South Branch Raritan River and Ken Lockwood Gorge

The South Branch of the Raritan River flows 51 miles from Budd Lake to its meeting with the North Branch where Hillsborough, Branchburg and Bridgewater townships meet, and it's really two rivers. North of High Bridge it's one of New Jersey's best wild and native trout streams, with wild browns, wild rainbows and native brook trout, including the famous catch-and-release Ken Lockwood Gorge. South of High Bridge it's a stocked trout fishery from fall through spring and a resilient smallmouth bass river in summer.

When to fish

• Spring: the main stocking season and some fantastic fishing. The South Branch is one of the major streams stocked weekly.
• Fall and winter: the fall stocking carries the river through to the next spring.
• Summer: smallmouth bass below High Bridge, once the water is too warm for trout.

Where to fish

• Ken Lockwood Gorge: catch-and-release water with both wild and stocked trout; expect crowds.
• Upper river near Budd Lake and Long Valley: the best native brook trout water, especially around the Long Valley bridge and where Electric Brook comes in.
• High Bridge, Califon and Stanton Station: smallmouth bass. Most run 8 or 9 inches, with the occasional big one.

How to fish it

The trout here see a lot of anglers and are selective. Caddis is the main hatch, and hatches are short because the water warms quickly. The South Branch holds more wild browns than the Musconetcong; wild fish show more orange in the tail and adipose fin than stocked ones.

Getting there

The state stocks from the mill dam 200 feet above Schooley's Mountain Road (Route 517) in Long Valley all the way to the North Branch. The river lies wholly or partly within the Brook Trout Conservation Zone, where every brook trout must be released, and the Gorge is catch-and-release only. Check the current trout regulations before you go.