New Jersey fishing - Not just a Shore Thing

[Johnsfolly]

We have been doing a lot of traveling to fish NJ over the last couple of years. Almost all of that was to fish the saltwater. NJ is right above the line where there are possibilities of catching species that you will find further north than we can catch here in Maryland. This year we have been focused more on the freshwater species that the state has to offer. I got off early from work on Monday and headed with my daughter with hopes of possible lifers for us both. The primary target was to get her an eyetail bowfin then we both would target oriental weatherfish. The oriental weatherfish is an invasive loach found in a few of the NJ rivers in the central part of the state. I was in contact with a guy from INAT that gave us a spot to try for the bowfin and was willing to meet us and guides us to possible weatherfish near his home.

As I mentioned Livie has not caught either of the bowfin species and wanted to catch one. The other motivation was that she wanted her 200th different fish species caught to be something else than a small silvery minnow 🙄. We stopped at a public lake and caught a bunch of small sunfish to use as cut bait. I figured that the closer that we got to sunset the better our chances would be for bowfin success. We got to the spot around 4:45. I was thinking from Google maps that we could walk in along the bank and get to some open water.  The 6-8 foot tall phragmites along the banks and the No Trespassing signs made us change course and opted to fish from the bridge.  It was still going to be pretty tight quarters due to the vegetation. 

We put out two lines at first with one bait in the channel and the other at the top of an eddy on the left. It wasn't more than 5 mins when the left bait got a hit then went slack. As Livie picked up the rod the line moved into the channel. She tried to set the hook but had the fish on for just a few seconds. We refreshed that bait and reset both rods with one right next to the culvert and the other back in that same eddy. Again not long and a fish bit the bait by the culvert and pulled out line from the baitrunning reel. She got a good hook set and soon her first bowfin was in the net!

She could not have been happier landing her 200th fish. In the closeup photo you can see a little green coloration in the mouth. Would have been neat to have caught this guy back in the spring when he was in his breeding coloration. 

After untangling the lines and releasing the fish, we decided on fishing a single line and it was now dad's turn😉. Again not long and a fish hit the cutbait. I set the hook but lost the fish. Another bait and I put it right in the channel. Fish On! and it headed right into the vegetation. I was able to get the fish out of the weeds and into the net. It wasn't the bowfin that I expected but a snakehead!

At this point we had time to clean up and have some dinner before the two hour drive further north to meet with Mark at 9:30. Sunday Night Mark scouted and found two holes on the creek near his place that had weatherfish. The idea was to fish the one spot, hopefully catch one and then move to the second spot to catch another. That way both of us could catch one. Mark had also caught one of the smallest flathead catfish Sunday night and he was hoping that it was still in the area. We never did see that catfish, but saw lots of tessellated darters and more than a couple of eels. Mark spotted the first weather fish, but it disappeared and we didn't see it again. Livie later found one near that same spot. Then she saw another one. I could hardly see the fish in the rocks but was able to get a bait in front of it and soon it was in the bag. 😁 Everytime I tried for a photo the fish would turn. I was happy with the photos that I could get.

Livie still saw another one and soon she had that fish hooked and into Mark's net. As I got mine out of the photo bag and photos in the water, her fish was no longer in the net. Mark and I were defeated since we didn't have a photo and also perplexed on how it escaped. Turned out that his net has a hole up one side of it that the fish found and escaped. Livie had not moved from her spot in the creek and soon found another one. This one gave us lots of photo ops.

It was only 10:20 and Mark knew a spot that we should be able to find shield darters. These guys live in fast flowing water with rocky/gravel bottoms. We spent nearly two hours trying to get a shield darter or one of the many longnose dace that we saw. We either could not get the baits positioned right, spooked them with the lights, they didn't like our baits.... The only fish that we caught was the one white sucker that I spent 15 mins trying to catch since I was certain it was a big longnose dace🙄.

All in all a great night even without catching many fish. We will have to go back since there are still a lot of freshwater and saltwater targets up that way.

[Quillback]

Weatherfish - Yet another species I have never heard of.  

Kudos on being able to get a bowfin!  

 

[FishnDave]

Great job on the loaches, bowfin, and snakehead!! What a night! 😃

[bfishn]

I really enjoyed this trip report. Attaboy!

Loaches are my favorite aquaria species. A friend once had a big tank with 15-20 big ones. Cool fish. Lore has it that weatherfish react strongly to... weather... If your planning included that factor, double attaboy. 

I also appreciate your variety of tackle and methods. You seem equally at home with artificials on a  micro rig or cut bait on a baitrunner. Whatever seems like the better-odds approach. That's me too. Unlike some, that will remain anonymous, who feel it necessary to only fish on one foot in a bowling-release position, using an artificial bug on an artificial willow rod. You know who you are. 😎

I 

[Ham]

I’m a circle hook guy for bowfin if using cutbait. It’s SUPER difficult for me not to set the hook, but if you let the circle hook do it’s thing, really good hook up ratio. 

