My wife and I moved to Cranford, NJ in 2012. The only thing we knew about the Rahway River was that it twists and turns throughout our town and to avoid the north side since it is prone to flooding.

It wasn’t till three years later that I discovered what else the Rahway River had to add. Trout. The NJ Department of Fish and Wildlife stock the river in the spring with over 2,300 Brook, Rainbows and Brown trout. The majority from what I’ve heard are over 10.5 inches giving most anglers a good chance to bring some home for the pan. What I appreciate even more is the stocking schedule that is publicly released at the start of every season. Every Friday the Fish and Wildlife Rangers dump over 900 trout for four consecutive weeks in a row commencing on the 8th of May.

I learned all this in one day. I have been freshwater fishing since I could click the Zebco button on my snoopy pole. I grew up across the street from a glorified storm drain run off lake that held some decent largemouths, behemoth Carp and your everyday Sunfish. When I learned about the opportunity to fish in my backyard again, I couldn’t wait to get my line wet. I got my license online and immediately started to do my research on the river and trout in general.

I don’t know squat about trout. Until this year, I’ve never caught one. I know enough to know that spinners, powerbait and live bait are all solid options. I know enough to be dangerous. I research everything, so naturally I start searching online for how to fish for trout in NJ, and I stumble on this great article that was published in fish and game magazine back in 2010 that informs me just enough to give trout fishing a shot.