Raritan river data:

[AndyS]

VIDEO MONITORING PERFORMANCE
Raritan river-
From 2013 to 2021, we observed 65,287 fish passing through the IFW fishway, including 3491 American Shad and 708 river herring. We were unable to identify 13,971 fish (21.4%) from our video monitoring due to poor water clarity or poor lighting condition.

https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley....D1HB5V5wqKViQ5

[Jigman13]

They ever gonna put that camera back on?

[AndyS]

I don't think so unfortunately.

More data :

[Doug Vitale]

Originally Posted by AndyS

I don't think so unfortunately.

More data :

It's reassuring to see the healthy numbers of trout, bass and walleye. What I find odd (and disappointing) is the complete lack of any mention of muskellunge, northern pike, or pickerel. Given the distinct body shape of the esocid species, I would think that they would be easy to identify. Back in 2004 I caught a hefty 6-7 lb. pike just above the falls in the confluence of the Millstone and Raritan. It appears that Hackettstown hasn't stocked the Millstone with pike since 2017, but they did so for about 20 years before then. However, it appears that the pike didn't get established there at all when compared to how well they have done in the Passaic.

[tautog]

Originally Posted by Doug Vitale

It's reassuring to see the healthy numbers of trout, bass and walleye. What I find odd (and disappointing) is the complete lack of any mention of muskellunge, northern pike, or pickerel. Given the distinct body shape of the esocid species, I would think that they would be easy to identify. Back in 2004 I caught a hefty 6-7 lb. pike just above the falls in the confluence of the Millstone and Raritan. It appears that Hackettstown hasn't stocked the Millstone with pike since 2017, but they did so for about 20 years before then. However, it appears that the pike didn't get established there at all when compared to how well they have done in the Passaic.

Esox is the pike family so there are some listed.

[AndyS]

Yes, they lumped muskellunge pike and pickerel together under Esox as there really aren't that many using the ladder.

[Doug Vitale]

Originally Posted by tautog

Esox is the pike family so there are some listed.

Okay, I see now that they have an "esox" row in that table. Still, the numbers are disappointing. Perhaps since Hackettstown has stopped stocking the Millstone with pike, they should give the mainstem Raritan a try. Pike should thrive in the Raritan given the huge population of prey as shown in the table (sunfish, quillback, suckers, perch...heck, even the trout).

[Jigman13]

I've hooked several muskies in that area. Fortunate enough to land two... a 42" tiger and a 46" beast pure strain. The tiger was caught in the Fall. The pure strain was caught late April two years ago.

The walleye numbers are also surprising. I've seen a decline in volume and quality of fish since the covid peak. The river was heavily pressured and I saw a lot of irresponsible people killing and taking large specimens up and down the river. Heartbreaking...

[AndyS]

You can look way back and compare numbers if you like to.