Best New Jersey Trout Fishing Starts Now!

[Wilson]

Got this today from the state.


This Friday, May 24th, marks the end of spring season trout stocking but it's just the beginning of fabulous late spring and early summer trout fishing. Most trout anglers miss out on some of the best trout fishing of the year by not fishing after stocking ends. They stop fishing at a time when many trout waters have more fish in them now than when the season started. How can that be? Every week more trout have been added to stocked waters but fewer are taken out because angler survey data shows that 70% of New Jersey trout anglers release most, if not all of the trout they catch.

Another little known reason why streams are teaming with trout this time of year is the stocking of tens of thousands of extra fish during the last three weeks of the season due to the Pequest Hatchery's consistent production of trout in excess of the spring season goal of 570,000 fish. So if you have your fishing license and trout stamp, don't stop trout fishing now. If you haven't had a chance to trout fish yet, now is the time to get in on the late season trout fishing bonanza. More fish, less anglers... a win/win.

Trout stocking schedules can be viewed at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/trtstk13.htm . Looking for a place to fish? Directions to more than 300 trout fishing public access points are posted at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/accesswater.htm .

[AndyS]

"tens of thousands of extra fish" and not ONE will be stocked below Rt. 206 on the Raritan.
They say streams, what about the ponds they stock that are weeded over by now, what about the trout they threw in there

[lunkertaker]

Originally Posted by AndyS

"tens of thousands of extra fish" and not ONE will be stocked below Rt. 206 on the Raritan.
They say streams, what about the ponds they stock that are weeded over by now, what about the trout they threw in there

Ditto on the ponds weeded over by now WHY? I think you made the comment about license sales previously...again WHY is this more important than placing fish where they can actually be caught! Stocking 200-500 fish in a body of water that only ~ 50 fish will be caught and removed is senseless especially when the lion share will die from lack of O2 or starvation. Unfortunately, many of the stocked fish in these places never live past May/early June due to extreme conditions. These fish need to be place where they can be caught and at least have a chance at survival at some level...just saying.

[dfish28]

What's good for them is good for the catfish... I guess... I wonder... What about some salmon in the raritan... I would part w some cash for that!!! Among other swimmers, c'mon lets do this!

[AndyS]

A Raritan river holdover, but what is it
Not sure why the guy killed it. The fish was close to 2 feet long.

[GetANet]

Hey got an idea, possibly put something together that we can the print out and sign and mail or e-mail to F&G about our opinions and support for the
LOWER Raritan River " A TRUE DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH " !!! I know Andy loves to write letters so maybe he can work one up we can all sign or individually. I lived on the very lower Raritan my whole life hunting and saltwater fishing since I was a kid but NEVER knew about the tremendous freshwater fishing in the lower section until the last two years!!!! I always ran north when I had great fishing right under my nose. NJF guys should ban together and be heard! ANDY works HARD for this (Along with any of you whom I didn't mention and i'm sure there's a few) So let's help out!
You know the squeaky wheel gets the oil so let's do our part and squeak!

[Almaink]

Maybe up north but down here in the Trenton area trout fishing is about done. They are in the D&R Canal we can see them, but the water is already to warm and they are not hitting anything. I'd love to know where they go once the water heats up. If they die you'd think you would see some floating but I never have. F&G biologist told me they will seek colder water but were? No way they are going to swim all the way from West Trenton Feeder Canal to the Raritan River. I was at the D&R Canal yesterday and talked with a few people that were fishing all day without one trout to show for it. I've been seeing a lot of that this year, and most say they are not going to bother buying a license next year. I did manage to get a fat 14" brookie and a barely 9" one in about an hour using a CD1 but it was hard fishing.

[Michael82929]

The extra fish program started three weeks back based on estimates the hatchery had... so those extra fish have already been entered into the tally.

Most of the northern NJ stream are stacked with fish at the moment... Need to get on the water at the right times and fish areas that dont seek the pressure.

In my opinion, years past you never saw as many lure fisherman as you see now in the streams. I personally think it has added another level of stress to the water and to the fish making them even more finicky this time in the season.

I can get on a piece of water and fish it for a good period of time where the fish are striving. Get one or two lure fisherman throwing spinners into a hole... after 50 times throwing in a small area, the fish get the message.

Then they walk past, give it about 30m and bam, back to pick and then a steady flow of hits and fish. Just my personal experience.