Interesting article on Chesapeake perspective striper reproduction and temp

[JFC1]

https://www.capegazette.com/article/where-have-striped-bass-gone/255352

[jerseyducker]

Interesting- I do not think bass reproduce in the Raritain but I do encounter small ones up to 14/15 inches far up the main stem of river while doing some early season trout fishing. 

[JFC1]

14 minutes ago, jerseyducker said:

Interesting- I do not think bass reproduce in the Raritain but I do encounter small ones up to 14/15 inches far up the main stem of river while doing some early season trout fishing. 

It also describes the Raritan as a tributary of the Hudson. Such a basic mistake raises red flags, or he could have been edited badly 

[jerseyducker]

In the most "broadest" sense it could be considered a tributary as both eventually feed into the lower bay, but same for the Hackensack/Passic rivers that are frankly underrated if you know where to go and can deal with a bit of "industrial" fishing.   

[JFC1]

There's still at least one huge Native American fish weir surprisingly far up the Passaic, but I can't say I've fished that river for stripers. But I know some people who've pulled out some good ones. 

[Bucksnbows]

11 hours ago, jerseyducker said:

In the most "broadest" sense it could be considered a tributary as both eventually feed into the lower bay, but same for the Hackensack/Passic rivers that are frankly underrated if you know where to go and can deal with a bit of "industrial" fishing.   

Actually, that is incorrect. We look at watersheds and any watershed ends where it meets saltwater. The Hudson is its own watershed just as is the Raritan and Delaware. All see spawning striped bass. The Raritan and Delaware are seeing important dam removals on major tributaries (as well as mainstem for Raritan). Those removals are allowing American shad and river herring along with greater numbers of American eels to enter. All but the eel spawn in those tribs or the mainstem and provide further native forage for the striped bass. 

[Bucksnbows]

49 minutes ago, JFC1 said:

There's still at least one huge Native American fish weir surprisingly far up the Passaic, but I can't say I've fished that river for stripers. But I know some people who've pulled out some good ones. 

NJ rivers are full of what were once eel weirs. Trouble is we don’t have a good knowledge of which were built by Native Americans and which ones anglers built in a poor attempt to create pools. It’s something that comes up often in the permitting process.  Many are located above where dams long ago stopped upstream migration.  

[JFC1]

8 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

NJ rivers are full of what were once eel weirs. Trouble is we don’t have a good knowledge of which were built by Native Americans and which ones anglers built in a poor attempt to create pools. It’s something that comes up often in the permitting process.  Many are located above where dams long ago stopped upstream migration.  

True. And the Upper Delaware contains a number of weirs that seem to have been built for commercial purposes by Europeans in the 19th C. and have been in use relatively recently.   Like roads, it's hard to know which were new spots and which were built by piggybacking upon a choice spot used by Native Americans. 

The Paterson/Fair Lawn weird is documented by Dutch settlers in the early 1700s and according to the authors of the attached archaeological report--which is but a report/argument so can def be incorrect-- "The only known Euro-American use of fish weirs in the state prior to 1800 was by John Read, an agriculturalist from Burlington, New Jersey. In 1763 he began a
commercial fishing operation on the Delaware River, employing weirs constructed of mats and nets which in no way resembled the stone weirs found in the Passaic (Woodward 1941:399-400). In contrast, widespread Native American use of stone weirs was well documented at the time of European contact in this region. It is therefore most likely that the Fair Lawn/Paterson fish weir is of prehistoric origin."

The removal of dams is key to improving fish stocks, and more. Applause for your work on that, as well as riverbank restoration. 

Fair Lawn_Paterson Fish Weir.pdf

[jerseyducker]

Do love the dams that came down in the Raritan. Improved fishing. Wish the dam in Belvidere would be taken out, but I suspect the town would not agree.