Spring trout stocking update from the Chief

[hammer4reel]

[Bonefreak]

I liked the past 2 years early big dumps and catch and release. Some early heavy wet storms spread out the big dumps and I caught fish miles from the truck dump areas all the way into late spring.  The 5 o’clock elbow to elbow in the dump hole for your quick limit is dumb…like the pheasant dump stocking program that prompts the “assholing” to come out as poetically coined by @JHbowhunter

any rules like pre season closures and in-season closures limits peoples freedom to go fishin…I said it in the Sunday gun post…we just made it thru a god damn global pandemic…we cud all be gone tomorrow….& we may even be in WWIII w Russia China n N Korea soon enough w nukes fricken flying….let people fish whenever the F they want to!!!
 

Director Golden mentioned it in the new Digest ….I did not see that he is guna do a survey…but I hope they do and I hope they listen to the majority of their constituents 

Btw….scrolling thru the Digest i saw the fish biologists all masked up for their pics….did they really have to use masked up photos in our Digest that’s promoting being in the outdoors …socially distanced of course!!!  SMH. Just thought it was not needed to still be fear mongering the Covid thing in the Digest….I’m sure orders came from up top by Capt. Horsetooth to make sure photos used had to be masked up… @BucksnbowsChief Crouse have any insight about using masked up pics in Digest??
 

 

[Bucksnbows]

4 hours ago, Bonefreak said:

I liked the past 2 years early big dumps and catch and release. Some early heavy wet storms spread out the big dumps and I caught fish miles from the truck dump areas all the way into late spring.  The 5 o’clock elbow to elbow in the dump hole for your quick limit is dumb…like the pheasant dump stocking program that prompts the “assholing” to come out as poetically coined by @JHbowhunter

any rules like pre season closures and in-season closures limits peoples freedom to go fishin…I said it in the Sunday gun post…we just made it thru a god damn global pandemic…we cud all be gone tomorrow….& we may even be in WWIII w Russia China n N Korea soon enough w nukes fricken flying….let people fish whenever the F they want to!!!
 

Director Golden mentioned it in the new Digest ….I did not see that he is guna do a survey…but I hope they do and I hope they listen to the majority of their constituents 

Btw….scrolling thru the Digest i saw the fish biologists all masked up for their pics….did they really have to use masked up photos in our Digest that’s promoting being in the outdoors …socially distanced of course!!!  SMH. Just thought it was not needed to still be fear mongering the Covid thing in the Digest….I’m sure orders came from up top by Capt. Horsetooth to make sure photos used had to be masked up… @BucksnbowsChief Crouse have any insight about using masked up pics in Digest??
 

 

The masks at any time over the last two years would have been mandated to all NJDEP employees, not just Division employees. They had to follow marching orders just like we all do one way or the other. Also, any pix used are likely 1-2 years old. So likely in the heart of the pandemic. 

[Bonefreak]

12 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

The masks at any time over the last two years would have been mandated to all NJDEP employees, not just Division employees. They had to follow marching orders just like we all do one way or the other. Also, any pix used are likely 1-2 years old. So likely in the heart of the pandemic. 

Yep. Figured as much. Probably shud have dug into some archive pics. Lol

[Bucksnbows]

13 hours ago, Bonefreak said:

Yep. Figured as much. Probably shud have dug into some archive pics. Lol

I spend many days in the field with my river restoration work with a combination of feds like USFWS and NRCS along with Division biologists, and they often must mask even outdoors. I don’t and they are all fine with that, but there have been many times the last two years they have had to wear a mask while working.  
 

Feels like the insanity is nearing an end. Fewer and fewer are wearing them in public as cases plunge nationwide. 

[hammer4reel]

11 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

  
 

Feels like the insanity is nearing an end. Fewer and fewer are wearing them in public as cases plunge nationwide. 

I’m doing a small job at an ENGLISH owned data center .

While we are near no one , and engineers there are near no one , it’s 100% masks required even in the parking lot .

we were told its not so much to stop the spread of Covid as it is the required sanitization of the facility  if someone tests positive .

.

hopefully these places give up on that , but it all comes down to $$$$ not actual peoples health .

 

 

.

[Dave B.]

On 2/19/2022 at 5:34 PM, Kype said:

when will float stocking come back? i would volunteer my time to do that. 

As BucksNBows said, no volunteers allowed to work with any Div. personnel yet, which means not only no float stocking by those who have done so in the past, but also no WCC volunteers riding along in the trucks helping the staff get the fish from the tanks into the water.

 All of this is the result of orders from the DEP commissioner who, as most of you know, serves at the pleasure of the sitting governor so we know where his/her orders come from. Same reason we had no bear season this past fall/winter. Personally I'm upset about it as this would have been my 15th year floating various stream sections.

 With regards to the topic of the 5 PM stocking days opener, I'd at least like to see it go back to the old agenda of opening at 5AM the day after stocking. At least give the fish one overnight to spread out since they do tend to move far more during the low light periods.

