My biggest NJ trout

[sstasiak]

I decided not to hunt the shotgun season this year in Jersey, but I still had the day off, so....I decided to go fishing. I was rewarded with the biggest trout I've ever landed in NJ.

This fish fought me for 10 minutes despite the frigid temperatures. The fish was just slightly longer than my net, which is around 22".

 

[onemorecast]

That's a good looking hen there. Nice fins, too. SBR?

 

[jcstikfish]

Nicely done! Gotta love winter (late fall) fishing.

~James

 

[sstasiak]

That's a good looking hen there. Nice fins, too. SBR?

Thanks...this was on the Musky.

 

[Big Bushkill]

Great job, what fly did you get it on.

Cheers

 

[Fly Guy]

Nice fish.

 

[Joe D]

:thumb: Sweet!

 

[SneakyPete]

Nice One!!! Thats why I just love the Musky... Allot of big fish and nobody is hardly fishing it...

 

[Corndog]

WTG! What did you get her on?

I'd bet the whole 10 minutes you were saying to yourself, Don't get off, don't get off...

Cdog

 

[sstasiak]

Great job, what fly did you get it on.

Cheers

The fish took a peach glo bug. I knew it was a pig as soon as I set the hook and saw the flash. Worse than the long fight was when I grabbed my net and felt that the magnetic release was frozen together...when I finally ripped it apart, I realized the net itself was frozen too. I can only imagine what that fight would've ended up like if the water was warmer.

I took 3 fish out of that run on 3 consecutive casts....it was very surprising on a cold day like today, but I guess when there's a good cold water holding lie, there's probably more than one fish in it.

 

[gadfly]

Congrats! Thats a nice looking fish. Nice picture too... did you take that with the timer? :foto:

 

[sstasiak]

Yes that was with the timer. I put the camera on a rock, hit the button, lifted the fish out of the water for a few seconds and away she went.

 

[Catskill Mountain Man]

thats crazy. In the musky? Does that section of the muskey have Natural reproduction? Could it have been a wild?

 

[sstasiak]

thats crazy. In the musky? Does that section of the muskey have Natural reproduction? Could it have been a wild?

The fish wasn't wild...it was either a very good looking fall stocker, or a holdover.

As for natural reproduction, I'm not sure...I think there are a few tribs with wild fish, but I don't know how many of them make their way into the main river and actually reproduce there.

 

[flyI4]

theres not much natural reproduction in the musky although im sure there are certain spots where they pop up now and then. nice fish sstastiak, one of many nice specimens from the musky we've seen from the fall/early winter

 

[Rusty Spinner]

We don't have reproducing bows in the Musky, just browns and brookies. Same for the tribs.

Nice fish. In addition to the state, several fishing clubs stock the river and at least one with big Kamloops bows.