No brook or browns for 2014..
 

At the outdoor expo I was at the fish and wildlife booth, I asked what the spring 2014 stocking is looking like and I was told that there will be no brook or browns stocked in spring because 1) they were more prone to disease in the hatcheries then rainbows 2) NJ waters have healthy wild numbers of brook and brown trout. Don't know what hatchery they meant, if this was pequest only, or what, just figured I'd relay what I was told to all you guys on here for what it's worth. Cheers guys

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

Wait till they stock rainbows in those scum duck ponds, the fish will be TOAST by June 1st ! :D

BTW....you mean 2015 !

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

I'm sure a trout stamp won't go down even thou there not stocking

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

Wonder if the browns would last much longer than June 1st?

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

Browns hold up better in warmer water with less oxygen sat. However, the sludge ponds they picked will give any fish a hard time! The O levels, dissolved solids, trash, goose shit, etc.... Makes me wonder who the hell is in charge & making these decisions!

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

It all started when the state took some of the better
lakes off the stocking list to promote urban fishing.
The most ridiculous thing ever heard of.

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

This format keeps up I might forgo buying my OOS license
In 2015 !
I am already fishing this season in between cod trips ! This urban deal is fine but don't waste those breeders that should be in NJ best streams !
Between this & the loss of those trout I gotta ? This myself????

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

I agree with all you guys. I've face palmed many times seeing all these broods put in ponds instead of places like the musky and pequest or flat brook... Imagine how many more trophy fish we'd be catching if all the dang fish weren't stocked in park ponds. I actually do fish in PA and CT a fair amount of times through the year w my pops when we get frustrated here..

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

And I ask fish and wildlife about their stocking decisions and locations I get the shrug and response "we have to provide angling opportunities for everyone especially creating put and take fisheries" which to me is a poor way to look at it. Those fish all get poached pre season, or they just flat out die in a few months when the bucket brigades don't catch them all. Maybe with more angler input they will change their tactics someday. :rolleyes:

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

What a bunch of cry babies. IF you had to buy trout they are over 6 bucks a pound.
so 1 pound and a half fish and your stamp is paid for , and then

WAIT FOR IT
















you have the whole year to catch just one more fish and you made money on your investment of the price of the stamp.




cant believe the money we all spend on fishing stuff that so many guys cry at the price of a trout stamp.
Many guys spend more money on gas following the stocking trucks around than the price of the stamp.




.

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

We have it easy here in the small state of NJ. Trust me! I buy 3-4 licenses a year for certain states. 33 bucks for NJ is a great deal compared to our neighboring states. Plenty of trout in the water now, you just have to know where to find them. We have a great fishery here with some great native brown and brook trout fisheries. Would I like to see certain rivers stocked instead of mud pits, of course! It is what it is, the state is doing what it has to do to keep anglers happy. This Trout problem is minor compared to what's going on with the salt right now. There's fish to catch everywhere, let's get em!

Go buy a PA license with all the stamps, not cheap. Plus they just dump a truckload of fish off one bridge and that's it for the year. Blah, blah!!! Every state is different. I for one am thankful for the opportunities that are right here in my home state. NJ ALL DAY BABY!!!!!

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

I'm not worrying about the price of a trout stamp, nor was this any concern of mine. My main concern is the possible lack of opportunities to catch trophy trout!
I spend a lot more time in the the pursuit if trout then most & greatly enjoy the pursuit of trophy trout.
An offshore trip on my boat would cost me over $600 in fuel , so I'm not concerned if the dam trout stamp was. $100, I'd buy one .
What concerns me is this dumping of many trophy trout in marginal waters , they would probably be better off stocking average to medium size trout in these waters if license sales to these folks are their main concen
More fish would certainly allow for more fish being csught period.
I feel prime waters should get the lions share of trophy trout, I'm fishing now & fish all season whenever I'm not offshore, most of these folks will not fish until opening day, them maybe a few times there after .
U bet UR A I'm squawking & will contuine to do so! Just for the record I caught hundreds of trout last season but only two over. 5#'s! 60+ days !!

