2023 Freshwater Fisheries Forum Feb. 25th

[bigfishy]

Ty for posting this the1. !!! Good stuff

[thmyorke1]

Your welcome, not listed were some things spoken during the call.
I mentioned a few topics, here's some of it written down from my memory, Obviously not an exact transcript:

Q: Tackle and Bait Shops have been struggling with Shiner/Liver Bait supply issues, can the state assist with raising shiners? Like they do with Golden Shiners for RV and Mosquito-fish for Municipal mosquito programs?
A: The state cant sell its fish to public, nor tackle shops.

Freshwater Drum:
Q: Where do you think the freshwater drum came from?
A: Likely they hitchhiked off ships' ballasts coming from the Hudson River

Snakeheads:
Q: So the state is monitoring snakeheads in the south and Delware tributaries, but how about the more northern delware tributaries and watershed? As I heard some were found upstream this year like the musconetcong?
A: They are also interested in their growth in upstream/northern regions. They already know snakeheads will swim significantly far to keep searching for suitable habitat. They can expect more northern colonization of snakeheads in the future.
(I forget the lists of streams where they found snakeheads, but Shawn did confirm they had one in the flatbrook too this year?)

Public Access:
Q: I have noticed more and more fishing spots, like on rivers, creeks, and smaller ponds, get shut down to public access. Can NJ try and replicate NY's Public Fishing Rights thing where they work with landowners to leave river banks open to the public? The Pandermic especially encouraged towns and counties to close down their public access with blockades.
A: First, most of the pandemic closures should all be lifted. If any municipal or county access sites are still closed, email Shawn or contact F&W.
As for Privately owned stuff, not too much said. They did say, (sort of like a PSA although most people on the call already follow this); to make sure they leave no litter and pick up after themselves.

[NJSquatch]

Thanks for posting Luke! I forgot to make a copy of them.

Couple more things of interest that I noted.

They are finalizing the design for the gwl ramp at browns point with an emphasis on maximizing parking. No timeline on completion. The way things move at the state level we will be lucky if it happens in our lifetimes.

The state will be releasing the results of the lake trout survey on MCR

F&W will also be releasing the recording of the meeting in the future.

[thmyorke1]

And every trout topic/question was pushed out to the trout meeting next week. Which idk if i will make but maybe i can join on mobile as i fish

[NJSquatch]

Meeting Recording has been posted

Meeting Agenda
https://dep.nj.gov/njfw/news-2023021...sheries-forum/

Freshwater Fisheries Meeting Recording
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5p_0Qm1R14