Lake trout stocking for 2013:

[AndyS]

Lake Trout—9"
• Merrill Creek Reservoir (1,300) • Monksville Reservoir (4,007)

Since the biologists have seen a steady increase in the number of naturally reproducing lake trout in Merrill Creek they are slowly stopping their stocking efforts there. We can only hope in the future, the number of lake trout stocked in the state goes to 0. Why keep a program alive for only 2 lakes, and if Round Valley is any indication on how anglers perceive lake trout then I really see this program shutting down soon.

The numbers stocked last year at Merrill Creek were 3,250, and Monksville was 2,430. I know alot of people target lake trout in Monksville (yeah right!) More like we get alot of big muskies fattening up on small lake trout there.

[FASTEDDIE29]

I can assure you most of the Lakers in Monksville get destroyed by the Eyes and Musky! Most of em that survive wind up in the Wanaque res. Lakers in Monksville, bad idea F&G, just like the silly trout they used to stock. MUSKY CANDY!!!

[Skunk City]

Hybrid Striped Bass in Monksville would be a whole lot more exciting...

[AndyS]

Want changes ? Do what I do. Attend meetings open to the public and when I'm not fishing I am writing letters.

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/contactform.htm

Like I said before, now more than ever they guys at F&G want to know what you want and what you think.

[flatcreek]

Hybrid Striped Bass in Monksville would be a whole lot more exciting...
Never fished Monksville, but hybrid anywhere sounds good to me. They are my favorite freshwater fish, lake trout not so much.

[acabtp]

i like the lakers

[jrock]

I dont understand all this hate for the lake trout. They are good table fare and readily willing to bite in all seasons. I can go out to round valley and catch lake trout on just about every outing. I love the fact that I can catch panfish in a ditch one day and troll 120 feet of water for lakers the next without leaving the state. Noone seems to have a problem with monksville res. Which is a beautifull place, that is stocked with walleye, musky, and lake trout with so few reports of any of these fish being harvested. Now I consider myself a decent life long fisherman and have caught musky, walleye, and lake trout in just about every available lake in the state yet have spent countless hours on monks. Without a single musky walleye or laker. And I have Hurd countless similar reports. Now are these fish geneticaly altered to be smarter lol don't think so but regaurdless in my opinion I don't care what the state says I don't believe everything they tell us, I believe they are not stocking it as reported or the res for whatever reason can not hold as many fish as people assume. And if they are stocking it well and the fish are in there what's the point if they are not being caught. Maybe stock times should be listed and people can witness these stockings and not just pay for the licenses and increase's because the state says they are expanding. Just one fishermans humble opinion.

[AndyS]

I'm sure by now everyone on here knows my beef with lake trout. Hook them, they roll like a catfish, blow bubbles and float to the surface. Gimme a big brown trout anyday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZt2HquSvbA

[Fishon1982]

Don't know much about fish going over into the wanaque res but I would like to just stick to stocking eyes and musky and make it a great fishery for them. Stick trout stocking to lakes that have them in there already and try to make different waters for different species instead of try to make them all have multi species fish men will travel to fish I drive a hour and a half to fish Merrill and round valley I will travel for different fish if the lake are really great to fish that's just me tho.

[Fishon1982]

And I enjoy catching lakers too just like any other fish a big fish will fight like a big fish all fishing is fun from sunnies to 30lbs salmon

[FASTEDDIE29]

Monksville is a great fishery, just very dynamic and difficult to get a pattern on any of the species in there. I think its great the way it is. Musky, Walleye, LM, SM, Perch, Crappie, Catfish. Thats enough species in my opinion. Love Monksville, especially for Ice Fishing.

[FASTEDDIE29]

I have to add that 5 years ago before my 9.9 blew up I did enjoy catching Lakers in RV. Used to fish for them exclusively in Jan and Feb. They are fun to catch when nothing else is going on, especially when there over 10 lbs on light fishing gear and 6 lb test.:D

[ithaca10]

Fished Round Valley when it initially opened up super brown and rainbow trout fishery, kokanee salmon stocked and failed. The stocking of lake trout IMO decimated the trout fishery.

Like reeling in a wet towel.

[ChaosStarter]

Fished Round Valley when it initially opened up super brown and rainbow trout fishery, kokanee salmon stocked and failed. The stocking of lake trout IMO decimated the trout fishery.

Like reeling in a wet towel.


I feel they did the same to the bass as well.

[Lard Almighty]

For all the stocking of lake trout that they have done, at the expense of other species, has it transformed RV into a world-class lake trout fishery? Or do most serious lake trout enthusiasts still target the Great Lakes and Canada?

Yeah, that's what I thought. :cool:

[jrock]

Well they don't stock any lakers into rv anymore so no more cost there, and by your logic walleye and musky shouldn't be stocked anymore because it hasn't surpasses the great lakes and Canada fishery. If you want to catch rainbows , or browns you have dozens of choices but only two choices for us laker guys and you wanna take them away to. So when people want world class walleye fishing they drive past lake michigan and right to monksville reservoir, YEA THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT!!

