Here is the full post from F&W
Hackettstown State Fish Hatchery Staff have been working on a project to increase Smallmouth Bass production by creating one large pond out of three smaller abandoned ponds on the property. The hatchery had been struggling with Smallmouth Bass culture for the past five years, primarily caused by poor broodstock spawning and fry culture ponds. These three smaller ponds had not been used for over a decade due to their size, shape, and depth.
Brush and scrub trees were pulled from the banks, and two shale dikes that divided the ponds were removed and pushed to the sides of the new, larger pond. The pond bottom was graded, and channels were created to allow proper water flow and drainage when filling and harvesting. The newly formed pond project was completed this past spring, and it came at the perfect time. Staff stocked 100 adult Smallmouth Bass in the newly created Pond 87 (formerly Ponds 87A, B, and C) on April 16, 2025. Nesting behavior was quickly observed, and fry were seined in May and moved to Production Pond 82, where they could grow to the targeted two-inch size. Pond 82 has been a successful fry grow-out pond over the years.
This year’s Smallmouth Bass production of 40,000 fingerlings exceeded the total of the Hatchery’s last six years. 35,000 fingerlings were stocked in four waters - Lake Audrey, Mercer Lake, Manasquan Reservoir, and Union Lake. 2,500 were moved to another hatchery pond to grow larger on live forage, and the final 2,500 were moved indoors and converted to a dry pelleted diet.
Hatchery staff did a great job creating a new pond that New Jersey anglers should benefit from for years to come!
Learn more about the Hackettstown State Fish Hatchery:
https://dep.nj.gov/njfw/fishing/fres...-hackettstown/
#NewJerseyFishAndWildlife #SmallmouthBass #BassFishing #Fishing #NewJersey
