Headgates dam Raritan river Duke Island Park:
 

http://www.nj.com/somerset/index.ssf...tan_river.html

http://www.nj.com/somerset/index.ssf...ook-like%22%5D

Re: Headgates dam Raritan river Duke Island Park:
 

Wow!!! That will be amazing to see.

Re: Headgates dam Raritan river Duke Island Park:
 

That would be a really good thing. The water just above that dam in summer is just nasty....looks devoid of life all the time. It will be great to see how much it changes when the flow is unrestricted. The difference at Nevius st. still amazes me. I hope it gets done and not held up in a bunch of red tape.

Cool stuff for sure.

Re: Headgates dam Raritan river Duke Island Park:
 

Yes - the difference at Nevius Street is amazing - it's now virtually devoid of fish after 80+ years of great fishing - 55 of which I can attest to. The water above the "damn" is and always has been fine for bass, carp, catfish, suckers, sunnies and other slower, warmer water species - if you want others travel farther upstream or downstream.

Rather than wasting $'s removing the damns put the $'s into cleaning up the causes of pollution and stocking.

I enjoy fishing in all sorts of environs - rivers, lakes, ponds, and surf - local and in NJ, Block Island, Nantuckett, the Outer Banks. I also enjoy fishing for Salmon and Steelhead in New York - on damn controlled rivers that would not support the salmonid population without the damns that control the flow to the rivers - so don't respond that I don't know how or where to fish (Andy).

The damns provide holding areas for fish - predatory fish can trap bait-fish against the damn and they hold there looking for easy meals. The oxygenated water beneath the damns also helps support the game fish. Damns in the west and mid-west have converted dead rivers into fantastic tail-water fisheries.

And, as I've stated before in several posts - I have seen and caught stripers and shad above the Nevius Street spillway (damn) - they can and did easily navigate above the small structure.

I'm getting tired of listening to the arm-chair ichthyologist claiming removing these structures is going to improve the Raritan.

Re: Headgates dam Raritan river Duke Island Park:
 

I had a blast at the Nevius St. Dam this past spring. I got two trout over 20" there, and it was a great spot to fish. A Raritan twp. police officer showed me the spot when he saw me fishing down river of the dam. I was looking for the spot where the guys were catching muskies in the spring. Too bad I learned about it this past year! I fished it a bunch of times this spring, I also caught some large shad there (released). I was walking the dam one day and a lamprey or a eel (about 4ft long and brown) shot up in the air in front of me trying to get up the dam. It sure did scare the crap out of me! It was a great spot to fish, but I have mixed feelings about tearing it down. I definitely watched the lamprey struggle trying to get up the dam only to be washed away. There were a bunch of shad below the dam that did not seem like they were getting very far.

Re: Headgates dam Raritan river Duke Island Park:
 

Glad you had a good time - kiss it good bye - the "damn" is gone. I used to fish their all winter and catch rainbows and brookies and an occasional brown - fall stocked and usually large. The crew took down the spillway - gone for ever.

Fished there since I as 5 years old - sad to see it destroyed.

Re: Headgates dam Raritan river Duke Island Park:
 

It's a long 23 minute video, but a good one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCQiaT1KcPo

Re: Headgates dam Raritan river Duke Island Park:
 

Really!!!!!Dams hold the river back and load up silt and pollutants above them, I've never seen the river cleaner and healthier since the 3 dams were removed.The good fishing you speak of is because fish are trapped in these areas which makes your average fisherman become a star,instead of trying and learn a river and the secrets they hold.

Re: Headgates dam Raritan river Duke Island Park:
 

Vry much agreed with shucker....
I guess its looked at as bad when you can no longer stand in one spot ALL day and catch fish...Well its a river....Move around, the fish sure do...

Re: Headgates dam Raritan river Duke Island Park:
 

Tell the half a million shad that used to run up the Raritan river how good the dams are. They were called the "founding fish" because the early Indians used to rely on these fish as a food sorce to hold them over. I don't think we will see half a million shad returning to the Raritan river each year, but to think it had a run that rivals the Delaware river is amazing.