Start the Rain Dance

[Billfish715]

Are you kidding me? The trout streams are very low right now. Much lower than they should be for April. Except for the water temperature, the water levels are much more like June. The small brooks are even worse! The smaller brooks get stocked next week and except for the honey holes, there are few places for the new fish to go. The low water in the larger streams makes it difficult for the newly stocked fish to spread much farther than where they were put. Those stocking points are pounded and only a few fish manage to swim up or down stream. I don't like to stand shoulder to shoulder with a gang of anglers. I like to get off by myself. The runs and holding waters that I usually find are now too low and uninviting to many trout. We need rain for lots of reasons but this season more than others I can remember. If you don't fish close to one of the stocking points, there won't be too many fish anywhere else. If you're not catching a limit this year, you might be too far from where the fish were put in. Some do get away, and I still catch them away from the crowds. I worked a half mile stretch of the Paulinskill today and had to work hard just to catch six with very few fishermen along the way. I saw many stringers full of trout at the
hole by the bridge though.

[Eskimo]

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I usually don't have to break out my feathers and loin cloth this early in the year, but I can begin my rain dances this weekend if conditions require it.



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[River Renegade]

Sadly it won't rain this weekend, but next week Tuesday & Friday will have showers and temps of 64 and 72. Those streams should fill up some more.

[AndyS]

5 years now NO RAIN !! Go look at Round Valley !!

[bigfishy]

Originally Posted by AndyS

5 years now NO RAIN !! Go look at Round Valley !!

They drew the valley down....Didn't you post pics of the pump station gushing water last yr??

[Esox Luciano]

This should help guys. https://youtu.be/clth4OVmBYg

[Billfish715]

Like shooting fish in a barrel or something like that. That's what it's going to be like on lots of the streams and brooks. I don't fish the main stem of the Raritan but I'm sure even that river has many unfishable stretches due to low water. The fish have to be concentrated in the more predictable seams and runs making them easier to locate and catch. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the smaller brooks are cut a little short on their stocking quota because of the low water. I hope not, but this low water situation might require some creative stocking measures. On one obviously lightly fished brook in Morris County, I saw at least 2 dozen trout under one log. When that brook gets stocked again this week, there will be even more there. In that stretch there are no other places for the trout to hide or hold. I'd rather have those trout put into a larger stream than have them living together in what amounts to an aquarium.