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

That's what I'm getting at. I'm not in financial hard ship, and I've had a great year catching trout, plenty far from the rear end of a stocking truck... Trust me. We're just voicing our opinions which is what a message board is for, to shoot the shit on, to whine, and to be happy over catching kick ass fish. We just feel there would be more kick ass fish if the weren't dumped into death ponds lol. And in years of trout fishing I never caught a brook trout! Is it so bad I wished they stocked them now to up my chances? I don't really see that as whining

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

im talking about guys whining they shouldnt buy a trout stamp.
While I agree that fish are better stocked in the rivers the KIDS that fish those ponds dont think so.
as long as the resource is being used to benifit all im happy with it.
wanna catch a real brook trout , not a washed out silver looking one from a hatchery. Buy a PA license and fish any of the little creeks that run through the poconos.
They are loaded with natives . they will only be 4-10 inches long. BUT the colors will take your breath away .

whats better HOPEFULLY with them stocking rainbows is there wont be thousands of fish raised and wasted , that dont make it to any water.

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

Why do people think the "urban" angler who paid just as much money for his stamp isn't entitled to catch and keep a decent sized trout as someone who fishes the Pequest ?

Take away all those licenses sold to "mud pit" fisherman and see how many cuts Fish and Game have to make that would impact everyone.

There is nothing wrong with spreading the fish out, and more importantly - spreading the fisherman out.

Lets stock fewer bodies of water and see how quick those "pristine" waters get overcrowded and polluted with trash.

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

And, as to the topic of the thread - IMO it's a big mistake to put all your eggs in one basket. What happens when a new disease pops up that affects rainbows more than browns and brookies? Will NJ have a fall back?

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

That's a good point. I wonder if anybody has asked fish and wildlife that. I appreciate everyone's feedback thus far on the topic.. lot of good points made.

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

It's likely that an update on the furunculosis management plan will be given at this Saturdays Freshwater Fisheries Forum. I encourage anyone with questions for NJ F&W to attend.

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

As we now understand it , I would assume they do not ! Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, by the way I'd love to be wrong on this one!!:cool: I know my home state of PA & many / most other states stock all speciescs , why NJ can't another ? Mark ! Does this all relate to money or lack of it to run this program?? Anybody ?? Maybe they should raise the cost of a license , if this would help finance this program , something seems to need a change !
Warm water fishery seems to be on track .

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

Two things:

1. I used to be against stocking trout in the park ponds, but over time I’ve come to accept it. The main reason is that the Pequest produces ~600,000 trout every year. This means that, even if every stocked trout was caught and killed or died naturally over the course of a year, there would be just as many trout going back in next year. That results in as many opportunities for fishermen to catch trout as in years past, whether you fish Little Flat Brook, the Musky, RV, or a 2-acre goose-sh1t pond. Personally, I would rather go to a scenic, gurgling freestone stream to catch trout, but I’m not going to begrudge anyone for not wanting to travel and instead fish for trout in the park 5 minutes from their house.

2. The rearing of only rainbows at the Pequest seems like a band-aid as opposed to a solution. Hopefully it is just a temporary measure until the hatchery can figure out new strategies for safeguarding the trout from diseases being brought in. As mentioned before, now it will only take one outbreak of a disease that favors rainbow trout (whirling disease comes to mind immediately) to wipe out the entire hatchery. Also, IMO the variety of the three species is actually a nice perk of the program, as each species has its own behaviors and bait preferences. I actually missed catching brookies last year.

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

hopefully they can touch on some of that at batsto next month, I don't have my visa stamped in order to visit Hackettstown

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

I'm not against the stocking of urban lakes either, my argument is to simply stock them with more average size fish & disperse more trophy trout in NJ primary streams . They can put oversize trout in those waters as well but not at the expense of major waters , this makes sense to me . We'll see what this spring brings , actually last year was one of the best for me sans trophies !

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

That’s a touchy tightrope to cross. A policy that reserves most of the best fish for the prime rivers would alienate all the pond fishermen, who also buy trout stamps. At the end of the day, NJF&W sees us all as customers, and they have to do the best they can to keep us all happy, because otherwise they won’t sell as many trout stamps. Remember: a guy who fishes the Flat Brook with a #18 BWO pays just as much for a trout stamp as someone who sits on a bucket at Spring Lake with a jar of Power Bait. By that logic, they should both have similar opportunities to catch quality trout.

Re: No brook or browns for 2014..
 

SOMEBODY gets it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopefully some kid fishing the pond gets a huge fish that keeps him Hooked on fishing for life