2015 Hackettstown Hatchery Stocking Summaries

[Eskimo]

Originally Posted by dakota560

Saw guys taking 40 to 50 fish a day the fish were so stacked up in deep holes. Would be a shame to see the fishery hurt that way if it is as you say primarily dependent on natural reproduction.

NJ Fish & Wildlife found out about the slaughter and reacted to it.
Apparently, catfish in Pennsylvania have no minimum size and a 50 fish limit. (Fifty!) For some reason, the regulations for catfish in the Delaware defaulted to the Pennsylvania code and not the NJ code with a 12 inch minimum and a five fish limit.

http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/05...chap61toc.html

After what happened last winter, they proposed a change to the NJ regulations for 2016.

PROPOSED REGULATION CHANGES FOR DELAWARE RIVER
Currently, New Jersey has no minimum size or creel limit for Channel Catfish on the Delaware River and Pennsylvania allows up to 50 to be harvested each day. The Council proposes a minimum size limit of 12 inches and a daily limit of 5 per day. These limits are consistent with current size and creel limits for Channel Catfish in all other fresh waters in New Jersey. The harsh winter of 2014-2015 resulted in extensive ice forming on the river from Trenton through the Delaware Water Gap. The extended ice cover and liberal regulations resulted in unprecedented numbers of Channel Catfish being harvested by anglers. The event emphasized the need for more stringent regulations.

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/news/...e_proposal.htm


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[Chrisper4694]

Originally Posted by bigboy5522

Why do they stock the small fingerlings if they have a low survival rate? Why not hold them till they are alittle bigger?

exponentially costs more money the longer they hold the fish

Eskimo,

Thanks for the link and information. Didn't know Pa. regulations kicked in for NJ but either way it was unreal how many catfish, including some real monsters, were being taken every day. And almost every fish was snagged. Great to see NJ react quickly. I personally think with the cold weather and how quickly ice formed, every catfish in the river was in some of these deep holes to the extent guys could be snagging them to that degree in 30 to 35 feet of moving water! One guy I spoke to said there had to be thousands of channels in one of the holes I was at. Speaks highly of the health of the fishery but without the change in reg's you posted that fishery could be destroyed in it's entirety for the benefit of a few. And I'm not blaming the guys who harvested the fish. I wouldn't do it but if that's the law they're entitled to catch their limit. I was surprised for such a great sport fish the laws were that liberal and very surprised snagging was allowed, especially if the fishery is as Delawareriver said based on natural reproduction. I ran into a F&G guy at the Worthington State Park area on 1/9/16 who was just assigned to the area. We were talking about this exact point and he mentioned NJ was aware of what happened and there were most likely going to be changes. Glad to see they reacted as quickly as they have. Great news, thanks for posting.