Park Lake fishing 🎣 in a 30 knot crosswind

[NJ219bands]

Went fishing 🎣 in 60.9 degrees Dam Site 21 this evening on a warm, sunny ☀️ day with a 30 knot south wind 💨 crosswind. Too many fishermen were there but nobody was in my fishing 🎣 spot. A fisherman who has permission to fish on the Earle Ammunition Pier showed me a photo of the big striped bass that he caught there. I gave him two of my twister tail jigs. A young Latina girl showed me a photo of the snakehead that she caught and released in the lake near the shuttered cinema earlier in the day. I threw out canned, whole kernel corn 🌽 for chum, then caught nothing while ultralight jigging. Caught and released a brown bullhead with corn 🌽 bait. On my last cast of the day, I caught a 28” 11 lb 12 oz common carp for my 15th carp catch in that spot since July. Lots of noisy Canada geese were flying late in the day. No cars were in the parking lot when I left. Fishing 🎣 in a 30 knot crosswind was very difficult. I caught carp in three different spots in the last week. The 2025 Central Jersey carp run has begun.

[AndyS]

I thought you weren't supposed to releases snakeheads ?? They are great eating BTW.

[Broad Bill]

Andy c'mon. People aren't supposed to jay walk, litter or throw tires and Ganesha figurines in the Raritan, cheat on their taxes or drive over the speed limit either. Give it a break. I don't think eating anything from that lake or any lake in the area would be advisable to one's health. You do a lot of great stuff for the outdoors which is very much appreciated but you don't need to repeatedly question people's choices to let something live just because the government has a different agenda and wants it killed. If it was proven snakeheads and flatheads were decimating or damaging indigenous stocks I'd have a different opinion but there's no proof of any such thing so let people report without being judged. Concentrate on what you do an amazing job at and allow people to make their own decisions about questionable regulations without fear of being called out. It's why God gave each of us a brain. I've never caught a snakehead, but if I did it would be released. I've caught many flatheads in NJ and Pa. and everyone was let go because they're a great sport fish and no more harmful to an ecosystem than muskies. carp or channel catfish which eat everything. You could argue the same about brown trout which are the most gluttonous fish I've ever fished for. enormous appetites and eat everything. Blue catfish are a different story as there's solid evidence they're causing detrimental consequences to the Chesapeake but that didn't stop Virginia from stocking them and creating enormous problems for the bay and it's inhabitants so why should recreational anglers be held to a different standard regarding what they can keep and what they have to kill? You've been talking about killing flatheads and snakeheads on this site for 10 years, what indigenous stocks over that time frame have been negatively impacted by either?

[AndyS]

What don't you understand about the word INVASIVE ???

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by AndyS

What don't you understand about the word INVASIVE ???

What is it that you don't understand about the fact that many people enjoy fishing for both species and you not being able to prove they've caused harm to any existing native fishery or ecosystem? What I understand less is your insistence on judging other people's choices and opinions who post here.

[AndyS]

Originally Posted by Broad Bill

What is it that you don't understand about the fact that many people enjoy fishing for both species and exactly what proven harm have they caused to any existing native fishery or ecosystem?

Yet.......

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by AndyS

Yet.......

There's no relevance whatsoever of that picture to this discussion. But I'll play along, what's the point you're trying to make?