[FASTEDDIE29]

I love all fish. How about you guys? I love all you NJF members! Its the most wonderful time of the year, eggnog anyone? Its really good eggnog.:D

[AndyS]

Initially the state actually over stocked Round Valley with lake trout and never kept tabs on natural reproduction. Finally after 10 years or so they stopped stocking and by that time it was too late. I’m just speaking from past experience. Back in the early 90’s you couldn’t park there after 10am, all the lots were full. There were 3 bait and tackle shops open near Round Valley. It was the world class brown and rainbow trout fishing that drew the masses. The bait crashed, the lake trout took over, the fish got smaller. Now there are no more tackle shops near Round Valley and most days are like a ghost town there. I’m not bashing guys for liking or wanting to fish for lake trout, but I think the big brown trout drew the people from all around the tri state area. As you know I fish Merrill Creek a lot and they have already had the baitfish population crash there once already and had to restock. I don’t want to see what happened at Round Valley happen at Merrill Creek, and as far as stocking them in Monksville, let's just say it’s the walleye, bass and muskies that draw the attention there.

[Lard Almighty]

Well they don't stock any lakers into rv anymore so no more cost there, and by your logic walleye and musky shouldn't be stocked anymore because it hasn't surpasses the great lakes and Canada fishery. If you want to catch rainbows , or browns you have dozens of choices but only two choices for us laker guys and you wanna take them away to. So when people want world class walleye fishing they drive past lake michigan and right to monksville reservoir, YEA THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT!!It's cool if you like fishing for lakers and appreciate the state stocking RV with them. My major problem with that is the other fisheries in the lake have largely suffered as a result. RV simply cannot support everything; once the lakers were introduced, they became the apex predators and out-competed a lot of other fish.

Lake trout were an experiment, and that experiment heavily impacted known successful fisheries in the lake, most notably brown trout and largemouth and smallmouth bass. I don't know what kind of data the DFW had that made them decide to try it, but in the end it turned out to be a negative for the overall health of the lake.

The lesson to be learned here is that, just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.

[catfishonthelake]

I think the state has done a fantastic job of providing variety for ALL anglers. I'm with JRock that there are exactly TWO places to fish for lakers (if you don't count Monks) in NJ in comparison to the hundreds of places to fish for trout and bass. I think some anglers seem to have an entitlement problem that their species of choice is the only one worthwhile protecting. And I can't agree that the decline of trophy trout fishing is what killed the bait shops and made RV a ghost town. Laurie at Dow's told me she used to rent 50 boats on the weekend and now she keeps a fraction of that many in the water. Not as many people are fishing these days and bait shops have trouble keeping up with online shopping. The RV bait shops are not the only ones that have gone the way of the dodo. The laker tournaments at RV seem to attract plenty of anglers and the state has already stopped the stocking and upped the creel.

[acabtp]

I think the state has done a fantastic job of providing variety for ALL anglers. I'm with JRock that there are exactly TWO places to fish for lakers (if you don't count Monks) in NJ in comparison to the hundreds of places to fish for trout and bass. I think some anglers seem to have an entitlement problem that their species of choice is the only one worthwhile protecting. And I can't agree that the decline of trophy trout fishing is what killed the bait shops and made RV a ghost town. Laurie at Dow's told me she used to rent 50 boats on the weekend and now she keeps a fraction of that many in the water. Not as many people are fishing these days and bait shops have trouble keeping up with online shopping. The RV bait shops are not the only ones that have gone the way of the dodo. The laker tournaments at RV seem to attract plenty of anglers and the state has already stopped the stocking and upped the creel.
my thoughts exactly

[flatcreek]

I love all fish. How about you guys? I love all you NJF members! Its the most wonderful time of the year, eggnog anyone? Its really good eggnog.:D

Pass the eggnog Eddie. Ok I'll wait till meet and greet.

[jrock]

Just for the record I respect andys oppinion because I see that he posts a lot of good info here and it seems as if he does good research. And I have seen many of lardomighty videos on youtube and I think they are awsome and it seems he knows a thing or two about fishing. Maybe we can meet in the middle and agree to get rid of them in merrill creek and see how these new regs. affect rv before we try to eliminate them there. I also respect catfishonthelake greatly because like many of us on this board he spends a lot of time on the water and a lot of money on this sport that we love. At the end of the day its the hardcore fisherman that keep the njfishandgame afloat. Happy Holidays to all and tight lines, oh and that eggnog would be great on the ice on monksville in a few weeks (fingers crossed for ice!!).

[baetis]

I don't quite understand the disdain for lake trout. I've spent many an enjoyable day fishing for them at MC. Reel them in slowly watching for air bubbles being "burped" out and they swim away just fine. You can have good action all day.

