Union County Trout

[Billfish715]

This was in the 2014 fishing proposals. Those of you who fish for trout in Echo Lake might want to take a look. Those of you who fish for carp in Nomahegan might have to move over for awhile. This is definitely a put and take fishery but Union County can use another trout access. It has to be better than Seely's Pond.

Nomahegan Park Pond (Union) - Nomahegan Park Pond is located within the 95 acre Nomahegan Park in Cranford. The pond is currently being dredged and is scheduled to be completed at the end of this year. 100% of the shoreline is accessible for fishing and offers excellent opportunities for local anglers. Although there are 11other trout stocked waterbodies within a ten mile radius the surrounding urban area results in high angler participation in nearby waters. Opening day angler counts at Lower Echo Park Pond, located only 1.2 miles away, demonstrates the high angler use in the area with 88 to 111 anglers on opening day.

[AndyS]

Is this good or bad ? Thanx for posting the info.

[FASTEDDIE29]

Nomahegan has been dredged, dug out and now has plants surrounding it. Kind of like what they did with Rahway Park pond years ago. There is currently NO fishing access at Nomahegan. All fish were removed before the project started, all fish were relocated to lower Echo Lake. I for one would like to see fish back in Nomahegan, I thought that was what the plan was in the first place. Echo gets too much pressure from the BUCKET BRIGADE!!!!!!!

[catfishonthelake]

They "disposed" of all the carp in there. On another note, I stopped by there a couple weeks ago for S&G's to see if I could catch some kitty bait. I fished off the little bridge where the tiny stream flows in, which is one of the only places you can get shore access. I had a Sabiki rig with 7 hooks with a piece of crawler on each one. Every time I dropped it in the sunnies were on it like piranha. I was catching 5 at a time. Not sure if those fish were restocked or survived the dredge, but there were plenty of them. Would be nice to see some of those fatty carp back in there, but I guess for now we'll have to settle for whatever FastEddie and I decided to stock it with.

[Billfish715]

Nomahegan Pond has more comforts than Seely's Pond but it will always be a put and take fishery. It is a good thing for the kids from Union County. It has a lot of potential to attract youngsters to the park to fish. As for additional stocking, I'm sure the state has a plan to do it when the lake is ready. Be careful about stocking on your own. Too many ponds have undesirable fish put there by people who just want to get rid of their aquarium specimens. Others who stock fish from other ponds or waterbodies transport diseases, fish eggs, parasites etc. Most fish, except for the carp, never reach any appreciable size. I've caught largemouth bass there, but never anything of trophy size. The sunnies are stunted because there are so many. The bullheads never amount to too much either, but it's a place to go and it's easy to fish. The trout will fill a void until the other stocked fish take over. If they keep the geese under control and keep the aerators working overtime, there's hope. A good dose of fathead minnows or shiners would do wonders for any crappies or bass they put in. Unfortunately, the better the fishing gets there, the more the buckets appear.

[phil]

Originally Posted by catfishonthelake

They "disposed" of all the carp in there. On another note, I stopped by there a couple weeks ago for S&G's to see if I could catch some kitty bait. I fished off the little bridge where the tiny stream flows in, which is one of the only places you can get shore access. I had a Sabiki rig with 7 hooks with a piece of crawler on each one. Every time I dropped it in the sunnies were on it like piranha. I was catching 5 at a time. Not sure if those fish were restocked or survived the dredge, but there were plenty of them. Would be nice to see some of those fatty carp back in there, but I guess for now we'll have to settle for whatever FastEddie and I decided to stock it with.

the carp are still in there, i saw them a few weeks ago when i took my son for a walk, he threw some cheerios to a turtle and they swarmed. at least 3 of them anyway. the sunnies are still there.

[catfishonthelake]

Originally Posted by phil

the carp are still in there, i saw them a few weeks ago when i took my son for a walk, he threw some cheerios to a turtle and they swarmed. at least 3 of them anyway. the sunnies are still there.

Funny you mentioned that. I was running next to the pond yesterday and saw the remnants of a huge splash. It definitely was too big for a turtle going under. Made me wonder. I saw with my own two eyes that there was no water in that pond and I asked the head contractor who was sitting in his car drinking coffee and reading the paper and he told me that they moved all of the fish except for the carp to Lower Echo. I know that pond stretches all the way to the back an the damn that connects it to the Rahway was still under construction a year or so ago. Not sure how there are still fish in there but apparently there are.

Were the carp big??

[youngdumbandfulloffish]

I think Nomohegan's saving grace was the backwater. I know they dredged electro shocked etc. but I doubt they wiped out the stream that connected it to the Rahway River. That is actually were I've caught larger bass, more crappie, and have seen dinosaur carp. Sounds like those fish survived and have a had an offseason with no pressure.

[bigfishy]

Cut my teeth fly fishin there stating at 5 yrs old...And taught myself to bass fish there with conventional gear in my early teens...The backwater area gets to around 10-12' deep which was quite a bit deper than anywhere in the lake...(not now i hope)...Its where the majority of bass spent there springs....I know fer a fact that most if not all of the large bass were def moved to echo, which already had a gr8 pop....

Prob take a good five to ten yrs to get that place close to what it was -quanity and quality....The river is where its at...always has been

[phil]

Originally Posted by catfishonthelake

Funny you mentioned that. I was running next to the pond yesterday and saw the remnants of a huge splash. It definitely was too big for a turtle going under. Made me wonder. I saw with my own two eyes that there was no water in that pond and I asked the head contractor who was sitting in his car drinking coffee and reading the paper and he told me that they moved all of the fish except for the carp to Lower Echo. I know that pond stretches all the way to the back an the damn that connects it to the Rahway was still under construction a year or so ago. Not sure how there are still fish in there but apparently there are.

Were the carp big??

Quick story(im irish that means it will be a long story), I live in clark, my son will be 2 in February. Bought a house in 2009 right near the reservoir, about a month later a house that is ON the ressy sold for ~10k more than I paid. I cry everytime I walk by. Regret is an understatement, its so bad that one day im going to work up the courage to knock on a door and ask the guy if he ever decides to sell his house I want it, and will trade straight up even knowing id have to put $100k of work into it. Anyhow, when we go for a walk and I know ill be near water I sneak a rod to make a few casts. I did pretty well this summer between the reservoir, Milton, and spots in cranford. What my wife doesn’t know is every trip is a scouting mission to put my son on fish. And im not talking about dinky little sunnies. Last time in cranford I pulled a nice bass out of some weeds, people walk by and ask “catch anything?” I always answer no. my wife gets mad that I lie about it, always says why do you do that. Ive been strictly saltwater for a long time, just recently started fishing fresh, its an old habit to never tell people yes im catching fish because no one likes to be crowded. Ill straight up lie to people while im dropping the fish in the water, nope didn’t catch anything.

Sooooo that being said, the carp are tiny in nomahegan and there are no fish in the resevoir LOL