Raritan river float 5/21/13:

[AndyS]

Put in at Robert St. in Raritan around 7am. Fished a standard black and silver Rapala (since I'm a hack at lures) and some black marabou jigs.
As I was getting set up there were 2 guys in the fast water slaying the trout so I figured that was a good sign.
Fished kinda hard stopping along the way with no luck. All the way to Manville without a fish. Met up with Shucker there. Had a large fish crush my jig tipped with a leech and I thought it was a big walleye, turned out to be a nice channel cat, I got a smallmouth there also. Floated all the way to the 2nd 287 crossing without another fish. Water was stained but not dirty.
I must be doing something wrong. Either I'm floating too much water and not taking my time or I don't know what, I KNOW the fish are there. Not too many places to launch and take out a 73lb. 17ft. canoe.
Met up with the guys from Rutgers in Somerset doing the tagging operation and chatted alot, all good stuff.
Highlights of the day, taylor, ham, egg and cheese from my local deli, seeing 2 bald eagles this time, one in Raritan the other in South Bound Brook, saw a snake swim across the river, and a squirrel.
Didn't see any dead fish along the entire float. Got a good workout and a nice sun burn.
Still see no reason why walleye can't be stocked along the majority of the river.
Cormorants where EVERYWHERE !!

Tagging a gizzard shad.

[AndyS]

[FASTEDDIE29]

Good report Andy. The fish are there, they just weren't hungry today.

[Gatto1227]

Thanks for the report. Last float trip we killed it. The one before that we caught NOTHING. That's the raritan

[Almaink]

Cormorants are becoming a real problem and it needs to be addressed IMO. The ones in the Big D are eating the herring we can no longer use, and they eat the trout and small bass out of the lakes making fishing there a waste of time. Where did they come from? I never saw one until a few years ago now they seem to be everywhere.

[Lard Almighty]

Originally Posted by Almaink

Cormorants are becoming a real problem and it needs to be addressed IMO. The ones in the Big D are eating the herring we can no longer use, and they eat the trout and small bass out of the lakes making fishing there a waste of time. Where did they come from? I never saw one until a few years ago now they seem to be everywhere.

I spoke to a state biologist about that, and apparently they arrived with higher average temperatures a few years ago. Most likely they are sticking around because of the ample food sources.

Anyone have a good recipe for cormorant?

[ChaosStarter]

Originally Posted by Lard Almighty

I spoke to a state biologist about that, and apparently they arrived with higher average temperatures a few years ago. Most likely they are sticking around because of the ample food sources.

Anyone have a good recipe for cormorant?

Lead with a side of smoke.

[Jigman13]

Originally Posted by ChaosStarter

Lead with a side of smoke.

HA!!!! Can they be hunted???

[cantcatchme]

They are protected in this state just like everything else. They are invasive to the states. Like stated above it is pointless to fish a few of the ponds that they stock trout. These birds eat 3/4 of the fish and the other 1/4 are in hiding and don't bite. The state needs to step up and do something with population control.

[ChaosStarter]

Originally Posted by cantcatchme

They are protected in this state just like everything else. They are invasive to the states. Like stated above it is pointless to fish a few of the ponds that they stock trout. These birds eat 3/4 of the fish and the other 1/4 are in hiding and don't bite. The state needs to step up and do something with population control.

Protected only in plain sight.