Category Archives: Trout Fishing

Bass, Saltwater, Trout Fishing

Summer’s End

Like a blink of an eye the 2015 summer lip ripping session has come and almost gone. A solid year of bass, trout, beers, and bonfires. Lets take a few minutes to highlight some of our favorite moments.
(Also 2 ice fishing pictures that never made it into the mix yet, and, not to brag, are my first 1 of each fish caught!)

Starting out we turn to Maryland for the shad run. Accompanied by my good MKFF buddies Mark and Dave, we truly made an impact on the fishing scene; The river and the bars.

Flipping Shad
Flipping Shad
Well behaved shad
Well behaved shad
Heading home scenery
Heading home scenery

The following weekend was also spent in Maryland, while we prepared the family boat for the upcoming warm weather sailing season. Dave and I set-up behind the boat with some hot dogs on the lines and sat and waited. Here are the results.

Dave with a nice sized cat
Dave with a nice sized cat
3 foot eel!
3 foot eel!

Maryland out of the way we can focus on some close to home fishing!!

We head to Lake Hopatcong with some fun hybrid striper fun with my buddy Mark and his son Mark. Here’s our outcome!

Me with my first hyrid
Me with my first hyrid
Little Mark with his trophy!
Little Mark with his trophy!

And onto some local fishing with a local pond and beautiful Paulinskill river!

My beautiful girlfriend Danielle sporting her new rod and outfit!
My beautiful girlfriend Danielle sporting her new rod and outfit!
Same spot trout
Same spot trout
Same stream just 100 yards up. Paulinskill small mouth bass.
Same stream just 100 yards up. Paulinskill small mouth bass.
Local pond Large Mouth Bass!
Local pond Large Mouth Bass!

Now let’s head to some deeper water with an unexpected, typically cold temperature, guest! Off the tip on Montauk we took our friends boat out a little bit in search of Stripers! Unfortunately, we came up shore but we got a few surprises instead!

Sea Bass with a beefy hump!
Sea Bass with a beefy hump!
Unexpected shad. We caught about 25 of them the beginning of August, 125 feet down.
Unexpected shad. We caught about 25 of them the beginning of August, 125 feet down.
Our newest member, TJ, with a big Blue Fish.
Our newest member, TJ, with a big Blue Fish.

Now, the finale, those two new fish promises! Introducing for the first time ever by this blog, and this angler in particular….

Lake Trout from the Adirondacks, NY.
Lake Trout from the Adirondacks, NY.
Northern Pike from North New Jersey.
Northern Pike from North New Jersey.

So, this concludes a quick update of the ventures and fish caught by the MKFF crew. Hope you enjoyed viewing them as much as we had catching them! Come on back soon for some more updates, pictures, and good times!!

Some upcoming blogs will cover the Pulaski Salmon run in October and another awesome trip to Sanibel Island!

Firearms, Trout Fishing

Cast and Blast Weekend

Sassafras tree showing off its colors.
Sassafras tree showing off its colors.

The fall is at its peak here in the Skylands region of New Jersey. Farm country is humming with the annual rituals of harvest season apple picking, fall foliage, hard cider, wine tastings, craft beers and of course what we do here, Trout fishing. After a long summer hiatus and a hard skunking up on the Salmon River we are back in New Jersey and loving the weather.

Osprey doing a fly by.
Osprey doing a fly by.

After an aborted spring stocking season, New Jersey Fish and Wildlife revved up the stocking program with a strong fall stocking of catchable Rainbow Trout. Many of the local streams still have resident Trout due to the unseasonably cool summer and lower than normal interest in Trout fishing for the 2014 season.

Mark caught a few stockies.
Mark caught a few stockies.

Mark and I decided it was time to get out there and hone in our casting skills while prepping for Pheasant season which kicks off on November 8th at daylight. The MKFF crew plans on doing a fall Cast and Blast series about exploring the fallowed fields and the streams that wind through them this fall.

