Northern NJ Brookies

Met my friend Chuck C. on a brook  trout stream in northern NJ.  This is one of my favorites, though I don't fish it often because it's an extra 35 minutes or so compared to other streams I like almost as much.  However, it's close to where Chuck lives, so I wanted to introduce him to it.  Chuck is an avid still water/warm water fisherman.  This was his second time out with a fly rod, and first time out on such a small stream.

He did well...  the photo below shows him releasing a fish.  In typical digital pocket camera style the image is a fraction of a second late, but the splash below his left hand is actually a fish returning to the water.

Below that is an image of a typical brook trout.

Fish were rising to stone fly imitations.  The hatch was less pronounced than other streams I've fished in NJ... perhaps it's just a couple of weeks behind the other streams.  Still, the next couple of weeks are probably some of the best small stream fishing of the year.