Pequest River

The Pequest River runs 35.7 miles from Stickles Pond near Newton to the Delaware River at Belvidere, fed by springs and brooks along the way. Its valley near Oxford is home to the state's Pequest Trout Hatchery, which raises every rainbow trout stocked in New Jersey, and the river is one of the state's major trout streams. Much of the river flows over a limestone aquifer, which keeps it cool in summer and ice-free in winter.

When to fish

• Spring: the Pequest is one of the major streams stocked weekly through the spring season.
• Winter: the hatchery's well water warms the river near the TCA, and some of the biggest trout are caught in winter.
• Summer: springs keep the water cooler than other rivers nearby, and smallmouth bass fishing is good down at Belvidere.

Where to fish

• The Pequest Trout Conservation Area: about 1.4 miles from the railroad bridge above the hatchery access road down to the Route 625 (Pequest Furnace Road) bridge, with parking in the hatchery's lot. This stretch runs coolest in summer.
• Downstream to Belvidere: rockier, deeper water all the way to the Delaware.
• Below the Belvidere dam: the short run to the Delaware has produced wild brown trout that push up from the big river.
• Upstream of the TCA: smaller, meadow-type water.

How to fish it

The TCA has its own seasonal rules, with artificial lures only for much of the year; outside it, general trout rules apply. Deeper runs downstream suit nymphing and bass lures.

Getting there

Park in the Pequest Trout Hatchery lot for the TCA; the hatchery's main entrance is on Route 46 between Great Meadows and Buttzville, and its Natural Resource Education Center is open to visitors. The river is stocked from Pequest Road in Green Township to the Delaware, and on spring stocking days it's closed to fishing from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Trout can't be used as bait anywhere in the Pequest River drainage. The Pequest lies wholly or partly within the Brook Trout Conservation Zone, where every brook trout must be released. Check the current trout regulations before you go.