Hardscrabble Road). Lots of private property, almost no parking, and from the few glimpses of the river I saw, it's too shallow for trout fishing. I pulled into the New Jersey Audubon Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary on Hardscrabble Road, but I didn't feel like parking and walking down to see the river. From there I drove downstream past the big Verizon campus (near Lord Stirling Park); I found one bridge going over the Passaic (Madisonville Rd.) but it was fenced off, preventing parking. However, the river did look more fishable. I'll have to check out the Passaic downstream from there more.

Last stop of the day was the North Branch Raritan. I met up with my dad, Cuz Bruce, at the Rt. 202 bridge (Main St.) in Bedminster. There was nothing going on here, so we drove to the Rt. 202-206 bridge in Bedminster, just north of Pluckemin. We did better there; I got one brookie in about twenty minutes with the Panther Martin, and he got a few with butterworms.

Here are some photos of the Black/Lamington River. For those who want to check these rivers out for themselves, you can use my locations above as well as the NJDFW's directions to publicly accessible spots.

Black River, Hacklebarney State Park - Rt. 206 to Rt. 24 (Washington Tpke.) to State Park Rd. to park entrance & parking lot - follow hiking trail to river.

Lamington River, Bedminister - Rattlesnake Road, make left on Burnt Mills Rd. Turn right on Minor Rd. Turn Right onto Burnt Mills Road - pull-off just on other side of bridge.

Lamington River, Branchburg - Rt. 22 to Rt. 28 (Easton Trpk.) to Burnt Mills Rd., approx. 2.5 miles to bridge, pull-off parking.

[AndyS]

Love hearing reports from the Lamington, thanx !

[buzzbaiter]

BR Rod & Gun leases the streambed so they "control" it from Pottersville up to HSP. Tax maps show this so even though its state land along it you can't fish there(you can if you just be stealthy about it lots of wild browns and even a few native brookies. really nice pocket/riffle water).

[Lard Almighty]

Originally Posted by Doug Vitale

From Hacklebarney I drove to check out the Passaic River in Basking Ridge (Morristown Road, Hardscrabble Road). Lots of private property, almost no parking, and from the few glimpses of the river I saw, it's too shallow for trout fishing. I pulled into the New Jersey Audubon Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary on Hardscrabble Road, but I didn't feel like parking and walking down to see the river. From there I drove downstream past the big Verizon campus (near Lord Stirling Park); I found one bridge going over the Passaic (Madisonville Rd.) but it was fenced off, preventing parking. However, the river did look more fishable. I'll have to check out the Passaic downstream from there more.

The stretch on the Audubon property is really small water, but it has a good number of wild rainbows and browns. Nothing much bigger than 6 inches.

[bigfishy]

If you look at Black River Rd. on Google Maps, you'll see what I mean. Can anyone explain this to me?


Google is wrong....

[cmoran719]

love the black river in hacklebarney. It's even more serene and scenic then ken lockwood since it's not crowded and doesn't have a wide and easily accessible trail running along side of it

[buzzbaiter]

All that land in that area was in private ownership at one time. The stream corridor and stream bottom were then leased in perpetuity to Black River Fish and Game Club. The NJDEP then bought the land adjacent to that. Google borders/parcels are NOT accurate. They are an approximation. I choose to use other sources such as state and county Parcel and/or tax maps which are very accurate. Also Google highlights open space in green but in fact green can be private lands as well such as golf courses, camps, preserves and other sorts of conservation easements which are NOT public.

Many streams in Pa are private despite the fact you can walk right up to them. The stream bottom is land and can be owned stupid as it sounds.

[Lard Almighty]

Originally Posted by buzzbaiter

All that land in that area was in private ownership at one time. The stream corridor and stream bottom were then leased in perpetuity to Black River Fish and Game Club. The NJDEP then bought the land adjacent to that. Google borders/parcels are NOT accurate. They are an approximation. I choose to use other sources such as state and county Parcel and/or tax maps which are very accurate. Also Google highlights open space in green but in fact green can be private lands as well such as golf courses, camps, preserves and other sorts of conservation easements which are NOT public.

Many streams in Pa are private despite the fact you can walk right up to them. The stream bottom is land and can be owned stupid as it sounds.

I thought it was the other way around. That the land bordering a "navigable waterway" could be privately owned, but the waterway itself was still public domain. I remember when I fished the Raritan along Duke estates, back when the security guards were cracking down on trespassers, I was told by multiple guards that I could fish the river near the Duke property as long as I stayed in the water. Not sure if this is the same situation, though.

[Capt. Lou]

I agree w/ Lard, the premis that the stream bed is private proprty is open to discussion.
I can readily understand if you own property on both sides of a river you can certainly stop acess thus prevent fishing as well, however on more than one occassion I've seen signs strung across rivrs denying access to that portion of stream !
So maybe there is validity to that ownership of stream bed in some fashion.

[The Sinker Man]

They could own the land and or the stream bed, BUT they don't own the water...Use a boat, canoe, yet, etc. This topic comes up every year and no one really gives an answer..How about one of you CO montoring this give us an answer.