Big Brown Trout in Spruce Run:

[AndyS]

http://i1333.photobucket.com/albums/w626/AStill/IMG_20130601_213917_415_zps93c68f07.jpg (http://s1333.photobucket.com/user/AStill/media/IMG_20130601_213917_415_zps93c68f07.jpg.html)Flatc reek sent me this. We are both sitting here scratching our heads wondering why the State STOPPED stocking brown trout in Spruce Run.
Nice, big and fat with a very silvery color. If you would like to see Brown Trout stocked in Spruce Run again feel free to e mail FG&W, the proof is there. They can survive and grow big, just like the old days.

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

[saxmatt]

I'm all for stocking trout there. It will make the pike bigger ;)

[AndyS]

Soooooo much herring in there, Brown Trout say nom,nom,nom,nom,nom:D

[jimmythegreek]

I dont get how they can hold over in there. I fished it once last july and the thermocline was 9-10 feet down with water temps in the low 80s.

[Mike M]

I dont get how they can hold over in there. I fished it once last july and the thermocline was 9-10 feet down with water temps in the low 80s.
They could move up into the feeder streams. I caught a much smaller brown last year in Mulhockaway Creek that was very silver just like this one.

[AndyS]

It's all good, fish are funny little critters. When you think they are gonna zig they zag, they constantly keep us guessing. The more questions we ask, the deeper our thoughts are carried. I like to ask the question, why.

[FASTEDDIE29]

Nice one Phil!!! How you doing with the Stripers in Spruce buddy?

[flatcreek]

Not to good on the stripes. But that was a nice surprise and I mean a surprise. The last thing I expected a 21+ inch brown maybe a pike or stripe but I'll take it. 5-6 ft down on a herring about 8:30 PM. Maybe 9:30 not sure the pic looks like it's dark.

[GetANet]

Beautiful Brown, Made me happy to see who caught it!!! Always makes me happy when someone I know catches BIG FISH!!!! Way to Go!!!!!

[Mark B.]

They could move up into the feeder streams. I caught a much smaller brown last year in Mulhockaway Creek that was very silver just like this one.


That's right.

Just like in other Non-Trout (get too warm in the summer for the trout to holdover) Waters,… a few trout are able to find coldwater seeps, springs & survive.

These trout are few & far between.

[Super]

Spruce Run isn’t good trout water. All summer there is no dissolved oxygen in the cooler, deeper parts of the lake where the trout would thrive.

With that said, they obviously can survive.

Spruce Run gets stocked with pike, wipers and channel cats and those fish do well in that lake. Much rather see state resources spent on stocking fish that flourish in Spruce Run.

[Eskimo]

.

Do a lot of people fish Spruce Run at night?

I was there Saturday (if anyone was there and saw a fisherman in a small, green kayak, -that was me) and as I was getting off the water in the late evening, the reservoir came alive with boats and even a kayak getting ON the water.

[AndyS]

"Spruce Run isn’t good trout water." But the duck pond in Edison is good trout water. Countless duck ponds get stocked in New Jersey, I see no reason not to put trout in Spruce Run.

Wednesday, April 10
Atlantic, Burlington & Camden Counties
Birch Grove Park Pond
Gloucester City Pond
Grenloch Lake
Hammonton Lake
Heritage Park Pond
Laurel Pond
Oak Pond
Rowands Pond
Monmouth & Ocean Counties
Englishtown Mill Pond
Garvey's Pond
Hamilton Fire Pond
Holmdel Park Pond
Mohawk Pond

All get trout stocked, along with Branch Brook Park Pond, Echo lake, lake Musconetcong and LAKE HOPATCONG !!
and......the Hackensack river. Green Turtle pond, Colonial lake and Pemberton get stocked with trout also.

[Mark B.]

True, the duck ponds, like Spruce Run are not good trout waters.

However, unlike Spruce Run, the duck ponds are in urban areas with high populations of anglers. And, being way smaller in size, the trout are concentrated & therefore easier to catch. F & W stocks them in the spring when the water is cold & can support trout, to provide a unique, seasonal opportunity for urban anglers to catch & keep trout. Yes, we want them to keep the trout, before they succumb to the warm water. These are “put & take” trout waters.

Years ago, Spruce Run had the water quality to support trout over the summer. That is, the trout could holdover. And, we stocked trout,……it was a “put, grow & take” trout water (as Lake Hopatcong still is). But no longer for Spruce Run,….it now gets too warm. Granted an occasional nice trout is caught. One that found a cold water seep, spring or tributary to survive in. But these fish are few & far between.

I’m getting tired of repeating myself.

[Matt A.]

what changed about spruce run that affected the summer water quality?

[Mark B.]

It lost the cold trout supporting water that it used to have in the summer.

Over time, due to run off / siltation, lakes eventually become shallower & their water, warmer.

[AndyS]

Don't get tired on us Mark ! It's great having you here. You clarify a lot of questions for us, I just feel the need to ask the question why sometimes.
Like I said, these finned little creatures keep us guessing sometimes, probably what makes the sport of fishing so interesting.
THANKS again for your input Mark.

