Stanton Stretch Yields a Nice One

Nice one, 20 ¾ inches, 3.88 pounds, caught at Stanton, South Branch Raritan River.

Information on Stanton is Published by the State

I caught a nice one, and I might seem to give away my spot, but I’m just pointing to the generality the state already lists online as a fishable stretch with a bridge over it, which it stocks. I do that, because my hope is that you’ve searched Google for fishing at Stanton in the South Branch Raritan River and appreciate a post about a nice one and another I caught, containing information that might be helpful. Otherwise, it wouldn’t rank in Google searches and be read by more people than those who follow my posting articles every week. As it is, a relative few will search for a story on fishing in Stanton, anyway, let alone gain a yield by fishing there.

But for those of you who do find my story, you’re privy to more than information alone. If fishing is about the experience, at least the better writing about it will be, too.

I also happen to really like the concept of naming certain areas of a river and writing about them separately. I did that on Litton’s Fishing Lines and generated some interest that didn’t result in massive depletion of fish stocks.

It was Ayn Rand who said, through her character Howard Roark in the novel Anthem, that she’s grateful to her readers because they give her the opportunity to write. I feel the same way. I couldn’t write as well if I thought I’d reach no one who likes stories about our mutual pursuit.

Beginning Down Below

The South Branch Raritan is a big river with 2210 rainbow trout stocked by the state during October 2025. In addition, South Branch Outfitters usually stocks trout in December, into public stretches of the Califon area, including the notorious “Bubba” brown trout, weighing as many as 12 pounds.

Stanton is only special because of the people who take interest. From Long Valley to the Confluence where the South Branch and North Branch meet, the river has plenty of trout, although north of Lake Solitude is where you can find wild and native ones in addition to stockers.

On Wednesday, December 10th, I began searching the river near the Confluence, seeing that because the river is very low, I might not catch any in the shallow spot I felt interested in. I had fished there last year when the river was low…and didn’t get a hit. Also, a wide shelf of ice existed on Wednesday where I always put my camera bag on a gnarly bunch of roots.

I drove on upstream. I parked, and walked onto a bridge. From there I looked down to see ice covering the next spot I wanted to fish.

Having driven further upstream yet, to Neshanic, I felt determined to ride all the way to Stanton, but first, I checked a stretch of river here. There, a shelf of ice extended from the bank that made wading downstream borderline doable at best. Wasn’t going to try it. I walked my black Labrador Loki, who whined for a walk, then went through Flemington instead of fishing there—headed for Stanton.

My other trout caught on Wednesday didn’t quite measure 15 inches.

Ultralight Action

They’ll hit when the river has a lot of ice on it. The two trout I caught Wednesday came during what amounted to a short stint of about 45 minutes. I had two spots in mind back downstream, but I decided to wait and fish them with Fred when he comes up to visit. Maybe after rain when ice melts, though it’s quite possible the cold weather will remain all winter. Temps on Wednesday ranged from 39 to 43, although with all that ice on the water, that water was cold. No wind made things very nice at Stanton.

As things have been the past three years since I began fishing the South Branch trout with marabou jigs, I’ve used a four-foot, six-inch St. Croix ultralight I’ve inherited from a brother-in-law. I felt very pleased with it in the shallows I fished. Wading mid-river, the stretch allowed me all the casting distance I needed.

My Hisea boot-foot neoprene waders kept me and my feet warm. Though I had minor trouble with just enough water getting into my right boot to wet the socks—while on the Salmon River this past November—none of that water sloshed around, and at Stanton Wednesday, the socks never got wet.

I bought a tube of Aquaseal and some little brushes, so I can tidy up the seams near that boot, if I have more trouble this winter or in the future. I doubt I’ll return to Stanton this season, having other spots in mind. It’s likely I’ll have to wait until the river thaws out in March.

Throughout the range of river stretches I saw on Wednesday, ice cover seemed to foreshadow a long, cold winter ahead.