Summer fish stocking:

[AndyS]

Throughout July the Hackettstown Hatchery will have tank trucks and boats out weekly stocking cool and warm water fish that hatched this spring. The crew float-stocked 12,930 4-inch hybrid striped bass in Spruce Run Reservoir and 7,180 in Manasquan Reservoir. They also stocked 16,000 4-inch walleye fingerlings on Greenwood Lake, Big Swartswood Lake, and Monksville Reservoir. These fingerlings are requested annually by the Division of Fish and Wildlife's fisheries biologists and over the past 10 years have created excellent fishing opportunities for New Jersey’s Anglers.

[Jigman13]

Be cool to see some of those walleyes make their way into spruce! Deep enough, seemingly ample forage, plenty of rocky structure. Food for thought...

[jimmythegreek]

Eyes would do well in SR id love to see it......and an accidental hybrid stocking into big swartswood would be the icing on the cake, place is loaded w herring and not enuff predators

[Chrisper4694]

i'd love to see hybrids in some smaller lakes...i know they'd do fine due to the success hybrids have in some smaller private lakes.

[Skunk City]

'Eyes in Spruce and 'Brids in Swartswood would cause my head to spin, truck mileage go up, and amount of sleep to decrease :eek:.

[Jigman13]

^^^^ THIS!!!!! Hahaha!

[Dave B.]

I'd agree with the hybrids on Swartswood but I think the walleyes in Spruce might not be such a good idea. I say that only because we already have several top predators in Spruce and given the dramatic and frequent water level fluctuations adding another burden to the forage base may well cause problems for the existing well established and fairly well balanced predator/prey ecosystem.

[Chrisper4694]

I think eyes are in a good amount of places but those hybrids need to be put into some more lakes! Where do we start a petition??

[Jigman13]

I'd agree with the hybrids on Swartswood but I think the walleyes in Spruce might not be such a good idea. I say that only because we already have several top predators in Spruce and given the dramatic and frequent water level fluctuations adding another burden to the forage base may well cause problems for the existing well established and fairly well balanced predator/prey ecosystem.

Good points, Dave. Would a smaller stocking work though? The white perch population makes for a great secondary forage base for the top predators in there. I know that NYS stocked walleyes in fort pond out in montauk long after the hybrids died off there to handle the white perch population and they've been thriving. It's a lot less deep there, comparable weed growth and similar rocky structure, but they don't have the pike and hybrids that spruce has obviously... Just thinking out loud here lol...

[Dave B.]

Good points, Dave. Would a smaller stocking work though? The white perch population makes for a great secondary forage base for the top predators in there. I know that NYS stocked walleyes in fort pond out in montauk long after the hybrids died off there to handle the white perch population and they've been thriving. It's a lot less deep there, comparable weed growth and similar rocky structure, but they don't have the pike and hybrids that spruce has obviously... Just thinking out loud here lol...

A small stocking could work in theory, problem is the 'eyes would most likely begin some degree of natural reproduction which is more often than not difficult to quantify, and given the highly variable nature of the water levels and temps in Spruce would be that much more difficult to track let alone predict ahead to plan for any future stockings. Also as you refer to regarding Fort Pond, the Div would likely have to begin reducing the hybrid striper stockings in an effort to not overload the top end of the ecosystem with predators.

Since we already have well established walleye pops in so many places I honestly think it would be a valiant but fruitless effort to lobby for walleyes in Spruce. However pushing for some hybrids in Swartswood could turn out to be a far more achievable goal due to a number of factors.
A couple of the primary items include the stability of the lake levels, the size of the waterbody, and very important in my humble opinion the simple fact that the hybrids are sterile so their numbers can be controlled via stocking quantities and size/bag limits. These latter factors would allow the Div. biologists to more easily monitor and control the population as well as determining what impacts the introduction has on the forage base and subsequently the existing predator species populations.

Bottom line, if anyone wanted to truly push for either of these propositions I would strongly recommend the Swartswood hybrids option and forget about Spruce 'eyes. Just my $.02, your mileage may vary.

[Jigman13]

Great response Dave B. Much appreciated too! I'd never want a hybrid reduction in SR. It's too good of a fishery! Swartswood is just a haul for some of us, as is hopatcong. Some closer to home walleye lakes would satisfy my selfish desires haha! Guess I'll stick to the might River to get my Wally fix!