[chenrossi]

1 hour ago, Dave B. said:

As BucksNBows said, no volunteers allowed to work with any Div. personnel yet, which means not only no float stocking by those who have done so in the past, but also no WCC volunteers riding along in the trucks helping the staff get the fish from the tanks into the water.

 All of this is the result of orders from the DEP commissioner who, as most of you know, serves at the pleasure of the sitting governor so we know where his/her orders come from. Same reason we had no bear season this past fall/winter. Personally I'm upset about it as this would have been my 15th year floating various stream sections.

 With regards to the topic of the 5 PM stocking days opener, I'd at least like to see it go back to the old agenda of opening at 5AM the day after stocking. At least give the fish one overnight to spread out since they do tend to move far more during the low light periods.

Is that true? How would TAK youth hunt work then when they're in contact with a bunch of volunteers and that's gone on the past two years in light of covid?? 

Edited March 4, 2022 by chenrossi

[mazzgolf]

On 2/20/2022 at 3:09 PM, Bonefreak said:

we may even be in WWIII w Russia China n N Korea soon enough w nukes fricken flying….let people fish whenever the F they want to!!!

some morbid humor:

[SPEARFISH]

On 2/19/2022 at 2:08 PM, hammer4reel said:

I like the new way 

fish were more spread out and less crowds on the water than on known stocking days 

The trout looked like a school of bunker at some of the holes I fished.  Caught 100+ many times.  If they spread them out more I might like it, but they weren't spread out where I go.  i like the old way.  Also gives guys that work a chance before all the non workers clean them out.

[Bucksnbows]

7 hours ago, chenrossi said:

Is that true? How would TAK youth hunt work then when they're in contact with a bunch of volunteers and that's gone on the past two years in light of covid?? 

It’s 100% true. Shawn shared that with me as well. I have helped drive the transfer truck with WCC volunteers on the Musky for at least 15 years now. Probably more. This is our third season not being able to help stock that river. We go where the big stocking trucks cannot go. 

[Jerzguy2]

""With regards to the topic of the 5 PM stocking days opener, I'd at least like to see it go back to the old agenda of opening at 5AM the day after stocking. At least give the fish one overnight to spread out since they do tend to move far more during the low light periods.""

 

Refresh my memory, when was that ? I don't remember it being that way for the last 50 years.  It's sad that volunteers are not able to help, as this spreading out of the fish really makes for quite a better fishing experience.

I stopped by a bridge stocking point  on the Musky last spring, just to see if maybe they had stocked. It was during the period of unannounced stocking days  after the opening day.  15 cars, along with a couple from PA, all guys over 60 and it looked like the old days with guys in the middle of the river cast toward the guys at the bank !  I couldn't believe it, didn't even think about taking my rod out, drove home to cut my lawn !  How did guys from PA know they would dump fish in that day?

[TDietz]

1 hour ago, Jerzguy2 said:

""With regards to the topic of the 5 PM stocking days opener, I'd at least like to see it go back to the old agenda of opening at 5AM the day after stocking. At least give the fish one overnight to spread out since they do tend to move far more during the low light periods.""

 

Refresh my memory, when was that ? I don't remember it being that way for the last 50 years.  It's sad that volunteers are not able to help, as this spreading out of the fish really makes for quite a better fishing experience.

I stopped by a bridge stocking point  on the Musky last spring, just to see if maybe they had stocked. It was during the period of unannounced stocking days  after the opening day.  15 cars, along with a couple from PA, all guys over 60 and it looked like the old days with guys in the middle of the river cast toward the guys at the bank !  I couldn't believe it, didn't even think about taking my rod out, drove home to cut my lawn !  How did guys from PA know they would dump fish in that day?

I remember it being that way in the 60's and early 70's.........no fishing until 5am........not sure when they went to 5pm on stocking days.

 

I always cringe when they stock during raging flood stage levels......or just the opposite when levels are so low they're basically stuck in the hole where they're released......I know, that's how government works

[Dave B.]

17 hours ago, TDietz said:

I remember it being that way in the 60's and early 70's.........no fishing until 5am........not sure when they went to 5pm on stocking days.

 

I always cringe when they stock during raging flood stage levels......or just the opposite when levels are so low they're basically stuck in the hole where they're released......I know, that's how government works

Yup, I clearly remember fishing with my Dad as a kid and on through out my teens year in the '60s to mid 70's having to wait for 5:00AM the following day. We very often hit the Musky on Sat mornings for just that reason as it had just been stocked the previous day on Fri.

It was also during those years that both the KLG and the BFB fly stretch would re-open to all tackle general regs on Dec 1.

[OldPiney Woods]

On 3/4/2022 at 9:16 AM, TDietz said:

I remember it being that way in the 60's and early 70's.........no fishing until 5am........not sure when they went to 5pm on stocking days.

 

I always cringe when they stock during raging flood stage levels......or just the opposite when levels are so low they're basically stuck in the hole where they're released......I know, that's how government works

The 5 pm starting time was definitely in effect in 1974. I distinctly remember fishing one of my local streams every week during the stocking period when it opened at 5 pm that year. That may have been the first year of the change.