Only 3 or so lakes have them so I don't see what the big deal is. There are probably close to 50 bodies of water where you can try your luck for good sized browns/brookies/rainbows.

As far as the fight is concerned, it isn't great, but neither are walleye either and they seem to be an "in" fish right now.

[Laketroutguy]

I think the state has done a fantastic job of providing variety for ALL anglers. I'm with JRock that there are exactly TWO places to fish for lakers (if you don't count Monks) in NJ in comparison to the hundreds of places to fish for trout and bass. I think some anglers seem to have an entitlement problem that their species of choice is the only one worthwhile protecting. And I can't agree that the decline of trophy trout fishing is what killed the bait shops and made RV a ghost town. Laurie at Dow's told me she used to rent 50 boats on the weekend and now she keeps a fraction of that many in the water. Not as many people are fishing these days and bait shops have trouble keeping up with online shopping. The RV bait shops are not the only ones that have gone the way of the dodo. The laker tournaments at RV seem to attract plenty of anglers and the state has already stopped the stocking and upped the creel.

I agree with this. I spend most days on the water and very little time online or on forums. I came across this thread and also the letter to Fish and Game about fisherman not wanting lakers. Everyone is entitled their opinion. The opinion expressed its not that of everyone. I enjoy fishing lake trout year round and prefer them over other species. My family and friends share in that year round enjoyment as well and there is also a whole group of die hard laker guys at both Merrill and the Valley who like me are always fishing and not on forums. I will spread the word to the guys to email the state their feelings about lake trout at rv and merrill and hopefully one guy wont ruin things for the rest of us lake trout fishermen.

[jimmythegreek]

I see both sides of the fence, BUT if the state is gonna stock certain species, they have to be responsible for them. My point is like this.....hybrids in LH and monksville, they are EATING MACHINES on herring, yet monksville is LOADED w them and so is LH, so much so that laurie sells most of the state her herring outta there, no problems at all w the states decision there. Lake trout on the other hand are WORST than hybrids, they eat everything and grow to much bigger sizes, places like MC and RV cannot keep up w that kind of pressure on their baitfish populations, the state needs to also stock herring to keep up w the demand if they choose to populate the lake w these fish. It ended up that RVTA has to work very hard to buy baitfish to keep the place alive, yet they didnt stock the lakers there the state did. I have no problems w lake trout, Ive caught them and they fight OK sometimes, its still a catch and something is better than nothing for most guys fishing those waters. My biggest problem is w the creel limits, with all the fish being stocked and especially w the musky and walleye, there are TOO many fish being taken. U all know that I fish LH heavily, and in the spring the nighttime bite on eyes is unbeleivable, I can catch as many as I want. The rest of the year, I couldnt bet on a walleye to save my life, they disappear and spending a day targeting them will usually result in a skunk, the same goes for Swartswood for the most part, but its a smaller lake w similar stock numbers and there is alot of natural reproduction that is documented. Sure theres some spots that always hold them and maybe u can get lucky, but with all the fish stocked why isnt anything consistent on some of these bodies of water? U can go to an average minnesota/north central USA lake or canada lets say, and whack walleyes all day long, musky too w multi catch days, not in NJ tho. Come fall Im on LH and see these foreigners spend ALL DAY trying to catch walleyes and they go right into the livewell if caught and Ive seen many shorts in spring and in fall being kept. With the rescources being pumped into the state from anglers, the state should designate some waters strictly catch & release for a few years, and let the populations naturally grow to trophy standards as far as numbers go, size wize nature will dictate that. Considering this is NJ I think NJFG has done a great job w the management of the fishing and its come a long way, but I dont think they have the real street level results that us anglers have that are actually out there fishing, and thats what is gonna help it go to the next level. I actually applaud Andy's efforts, he is entitled to his opinion no matter what it is, and he spends alot of time writing letters and attending meetings, thats how things start to get done or at least make an attempt. My hats off to him for his dedication

[nutleysigns]

I ate a Laker out of Round Valley ... tasted Lousey

[bulletbob]

I'm sure by now everyone on here knows my beef with lake trout. Hook them, they roll like a catfish, blow bubbles and float to the surface. Gimme a big brown trout anyday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZt2HquSvbA

I catch a LOT of them here in NY state.. I assure you most do not fight as you described... Some fight like hell, I have had a few of them jump, some bore straight down,impossible to stop unless you want a broken rod...
I will admit, every once in a while, you would swear you hooked a big pile of weeds, but its a laker.. However, thats not the norm,,, at least it isn't here in NY state... never caught a NJ laker, so I can't comment, but NJ is not really optimal for lakers.. They are a fish of the far north, and are better fighters in the Canadian lakes than they are in the states... Just giving the poor lakers some due respect.. I like them fine...Here in the Finger Lakes they are a mainstay... bob