Fishing Report 6/7/22

Paulinskill River: 163 CFS

Flat Brook: 78 CFS, 64°

FSB Raritan River: 140 CFS

Last week’s rain brought our local freestones way up, causing floods on the Raritan. Most of our rivers looked like chocolate milk for 24 hours but once the high water began to subside, we saw great fishing all over the state. Clients saw great fishing from Thursday through Sunday on nymphs and even some dries as the water cleaned up. The fish have been all over the classic Mayfly nymph imitations, especially those with orange or yellow hotspots. When the water is stained, focus on large flies with contrasting colors. We saw prolific hatches of Sulphurs, small BWOs, brown caddis, Yellow Sallies, and even some larger stoneflies. Focus on the subsurface bite in the morning and seek those hatches in the evenings if you can get out.

Now that the water has returned to normal levels, we should see the dry fly bite pick back up. Tonight’s rain may push those bugs back down momentarily but the freestones are blowing up as I type this report. Focus on larger nymphs and dark streamers post-rain, the dry bite will come back soon.

Our wild trout streams have also been fishing well. I have been throwing bushy, lightly colored dries (size 8-12) with a small perdigon hung off the back with a short section of 6x flourocarbon. You will be rewarded with aggressive brookies and browns if you can find them.

Bottom line: The constant rain should keep rivers higher and cooler than usual for this time of year so get out and take advantage of it. These are some of the best weeks of the year to get a trophy rainbow on a dry fly, so hit the river right at sunset to find a hatch. Anglers fishing streamers will also begin seeing smallies in the warmer rivers.

Make sure you are checking water temps as the summer goes on. If the thermometer reads higher than 68-69, seek cooler water.

Tight lines!