[netboy]

It amazes me how well a circle hook works. We used to use them offshore for snapper and grouper and the hookup ratio was great. I wonder who ever figured that out.  

[Johnsfolly]

8 hours ago, Ham said:

I’m a circle hook guy for bowfin if using cutbait. It’s SUPER difficult for me not to set the hook, but if you let the circle hook do it’s thing, really good hook up ratio. 

8 minutes ago, netboy said:

It amazes me how well a circle hook works. We used to use them offshore for snapper and grouper and the hookup ratio was great. I wonder who ever figured that out.  

We use them when we fish the saltwater since the striper regs require them. I didn't have any circle hooks in the tackle bag that I took with us since it was my typical freshwater gear.

[Terrierman]

On 8/28/2024 at 4:04 PM, Johnsfolly said:

We have been doing a lot of traveling to fish NJ over the last couple of years. Almost all of that was to fish the saltwater. NJ is right above the line where there are possibilities of catching species that you will find further north than we can catch here in Maryland. This year we have been focused more on the freshwater species that the state has to offer. I got off early from work on Monday and headed with my daughter with hopes of possible lifers for us both. The primary target was to get her an eyetail bowfin then we both would target oriental weatherfish. The oriental weatherfish is an invasive loach found in a few of the NJ rivers in the central part of the state. I was in contact with a guy from INAT that gave us a spot to try for the bowfin and was willing to meet us and guides us to possible weatherfish near his home.

As I mentioned Livie has not caught either of the bowfin species and wanted to catch one. The other motivation was that she wanted her 200th different fish species caught to be something else than a small silvery minnow 🙄. We stopped at a public lake and caught a bunch of small sunfish to use as cut bait. I figured that the closer that we got to sunset the better our chances would be for bowfin success. We got to the spot around 4:45. I was thinking from Google maps that we could walk in along the bank and get to some open water.  The 6-8 foot tall phragmites along the banks and the No Trespassing signs made us change course and opted to fish from the bridge.  It was still going to be pretty tight quarters due to the vegetation. 

We put out two lines at first with one bait in the channel and the other at the top of an eddy on the left. It wasn't more than 5 mins when the left bait got a hit then went slack. As Livie picked up the rod the line moved into the channel. She tried to set the hook but had the fish on for just a few seconds. We refreshed that bait and reset both rods with one right next to the culvert and the other back in that same eddy. Again not long and a fish bit the bait by the culvert and pulled out line from the baitrunning reel. She got a good hook set and soon her first bowfin was in the net!

She could not have been happier landing her 200th fish. In the closeup photo you can see a little green coloration in the mouth. Would have been neat to have caught this guy back in the spring when he was in his breeding coloration. 

After untangling the lines and releasing the fish, we decided on fishing a single line and it was now dad's turn😉. Again not long and a fish hit the cutbait. I set the hook but lost the fish. Another bait and I put it right in the channel. Fish On! and it headed right into the vegetation. I was able to get the fish out of the weeds and into the net. It wasn't the bowfin that I expected but a snakehead!

At this point we had time to clean up and have some dinner before the two hour drive further north to meet with Mark at 9:30. Sunday Night Mark scouted and found two holes on the creek near his place that had weatherfish. The idea was to fish the one spot, hopefully catch one and then move to the second spot to catch another. That way both of us could catch one. Mark had also caught one of the smallest flathead catfish Sunday night and he was hoping that it was still in the area. We never did see that catfish, but saw lots of tessellated darters and more than a couple of eels. Mark spotted the first weather fish, but it disappeared and we didn't see it again. Livie later found one near that same spot. Then she saw another one. I could hardly see the fish in the rocks but was able to get a bait in front of it and soon it was in the bag. 😁 Everytime I tried for a photo the fish would turn. I was happy with the photos that I could get.

Livie still saw another one and soon she had that fish hooked and into Mark's net. As I got mine out of the photo bag and photos in the water, her fish was no longer in the net. Mark and I were defeated since we didn't have a photo and also perplexed on how it escaped. Turned out that his net has a hole up one side of it that the fish found and escaped. Livie had not moved from her spot in the creek and soon found another one. This one gave us lots of photo ops.

It was only 10:20 and Mark knew a spot that we should be able to find shield darters. These guys live in fast flowing water with rocky/gravel bottoms. We spent nearly two hours trying to get a shield darter or one of the many longnose dace that we saw. We either could not get the baits positioned right, spooked them with the lights, they didn't like our baits.... The only fish that we caught was the one white sucker that I spent 15 mins trying to catch since I was certain it was a big longnose dace🙄.

All in all a great night even without catching many fish. We will have to go back since there are still a lot of freshwater and saltwater targets up that way.

You're the best.. Don't tell Ham I said that.

[netboy]

When I look at the design of a circle hook, I wonder how a fish would ever get hooked, but they do. 

[Ham]

14 hours ago, Terrierman said:

You're the best.. Don't tell Ham I said that.

I do ok