42,000 Trout for The Lower Raritan ?

[Mink]

I heard the State was going to release 42,000 fingerling Rainbows in the Lower Rarity down by Piscataway! What chance do these fish have of survival ?? 

[rgw]

I say mink will eat around 30000, birds 10000, fish 1995

[Mink]

So many places they could have released them where they would have had a real good chance to survive and grow. Here they are basically just disposing of them!

[MRMCR]

Ya never know.......

[JHbowhunter]

Those fish better swim waaaay north...

[rgw]

you would think they would release them in a cold lake

[stratocaster]

I heard the State was going to release 42,000 fingerling Rainbows in the Lower Rarity down by Piscataway! What chance do these fish have of survival ?? 

I was going to comment on this last week but I felt no one else was interested in it.  Good thing that some others are interested as well.  They have no chance of surviving and wasted these fish. This is another reason not to buy a trout stamp or license in the future and not to trust the DFW to work for the interest of fisherman and hunters. 

 

The DFW says it was to "make room"  for next springs pod of trout.  Complete bull shoot all around.  Why did they release them in a place they had no chance of surviving past June 30?  Why didn't they save them for the fall stocking or just keep them for next spring and increase the allocation?  The news release on this is so full of inaccuracies it is truly laughable. They basically wasted these fish that were paid for by our trout stamps by throwing them into water that will heat up to 80 degrees in summer.  That part of the Raritan does not have any habitat suitable for trout and the trout will be dead in a few weeks. If we are to believe DFW, then this section of river is now classified as trout maintenance waters?  Really????

 

Per the news release

 "Anglers fishing the lower Raritan River continue to report occasional catches of Brown Trout that were stocked in the lower Raritan in the spring of 2014 (a one-time stocking related to the fish disease outbreak in the hatchery). It is anticipated that the recently stocked Rainbow Trout fingerlings will also find suitable habitat, adapt to their new surroundings, and provide recreation as they grow larger."  

 

If anyone on this site has actually caught a brown trout in the  Riverside park secton of the raritan, please post a picture of the fish with the sign of the park in the backgground.   

 

The trout could have been stocked in the Musky or the Black River or Pequest or the South Branch, any stream that they could have survived and thrived. So many other places they could have been stocked than that polluted section of river. They could have given them to the Musky hatchery to raise and stock in the fall/winter.

 

This is a great example of the  total mismanagement of the $$ we spend on licenses and stamps in addition to stocking sublegal fish by DFW.  It is illegal to keep these fish if you catch them because they are under the 9 inch limit.  At $1.05 each to buy them from a hatchery, the DFW basically burned $42.000.00  

 

The biologists who authorized this should be terminated immediately if they did indeed sign off on this action and I'm sure they had to approve it.

 

 Terrible waste of the resource at the Pequest hatchery.  Imagine if they did this with pheasants and stocked the surplus pheasant chicks in Whittingham in the summer anticipating they would find suitable habitat and grow into adult pheasants.   A complete joke that should piss a lot of trout fisherman off. 

[Mink]

This is a tuff one for me, 99% of the time I'll  stand with the DFW! I would love to hear their explanation on this! 

[JHbowhunter]

Better to have put into RV or Merrill Creek to feed the lake trout than to waste them like this.

[1957Buck]

 Stratocaster I agree with you 100% everything you stated is common sense. 

My Questions are will the NJDFAG ever reply with a reason for their actions but for wishful thinking?

Where are all the so-called Trout Conservation Groups - Associations - Federations that Tout where looking out for you and except Dues and funding. were they involved? will they protest this? or at least try to justify it?  Maybe our involved member can explain it,  

[stratocaster]

 Stratocaster I agree with you 100% everything you stated is common sense. 

My Questions are will the NJDFAG ever reply with a reason for their actions but for wishful thinking?

Where are all the so-called Trout Conservation Groups - Associations - Federations that Tout where looking out for you and except Dues and funding. were they involved? will they protest this? or at least try to justify it?  Maybe our involved member can explain it,  

I wish I had an answer for you.  I believe the DFW and biologists are free to make any decision they want on something like this without any input or accountability from the people who actually pay for the trout ( licensed trout fishermen).    Just a waste of a resource. 

[bill43]

Are they trying to establish a sea run trout fishery like they tried to do in the manasquan. When that program was going they used to dump about 20k fingerlings in lower manasquan. It was done in the fall not the spring. Will the trout have access to tidal water where they were dumped?

 

Sent from my LG-H820 using Tapatalk

[stratocaster]

Are they trying to establish a sea run trout fishery like they tried to do in the manasquan. When that program was going they used to dump about 20k fingerlings in lower manasquan. It was done in the fall not the spring. Will the trout have access to tidal water where they were dumped?

 

Sent from my LG-H820 using Tapatalk

I highly doubt it. Look at google earth for riverside park and you'll how far from the estuary at raritan bay it is.  So much pollution in the stretch from New Brunswick to the bay they would never make it. 

[Bucksnbows]

 Stratocaster I agree with you 100% everything you stated is common sense. 

My Questions are will the NJDFAG ever reply with a reason for their actions but for wishful thinking?

Where are all the so-called Trout Conservation Groups - Associations - Federations that Tout where looking out for you and except Dues and funding. were they involved? will they protest this? or at least try to justify it?  Maybe our involved member can explain it,  

 

FYI, organizations like the one I am heavily involved with, Trout Unlimited, have little or nothing to do with stocked trout.  In fact, stocked trout cause us far more problems than anything else as they compete with native and wild trout.  So you won't hear TU screaming about stocking surplus trout in non trout water.  Our mission is to protect and restore North America's coldwater resources for trout and salmon.  That said, only Montana has ever been able to kick the stocking habit.  NJ won't in my lifetime because our rivers simply can't provide good enough wild trout fishing given the impairments to our water quality and trout habitat.  So we live with a combination of wild native (brookies), wild invasive (browns and rainbows), and stocked trout (all 3 species) in our waters in NJ. 

 

Funny thing is that the Pequest hatchery often overproduces trout in order to hit their goal, and those surplus fish are most often released into trout maintenance ™ waters like the Musky.  Not sure why they released these into the lower Raritan, but anyone complaining about how the Division "wasted my stamp dollars" doesn't understand that the Pequest hatchery was built to raise 350,000 trout annually.  But the hatchery routinely raises over 600,000 trout each year.  Some years' spawning are better than other years, so they anticipate extra fish and release them accordingly including at times into the Hackettstown warmwater hatchery to feed the muskies and other warmwater fish.  Like I said, not sure why these went to the Raritan versus other TM waters, but with over 600,000 trout raised and stocked each year, you are more than getting your money's worth from your trout stamp.     

Edited June 3, 2017 by Bucksnbows

[1957Buck]

Bucknbows thanks for the reply that is what I was fishing for

 

Bill43 As far the Manasquan Sea run Browns go they are stocked at its headwaters Brackish. and not so Fingerling as The AHs try catching them for Bait.

It is probably one of The Most Kept Secrets as those fishing for the returns keep it all to them selfs. Some have been caught in the inlet and river proper. it is a fall fishery I was invited to join in a Fly fishing trip along a section of the Manasquan I will just Say  Between Hospital RD and The GSP.  It was Catch and Release. This took place like 7 years ago Have not been able to go again. In my Kayak days, we would float from The Golf course just east of RT 9 to Lightning Jacks for the take out The Dam and Strainers made it an adventure add the Muddy Bottom and banks made for hard going. But Not as Bad as The Toms River never did do the whole river.

But from what I am told The Sea run Browns are there and Healthy in The Manasquan but you will pay your dues.