Raritan river WALLEYE !! 3/25:

[ChaosStarter]

nice catch andy!

[GoIslanders]

Certainly not a rant. I agree that the Raritan could be stocked better and they need to develop it as a better fishery. I don't know about the interference with American shad, but they also want to develop the striper run there, too, and stripers DEFINTELY like to eat shad.

In addition, the D & R canal needs to be stocked in more locations with different fish.

I had written a lengthy email to DFW some time ago about doing some stocking of waters in Union County with warm water fish, not just the trout stocking the do in Lower Echo Lake and in the Rahway River. The replied, but it basically said, thanks, but since you're not coming to the open forum your email basically doesn't count. The freshwater forum was to be held in South Jersey about 1.5 hours from my house. Really? They would discount my email just because I wasn't going to the forum. That stinks.

[Lard Almighty]

The Raritan should be stocked more, but not with game fish. Stocking herring and other forage fish should be top priority to strengthen the food chain from the bottom up. Once the baitfish population booms, it will only be a short while until the smallie, walleye, pike, etc. populations start to grow on their own. Stocking game fish may benefit in the short term, but ultimately will mean less food to go around, and could end up hurting the river a lot more than it helps.