Quote:
Originally Posted by calbo
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.
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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.
