Muskconetcong again :)

[Pikelever]

Fished August 7 from 7:45 PM to 8:45 PM. About 2- 2.5 miles down from Hackettstown. Later was difficult to stay because it was pretty dark. Used wooly bugger (I think so ) in olive color.
Water is much colder then at Sunday. Couple days of cool off are always good. Unfortunately, still have to trout. Got 2 smallmouth basses.

By the way, into deep spot I saw pretty nice fish, which blinked couple times with big silver side, but I could not mange to attract this fish. So …
I am pretty new in that area and into fly fishing at all. If somebody has experience with this river … I will really appreciate any info or help, how to get trout there. Heard a lot of nice words about this river but no luck so far.

 

[Caddis]

Hey Pike,

I'm wondering what stretch of the musky you fished? I remember fishing the Musky at Stephens State Park, Saxton Falls, and down by the Golden Skillet when I was a kid. I used to love that river, but my real love was the South Branch because that's where I caught my very first trout!

 

[JOE.T]

The musky is a fine trout stream.First of all do know what the water temps are and were during the heat wave,chances are there were fish kills if the fish did not have a refuge such as under water springs or cold feeder brooks.Most of the rivers fish well in the spring and fall in nj especially when thers a good fall stocking.Thera are always fish kills during the summer here in nj we have had about 20 days of 90 + deg weather and the eves did not get below 70 deg.The water temps i know were getting up to 85 deg during the day and only down to 75 in the eve,Over 75 deg it starts getting critcal for trout.Oxygen disapates as water warms.Point being fish the pequest near the hatchery were there is cold water all the time and you will increase your chances because there will be many more fish there,There are fish that survived in other streams but unless you know the "honeyholes like im sure sqerl does living on the S.B it can be difficult,I know nj pretty well but not TO the that extent.There are some fine strEAMs right over the border iN pa that has cold water all year as well.aND IF YOU NEED DIRECTIONS TO SUCH STREAMS IN NY LET ME OR DENNIS KNOW.Also keep in mind at this time of the year with lower clear water you may want to use smaller streamers such as a mickey finn in size 12 or 14.Always try and cast your streamer across stream from you and keep it sideways in the current.As its starts down stream mend once or twice up stream so your pattern will get down deeper than strip experimenting with different speeds more often than not the fish hit the pattern is it swings sideways and up towards the surface.Hope that helps ya.Im sure thers a few other streams that have colder water than others i mention the pequest because its in hacketstown.

 

[Caddis]

Musky Temps

About 2 weeks ago, I tried locating one of Denis's (NJTrout) prized spots, but could not find it. I wound up hitting Stephens State Park and the water temp was a flush 80. I wound up fishing for Sunny's that day.

 

[Dave B.]

If you'ld like to fish in that area, grab a county map and find your way to the upper Pequest around and above Rt 80. The water stays cooler due to many springs and you'll be able to fish without any company more often than not. This area is only about a 10 to 15 minute drive from the stretch of the Musky you mentioned. Good Luck, Dave.

 

[sqerl]

I recently just found the musconetcong <sp>! too bad I was lost when I found it!! LOL At least I'm getting a feel for the area now that I've been here for 3 months.
Lets see, the KLG is 5 miles from my doorstep, Musconetcong is 10 and the pequest hatchery is about 17... More than enough to keep me busy come fall (not to mention all the honeyholes that aren't in the TCA's)

 

[Caddis]

MAPS. ACK!! If my Navigation system in the Car can't find it, I'm not going!!!

Actually, I think I'd get bored hiking alone. If I had someone knowledgeable of an area to come with me, I would definetly go. If anyone knows of a good place to hike to with good water, let me know. If I get my 2 broken rods back by next week, maybe we can take a hike!

Hey sqerl, I'm envious of your commute to the major river arteries! I fish the Gorge religiously in the fall and winter. THis past season was great!

 

[Pikelever]

Thank you for your replies. So let wait until faal to see some trout there.

 

[Caddis]

AHHHH another guy taking advantage of the Avatars! Maybe others will catch on!