Spring trout stocking update from the Chief

[Bucksnbows]

On 3/4/2022 at 8:05 AM, 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?

Because many Division employees live in PA and tell their buddies there. I’m always amazed how many PA trout anglers we see in NJ. 

[Jerzguy2]

I guess my old memory is gone, or the fact that until I got my drivers license and car, I had no weekly access to closed streams. My father had no interest in the outdoors, so I had one stream to access during the week, and it had no closure. Standing in a stream waiting for trout was a waste of time to my father. Growing up, they would chase brown trout in brooks and catch them with their hands.

[Zipper]

Keep up the good  work.  And don't call me Chief 

[Reeltight]

18 hours ago, Bucksnbows said:

Because many Division employees live in PA and tell their buddies there. I’m always amazed how many PA trout anglers we see in NJ. 

You see so many pa trout anglers in new jersey because they stock most of their trout pre season then only 2 or 3 in season stockings, sort of how we did it during covid.  In new jersey our bigger rivers get a fresh batch of fish every week for 8  weeks.  The pa rivers get cleaned out fast with the little amount of stockings they do. I was always curios too why they were fishing NJ so much and I asked them. Sure they have much better wild trout fishing but our two month stocking program blows theirs away.

Edited March 6, 2022 by Reeltight

[hammer4reel]

40 minutes ago, Reeltight said:

You see so many pa trout anglers in new jersey because they stock most of their trout pre season then only 2 or 3 in season stockings, sort of how we did it during covid.  In new jersey our bigger rivers get a fresh batch of fish every week for 8  weeks.  The pa rivers get cleaned out fast with the little amount of stockings they do. I was always curios too why they were fishing NJ so much and I asked them. Sure they have much better wild trout fishing but our two month stocking program blows theirs away.

Pa stocks 6 times the amount of fish Nj does . And the quality of their fish is way better .

IMO I get more buying a non resident license there for the money . Than what we get in Nj

the 3-4 stocking they do have incredible amounts of fish over large areas . And great fishing through the season 

[Reeltight]

1 hour ago, hammer4reel said:

Pa stocks 6 times the amount of fish Nj does . And the quality of their fish is way better .

IMO I get more buying a non resident license there for the money . Than what we get in Nj

the 3-4 stocking they do have incredible amounts of fish over large areas . And great fishing through the season 

If that was true you wouldn’t see so many PA plates on the New Jersey rivers and streams. I’ve helped stock the Bushkill multiple times before the season opens and they don’t dump any more fish in then New Jersey does. And they dump them at the bridges and easy access spots just like they do in New Jersey. Maybe you’re going into PA much deeper than I do but the spots within a half an hour over the border that’s what I found. 

[hammer4reel]

35 minutes ago, Reeltight said:

If that was true you wouldn’t see so many PA plates on the New Jersey rivers and streams. I’ve helped stock the Bushkill multiple times before the season opens and they don’t dump any more fish in then New Jersey does. And they dump them at the bridges and easy access spots just like they do in New Jersey. Maybe you’re going into PA much deeper than I do but the spots within a half an hour over the border that’s what I found. 

I fish all along the eastern edge of PA .  

there is no comparison in the fisheries ..

quality of the fish overall is also drastically different .

 

Nj stocks just over 1/2 million fish yearly .Pa stocks 3.2 million plus 

 

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[Bucksnbows]

6 minutes ago, hammer4reel said:

I fish all along the eastern edge of PA .  

there is no comparison in the fisheries ..

quality of the fish overall is also drastically different .

 

Nj stocks just over 1/2 million fish yearly .Pa stocks 3.2 million plus 

 

.

PA is how many times larger than NJ?  Not to mention it has more elevation and fewer people as far as population density. PA has some bad hatcheries. Furunculosis and other diseases run rampant in about half of their hatcheries. They feed a medicated feed to their young trout and release them diseased or not. 
 

PA also continues to stock non native browns over native brook trout, causing significant issues for our wild and native brook trout. 
 

Personally, when I do fish PA, I only fish wild trout waters. And most are wild browns in the rivers I fish. But I’m a wild fish snob, so there’s that. 

[hammer4reel]

16 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

PA is how many times larger than NJ?  Not to mention it has more elevation and fewer people as far as population density. PA has some bad hatcheries. Furunculosis and other diseases run rampant in about half of their hatcheries. They feed a medicated feed to their young trout and release them diseased or not. 
 

PA also continues to stock non native browns over native brook trout, causing significant issues for our wild and native brook trout. 
 

Personally, when I do fish PA, I only fish wild trout waters. And most are wild browns in the rivers I fish. But I’m a wild fish snob, so there’s that. 

I agree , but Pa only  has 25% more total people than Nj .

so while not as dense , there are more people there , and unlike NJ they sell about 10x as many licenses , so there are more people fishing there .

so that’s more than likely why they stock over 6 times what is stocked in NJ.

 

 

saying the quality isn’t as good I do find laughable as the thousands of fish caught there I have seen are WAY nicer than the NJ mutant fish ..

‘I’m sure as the purist you are , you font like the goldens they stock either , but I think the quality of those fish is above most places that also stock them .

(though I’m sure they are much easier targets by birds of prey ) 

‘Both states are based on out and take of stocked fish , except PA dedicates some of those areas and only stock larger fish in them .

‘Those areas are a blast to fish , for those liking to release more fish than creel .

 

 

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[Reeltight]

40 minutes ago, hammer4reel said:

I fish all along the eastern edge of PA .  

there is no comparison in the fisheries ..

quality of the fish overall is also drastically different .

 

Nj stocks just over 1/2 million fish yearly .Pa stocks 3.2 million plus 

 

.

PA stocks those 3 million fish in over 5000 miles of rivers and streams. How many miles of New Jersey rivers get stocked? A couple of hundred? 

[hammer4reel]

20 minutes ago, Reeltight said:

PA stocks those 3 million fish in over 5000 miles of rivers and streams. How many miles of New Jersey rivers get stocked? A couple of hundred? 

Not sure of the mileage , but using your numbers that’s 600 fish per mile of water 

[Reeltight]

21 minutes ago, hammer4reel said:

Not sure of the mileage , but using your numbers that’s 600 fish per mile of water 

The musconetcong is 46 miles long. It gets 53,000 trout. I’d be shocked if even 40 miles is stocked. That’s 1,325 trout per mile. Over double what pa stocks. 

[hammer4reel]

21 minutes ago, Reeltight said:

The musconetcong is 46 miles long. It gets 53,000 trout. I’d be shocked if even 40 miles is stocked. That’s 1,325 trout per mile. Over double what pa stocks. 

So guess you need all fish in one hole to catch them ? 

.

‘but pa has many streams and rivers that aren’t stocked. , so the hombres you want yo use are not accurate either .

spend a few days fishing just across the river , you will find it’s worth. The price of admission .

[Kype]

4 minutes ago, hammer4reel said:

So guess you need all fish in one hole to catch them ? 

.

‘but pa has many streams and rivers that aren’t stocked. , so the hombres you want yo use are not accurate either .

spend a few days fishing just across the river , you will find it’s worth. The price of admission .

i bought my pa license this year. looking forward to exploring new rivers to fish. 

[Coyoteslayer]

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

My earliest memory of opening day is the warden firing the starter pistol on that legendary day in 84 when I made my debut lol. And for many years after they did that. I would reinstate it for the cool factor. That warden was the coolest guy through my eyes back then