Lake Management

[1957Buck]

This 22-acre Monmouth county lake has - Lg. Mouth Bass - Pickeral - Crappie - Cat Fish - Perch - Turtles - Frogs  Foliage fish - & Stocked Trout. Its average depth is about 10 ft.  Its problem is Aquatic Vegetation.  The Lg mouth bass is primary released 80 % of the time.                                                                                                                                                        The lake is managed by The Township and a local Conservation Group who manage 77 Acre Park and Lake.   The LG Mouth Bass Thrive sizes of 5-9 pounders that I and Grandsons have caught to hearing of larger ones.                                                                                                                                                                                                      There are planning in the works to Stock GRASS CARP to control the vegetation this has recently been approved for Nj Lakes that qualify.  It seems this lake is one of them Many feel it is a Mistake that they will become invasive and remove Habitat for Spawning.                                                                                               The lake seems to have a Natural balance between species with the fishing pressures and predators including the Cormorants.    

It was Drained and restock once and regained to be a Healthy Fish population.      

[Kayak Ken]

In the video it states that the lake will be stocked with sterile grass carp so reproduction will not be an issue. I wonder if there will be fishing restriction or ban on them. If not I see the population dwindilling in a short time due.

 

https://laketopanemus.com/grass-carp

 

 

 

 

[Buck154]

Yeah that lake gets choked up bad with weeds. You said average depth of 10 foot, no way. Had my boat in there and I bet the average is only 3-4 foot. Very shallow. That's why it weeds up bad

[1957Buck]

1 hour ago, Buck154 said:

Yeah that lake gets choked up bad with weeds. You said average depth of 10 foot, no way. Had my boat in there and I bet the average is only 3-4 foot. Very shallow. That's why it weeds up bad

Let me know the next time you are there with your boat I will put you over 18 feet        they call it Devils Hole Other in the know said the Grass Carp stocking has yet to be approved for this Lake I would imagine they will be catch and release. and the.and I never found that 18 ft Hole.  

 

Edited April 20, 2018 by 1957Buck

[Kayak Ken]

Here is a fishing map with the depth. Seem like the devils hole is in the north end

[1957Buck]

58 minutes ago, kenny10177 said:

Here is a fishing map with the depth. Seem like the devils hole is in the north end

 

1

You got it.  

[Buck154]

Yeah  I can't remember the max depth I found but no where's near 18. The average was shallow. This was 2-3 years ago.

[MRMCR]

Most parks with lakes  have the lawn / grass area going right up to the water.....if some brush was planted on the edges , this would create a filter and slow the lake filling in......

[Rusty]

20 hours ago, kenny10177 said:

 the lake will be stocked with sterile grass carp so reproduction will not be an issue.

[Rusty]

3 minutes ago, MRMCR said:

Most parks with lakes  have the lawn / grass area going right up to the water.....if some brush was planted on the edges , this would create a filter and slow the lake filling in......

Buffer zones are very important, especially riparian buffer zones along the streams that feed into a lake.  

[230jhp]

Most of the lakes in North Jersey  (Wawayanda, Shepard et.al. ) are seriously weed choked and have been that way for a long time. I have never heard about any effort to fix it.

[Bucksnbows]

1 hour ago, 230jhp said:

Most of the lakes in North Jersey  (Wawayanda, Shepard et.al. ) are seriously weed choked and have been that way for a long time. I have never heard about any effort to fix it.

The only "fix" is to throw tens of thousands of dollars in chemical treatments into each lake, each year.  As a taxpayer, I'm glad they aren't wasting my money that way.   None of these lakes is natural and nearly every one in this state has one or more foreign invasive plant species (weeds) living in them.  

1957Buck, the Division must approve any and all fish stockings into any waterbody and this is no exception.  They will allow for triploidy grass carp which are sterile, but they will never allow non-sterile grass carp.  And even the sterile carp are currently only being stocked into water bodies where if they accidentally escaped and were for some reason not sterile as planned, they could not mess up a larger watershed as a result.  

 

[Lunatic]

I live on a shallow lake and we have the same problem. In 18" of water aquatic plants are exposed to too much sun and they thrive, choking up the entire eco system. There used to be LM bass and other species in the lake but now with the oxygen depleted carp and sucker fish is the only thing we have.

[tuny]

White Amur are the fish not Grass Carp, they are a triploid hybrid which are sterile and can't reproduce, unlike a carp they are not a bottom feeder but rather eat plant from the top down. They have certain preferred species of plants so be sure they are the correct fit for the vegetation you are trying to eliminate.  You can also help they lake by reducing the amount on nutrient runoff that enters the lake, usually nitrogen is the major contributing factor, so try and reduce that from entering the lake. Lowering a lake to expose the edges during the winter will also help as it allows the sediment to dewater and freeze some of the plant roots , once dewatered the sediment does not rebound like a sponge but rather stays firmer. one other more labor intensive option is weed harvesting, either by using several boats or a weed harvesting machine. The latter cost money and most people would rather spend time than money.

Edited April 21, 2018 by tuny

[1957Buck]

7 hours ago, Bucksnbows said:

The only "fix" is to throw tens of thousands of dollars in chemical treatments into each lake, each year.  As a taxpayer, I'm glad they aren't wasting my money that way.   None of these lakes is natural and nearly every one in this state has one or more foreign invasive plant species (weeds) living in them.  

1957Buck, the Division must approve any and all fish stockings into any waterbody and this is no exception.  They will allow for triploidy grass carp which are sterile, but they will never allow non-sterile grass carp.  And even the sterile carp are currently only being stocked into water bodies where if they accidentally escaped and were for some reason not sterile as planned, they could not mess up a larger watershed as a result.  

 

From what I hear from a member of the Managment Committee and Freehold Township. that I fish with There The state has already made the Approvals for selected lakes this One is on the list waiting for final approval. At their meetings, they turned down and chemical Fixes offered  There is a 2 prong condition besides the Root Plants there is a Green Slime that blooms mid-summer amongst the Lilly pads.  Hope the carp Like to eat that.

  One of the concerns I think we're even mentioned on here is The carp be Catch and Rease only.