Position
40°41.5′N 74°38.8′W
The North Branch of the Raritan River runs rocky from its source in Mendham down to where it meets the South Branch at the corner of Hillsborough, Branchburg and Bridgewater townships. It's a quieter alternative to the busy South Branch: stocked with rainbows, home to wild brown trout from top to bottom, and, as one local guide puts it, "full of smallmouths."
When to fish
- Spring: trout stocking. For 2026 the stocked water was extended about 2 miles upstream to the Ravine Lake Dam in Natirar Park.
- Summer: smallmouth bass. The North Branch grows little weed in summer, unlike the South Branch.
- Fall and winter: fall-stocked and wild trout, though big floods can wash stocked fish far downriver.
Where to fish
- Natirar County Park (Peapack-Gladstone): water cools below the Ravine Lake dam and holds a few wild browns and smallmouth. Spring-fed Peapack Brook, a wild brown trout nursery, joins just downstream.
- Around Bedminster (below Routes 202/206): resident wild browns to about 18 inches.
- Below the Lamington River confluence to Route 28: better for smallmouth, with browns in the holes.
How to fish it
Wild browns are here from the headwaters to the confluence but are hard to find; work the holes and deeper runs. Smallmouth run to 3 or 4 pounds. Largemouth are rare because of the rocky bottom.
Getting there
Trout are stocked from Natirar County Park down to the South Branch, and the river is closed on spring stocking days. Check the current trout regulations before you go.
From the water
Latest reports
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No fishing reports have been published for North Branch Raritan River yet.
Field guide
What you can catch
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