Opens tomorrow

 

Anyone going?

 

I'm heading out in the morning for trout then noon for bass then stripers afterwards. I don't plan on eating any but I have a pond I plan on tossing a few trout in.

Im going to go out, but not seriously. I always fare better on monday, after most of the pressure from the weekend warriors is gone.

Meals on wheels, never fish on opening day. Also seems always a cold and wet day. Not so tomorrow, so have a good time. Leave a few for us Monday folk.

If its to crowded I'll go right to the club for bass. I'm usually the one one there

That must be nice, I purposely fish a really really hard to get to area this week, so I can get away from some of the people.

Went by the trout spot at 8 and it was mobbed. People walking around with hip waiters all over. So I decided to skip that. We went to the club and all caught fish. I personally caught 8 bass and 3 crappie. Then we hit a farm pond and I caught a pickerel. We grabbed lunch and hit the trout lake and the 2 of us that we're trout fishing got blanked and the one guy going for bass caught a bass. I think all the guys walking around with hip waiters scared the fish to deep water. 1 learned one piece of info from a farmer. In late October they release the spawning adults in this pond that are 18-24 inches and it's a couple hundred of em. Needless to say if that's true I'll be there.

How does one get started in fishing, specifically trout fishing? I'm interested in picking it up for diversifying the dinner menu during my backpacking trips; but having no prior experience I'm not certain where to begin.

 

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Went by the trout spot at 8 and it was mobbed. People walking around with hip waiters all over. So I decided to skip that. We went to the club and all caught fish. I personally caught 8 bass and 3 crappie. Then we hit a farm pond and I caught a pickerel. We grabbed lunch and hit the trout lake and the 2 of us that we're trout fishing got blanked and the one guy going for bass caught a bass. I think all the guys walking around with hip waiters scared the fish to deep water. 1 learned one piece of info from a farmer. In late October they release the spawning adults in this pond that are 18-24 inches and it's a couple hundred of em. Needless to say if that's true I'll be there.

 

Is it bass season?

It's always bass season in my book

Bass season is open until 4-14. Catch and release only from 4-15 until 6-15 (Spawning time). You can fish for them, but all bass must be released unharmed.

I have caught bass during trout season before. I always catch and release in fresh water anyway.

Yeah I always throw back everything

Except in the ocean. If I charter a boat I'm eating the fish

Went by the trout spot at 8 and it was mobbed. People walking around with hip waiters all over. So I decided to skip that. We went to the club and all caught fish. I personally caught 8 bass and 3 crappie. Then we hit a farm pond and I caught a pickerel. We grabbed lunch and hit the trout lake and the 2 of us that we're trout fishing got blanked and the one guy going for bass caught a bass. I think all the guys walking around with hip waiters scared the fish to deep water. 1 learned one piece of info from a farmer. In late October they release the spawning adults in this pond that are 18-24 inches and it's a couple hundred of em. Needless to say if that's true I'll be there.

 

I didn't even know the state stocked trout in South Jersey.

 

When to the Flatbrook today, caught a 17" rainbow that I think was a holdover from the fall stocking (meat was really pink inside). My buddy caught three 17-18" brookies and a number of smaller trout. The Flatbrook is by far the nicest trout river in the state, you don't even think you're in NJ when you're in the valley.

Sorry I'm posting this a little after the fact, but I thought that you might enjoy the story:

 

I went to Pequest to do their Open House. I was part of the Pre-1840 Encampment. I was doing blank black powder charges in my 10 ga. shotgun and kids were linning-up to make some smoke!

 

The Open House was the weekend prior to the start of Trout Season. As part of the festivities, the Fish & Game Folks were teaching kids how to catch trout. Some that had been wounded too many times were deemed to be "discards", and usally taken to a farm to be made into farmer's feed or something. Instead, they were offered to US at the Encampment.

 

One of our Chefs wrapped them in aluminum foil along with some spices like lemon & butter and cooked them in a pan on our open fire dug into the ground not far from the pond they were using. It was really delicious and so tender that I was able to peel the fish off of the bones with my fingers and I ate everything but the head & tail! A really nice hot meal on a dank Saturday night! So the fish weren't wasted and the public had a great time at the event!

 

Dave