Bees nest in the trees.
Bees nest in the trees.

The Cast

Our local cosmonaut.
Our local cosmonaut.

The primary hatches expected in New Jersey streams have passed as the weather has consistently cooled. Sunday night provided us with our first full frost throughout the county. This does not mean the Trout are not biting, what works has changed but they are still eating. Midges, Woolly Buggers, Egg Patterns and midges are all good choices for the Trout.

Wild New Jersey Rainbow Trout with beautiful colors.
Wild New Jersey Rainbow Trout with beautiful colors.

Water flows are still coming up from their summer nadir therefore a good rain in the middle of the week helps fishing on the weekend. Fortunately, the weather pattern seems to be cooperating.

The Blast

.357 Revolver holstered on the hip.
.357 Revolver holstered on the hip.

Pheasant season in New Jersey opens on November 8th 2014 and intermittently continues through mid February with a brief intermission for regular Shotgun season. Personally, my shotgun skills have gotten a little rusty in the off season as I have not found much time to practice shooting. This fall weekend made for the perfect opportunity to try out the thrower.

Mark keeps the peace.
Mark keeps the peace.

This coming weekend, The Rockport Pheasant Farm is having an open house at their Hazen Road location in Hackettstown. New Jersey Fish and Wildlife will be opening the doors of the Pheasant farm for tours on Saturday October 25, 2014 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Lead the bird!
Lead the bird!
Mark's aim was dead on.
Mark’s aim was dead on.
The Paulinskill River, Trout Fishing

May Trout Rundown

It’s been a tough trout season for NJ anglers this year. After the long winter which kept the rivers cold throughout April & the Furunculosis outbreak at the NJ fish hatchery, we weren’t sure if there would be any season at all.   This year only Rainbow & Brown trout were stocked in our local rivers & in much less numbers. Both species of trout are typically less tolerant of cold water than their cousins the Brook Trout.   Over the past two weeks, the river temps have been slowly rising & the fishing has turned on.   On May 10th, the air temps rose into the 80’s and the weather was predicted to be foggy with showers all day changing into thunderstorms in the evening & night.   These are my favorite types of spring fishing days.   Trout, like all fish, will tend to be more aggressive before a large weather system.  The fog & cloudiness also help with a stealthy approach because you will not project a shadow.   Being a spin fisherman as opposed to a fly fisherman, you need any help you can get on our local rivers.

Holding a Paulinskill Rainbow.
Holding a Paulinskill Rainbow.

The plan was to explore some new spots on the Upper Paulinskil that I found using Google Maps.   I looked for bridges over the river and areas close to the Sussex Branch Hiking Trail where the river was accessible.   After trying 3 spots which did not pan out, the 4th location had a large bend in the river caused by a massive beaver dam.   In the middle of the bend there was a deep hole between 4-5 feet deep.   This type of river structure almost always holds fish and sometimes a true trophy will be at the bottom of the hole.   Using a small blue & white spinner, I managed two stockie bows on the edges of the bend. I fished the deeper section with spinners, jigs and a sinking rapala but no takers.   The action slowed & some thunderstorms rolled in, so I moved on.   The rest of the spots yielded no fish but looked promising for future trips.

Paulinskill Rainbow
Paulinskill Rainbow

After dodging some more thunderstorms, I ended the day at the Musconetcong River near a spot which I was told always holds fish.   As the sun dropped, the spinner was no longer useful so I switched to a black & pink trout magnet jig.     I managed 2 more trout in the evening and missed a few others.

Big Flatbrook Rainbow taken on the fly.
Big Flatbrook Rainbow taken by Chris on the fly.

Total count: 4 rainbow trout, 1 smallmouth, 1 largemouth and a few small sunfish.   So far, the best day of trout fishing I have had this spring in NJ and hopefully it will continue through the month.

Tight Lines,

Mark Beardmore

Frog hangs out in a spring.
Frog hangs out in a spring.