Friday, July 12, 2013

Help Wanted: Seeking New Home Waters


Help Wanted: Fly fishing rabbi seeks new home waters near central New Jersey. Beautiful stream a must. Large trout preferred. Harmony and peace desired.

On July 1st, my family and I moved to central New Jersey as I now have the honor and blessing of serving as the rabbi of Temple B’nai Shalom in East Brunswick. When the boxes arrived at our new home, we began to unpack and get to know the area. I quickly became enamored with East Brunswick as I found a great Jewish deli, a good bagel shop and a good dry cleaner. In one moving box, I discovered my green fly-fishing bag, filled with vest, net, reels and flies. When I saw the fishing gear, I knew that there was one other place that I would need to find near East Brunswick: new home waters.
In Connecticut, my home waters were close enough that I could get there in about an hour; far enough away to feel that you have left your everyday life but near enough so that you can cast a fly on the spur of the moment. The ideal home waters are set in a place far from the sounds of the highway, so that we only hear water flowing over rocks and the breeze among the leaves. Home waters are year round cold-flowing streams, where fish survive the hot summer and reproduce and flourish. And the ideal river is not too crowded, so that we can stand in the stream, look around, and see only the beauty of our world. The ideal home waters are a Garden of Eden, paradise, a place of perfect natural beauty and large trout.

Of course, there is no perfect stream, no Garden of Eden for trout (although I came pretty close to finding one when hooking a five pound rainbow on a secluded river in Argentina). Yet my home waters in Connecticut, and before that on Long Island, felt like a small slice of paradise. The Farmington River in CT was not terribly secluded but ran cold all year long, so that sometimes in July I would shiver under my waders. In heart of suburban Long Island, the Connetquot River was an oasis of peace, located in a beautiful state park. I always felt renewed on the one-mile hike to the stream, past the lake and through the woods.

I now live in my home in East Brunswick. I have found my spiritual home at Temple B’nai Shalom. All I need are home waters, a fly-fishing home, a place to soak in the beauty of nature, to commune with the trout and to find peace and harmony.
I have heard rumblings about the trout streams in North West, NJ. There is a well-known and famous gorge with a river flowing through it not too far as well. I am sure there are others. If you know of any good trout streams somewhat near East Brunswick, NJ, I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment on this blog post.

Shalom and Tight Lines,
The Fly Fishing Rabbi

9 comments:

KUSH said...

The ken lockwood gorge is a very spiritual place to fish for trout. Get the book Fly Fishing New jersey trout streams. The get the book fly fihing guide to the upper deleware. Head over to tightlines fly shop in Parsippany NJ.

Rabbi Eric Eisenkramer said...

Thanks Kush, looking forward to checking it out!

Unknown said...

Try Croton Falls Reservoir (Croton Falls NY) at boating area #20 on West Shore road with a slip bobber and sawbelly from late June to late July. Set the bait at about 14 feet below the slip bobber. You will catch 6 to 11 pound Brown trout almost every 2nd trip and sometimes several a day especially if the water is calm on a sunny day. At boating area #20 the water is deep enough near shore to fish without a boat.

Journeyman1959 said...

Go to the fly fishing show in somerset nj the weekend of January 24 th and immerse yourself in the experience! I live in upstate ny and make my pilgrimage each January. Somebody there holds the answer.

Journeyman1959 said...

Go to the fly fishing show in somerset nj the weekend of January 24th. Someone there will have your answer. It's all about fly fishing, I make the pilgrimage each year. It is just what a fisherman needs in the middle of winter.

Anonymous said...

Rabbi, what are you doing? Come out here to Washington/Oregon. The great Northwest!

Anonymous said...

Come to the Mountians of Western North Carolina we have some lovely streams and a few of them are a bit off the beaten path Four wheel drive truck and an hour hike with no pesky people asking you how the fish are biting!

Anonymous said...

Planning my last fly fishing trip with Ed. He is 78, becoming weak and very forgetful. Every year for 35 years we fished either in Northern California or Wyoming. He can no longer be trusted to take his medicine and I have had to carry him across rivers. By the way he casts like he dances, dreadfully. But no one tells better fishing stories or stories about his single life better than Ed. No matter how many times he repeated them. Ed needed more than one fishing buddy because no one wants fish as much as him. The fist time my wife met him he brought a rifle to Bar B Q and got two rabbits for the grill. For our last float we plan to float the upper Sac in Northern Cal. I will miss hearing Ed yell "Hog On."

Ben said...

NJ has beautiful trout streams.