[anthrax2244]

When was Spruce Run made, and what was time table in years that it supported a decent brown trout fishery? I think Lebanon Bait and Sport had a few pics on the wall of browns caught there when I was a little guy in the early 90's...? Mark, you mentioned siltation, any idea how deep the inlet area from spruce run creek originally was? Past few years the whole area is bone dry hundreds of feet in.

[anthrax2244]

awesome brown by the way!

[Wilson]

When was Spruce Run made, and what was time table in years that it supported a decent brown trout fishery? I think Lebanon Bait and Sport had a few pics on the wall of browns caught there when I was a little guy in the early 90's...? Mark, you mentioned siltation, any idea how deep the inlet area from spruce run creek originally was? Past few years the whole area is bone dry hundreds of feet in.

I was in the 4th grade when the dam was constructed:eek:

From Wikipedia.

Spruce Run Dam (National ID # NJ00132) was a 1964 project of the New Jersey Water Supply Authority with municipal water supply as its primary use. The earthen dam is 93 feet high, with a length of 5400 feet at its crest. The reservoir has a maximum capacity of 46,770 acre-feet (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acre-feet) and a normal capacity of 33,670 acre-feet.[1] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Run_Recreation_Area#cite_note-1)

[AndyS]

If you can Remember DANS bait and tackle, you are old.

[Matt A.]

dans on 31? fond memories
it says on wiki spruce run was damned in 1964 and round valley in 1960.
thankfully round valley seems to have a robust trout fishery still, but i guess
it will suffer a similar fate eventually too

[Wilson]

If you can Remember DANS bait and tackle, you are old.
Well I guess that's makes 2 of us!
Dan weighed my 4 lb. Rainbow in I caught in the So. Branch and reported it to the Fisherman magazine complete with a Polaroid...remember those?
I was thrilled to be in the mags's freshwater report section:D

[GetANet]

Easy there buddy, let's go back a little further, what was the name of the little tackle shop on 31 right by the entrance to spruce run where the Toyota dealer is now???? I was like eighteen years old Way Back Then!!!!! When we use to fish for the Browns in a ten foot johnboat with a sears trolling motor!!!!!

[Mark B.]

Don’t know how deep the inlet area was, originally. A lot deeper, no doubt…

I was around 10 years old when those reservoirs were built. When I was younger than that, I remember how hot the summers were,…………walking on the burned out lawn was like walking on Rice Krispies.

NJ suffered a terrible drought in the early 1960’s. Spruce Run & RVR were built in response to that drought. And, as water supply is their primary purpose,…………the fish that inhabit them are really just a bonus.

The yearly fluctuations in Spruce Run’s water levels surely doesn’t help its fish population.

[Super]

"Spruce Run isn’t good trout water." But the duck pond in Edison is good trout water. Countless duck ponds get stocked in New Jersey, I see no reason not to put trout in Spruce Run.

Wednesday, April 10
Atlantic, Burlington & Camden Counties
Birch Grove Park Pond
Gloucester City Pond
Grenloch Lake
Hammonton Lake
Heritage Park Pond
Laurel Pond
Oak Pond
Rowands Pond
Monmouth & Ocean Counties
Englishtown Mill Pond
Garvey's Pond
Hamilton Fire Pond
Holmdel Park Pond
Mohawk Pond

All get trout stocked, along with Branch Brook Park Pond, Echo lake, lake Musconetcong and LAKE HOPATCONG !!
and......the Hackensack river. Green Turtle pond, Colonial lake and Pemberton get stocked with trout also.

But that doesn't mean trout should be stocked in those places. I don't support stocking anywhere where 75% of the trout are going to die from the heat and become raccoon food. Stock a fish that can survive in those ponds like bass, crappie, perch, channel cats, bullhead, etc.

They stock those ponds to sell fishing licenses, not because it's a trout habitat.

[Mark B.]

But that doesn't mean trout should be stocked in those places. I don't support stocking anywhere where 75% of the trout are going to die from the heat and become raccoon food. Stock a fish that can survive in those ponds like bass, crappie, perch, channel cats, bullhead, etc.

They stock those ponds to sell fishing licenses, not because it's a trout habitat.


The idea is “put & take”.

“Put” the trout in when the water is cold in the spring. Then, anglers “take” the trout out before the water warms.

If NJ F & W didn’t have the license revenue from the many anglers whom take advantage of the above, they would probably have to shut down the Pequest Hatchery.

And, warmwater fish are already in those waters & reproducing,…..no need to stock.

Except for channel cats & Esocids, which reproduce minimally, or not at all. So, they are stocked periodically.

[Jigman13]

Except for channel cats & Esocids, which reproduce minimally, or not at all. So, they are stocked periodically.

Interesting Mark... Why don't channels and esox not reproduce? (or minimally, as you stated)

[Mark B.]

Interesting Mark... Why don't channels and esox not reproduce? (or minimally, as you stated)


N. Pike reproduction outside of their native range has been documented, but it is limited.

Muskies, even in their native range, have limited recruitment of their young. Supplemental stocking is required, there.

Channels usually do not develop self-sustaining populations in small lakes & ponds, primarily due to the lack of suitable spawning sites & heavy predation on the young by other fish, especially largemouths.

Hybrid bass, of course, are sterile,……so they have to be continually stocked.