Columbia Lake Dam removal project ...

[buzzbaiter]

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/fwfisheries/columbia_dam_project.pdf

Glad to hear they will try to do some sort of fish salvage. Where those fish end up being moved to would be interesting to know as well. Got to be careful moving fish around lest some sort of disease gets moved as well.

Looking forward to seeing a free flowing 'Kill emptying into the Delaware. Next up is the Paulina Dam north of Blairstown. That would leave only the Paulinskill Lake dam as the only dam on the river. Residents there need not worry as its staying put - for now.

River is a already a good smallmouth bass, rock bass and redbreast sunfish river. Those 3 species dominate along with some fallfish, madtoms, suckers and various other species which wash out of the numerous ponds and lakes(Swartswood) located on the tribs to the river. Not sure if more trout will holdover with the 2 dams gone but one would think stream temps should be cooler come summertime. Should see shad return and increase each year. Curious to see how far upstream they go. Their young will be more food for the smallmouth which means the smallmouth fishery should be outstanding in the coming years. Kudos to all involved for having forward thinking and removing an obsolete structure and restoring to river to its natural state

[Dave B.]

I can't wait for this one to go down. I'd heard some time ago that this year was the tentative scheduled removal pending securing enough financing and all required permits. It'll be interesting to see what turns up in the salvage operation. I know there is at least one small location near the upper end of the lake that usually holds over a few trout, it'll be interesting to see what species and size of trout turn up.

My greatest hope though is that Blairstown is able to quickly follow through with their plans to remove Paulina. Just as the river is finally cooling down from the Paulinskill Lake outflow along with the warm inflow from Swartswood, it gets re-heated being impounded above the Paulina dam, thermally impacting the river for many miles downstream.

[AndyS]

Tear them all down !!!

[Billfish715]

That might be bigger than any of the other dams that have been torn down. It will offer a new fishery from there to the Big "D" and hopefully relieve some of the flooding upstream. It may take some time for what was the lake bottom sediment to firm up and for natural bankside vegetation to grow. Give it some time and we can be in for a real treat.

[Royal Coachman]

I have caught both American and Hickory Shad below that dam in good numbers. With early reports of another good Shad year coming up it can only help this fishery to have another spawning tributary. I'm with Andy, tear them all down!!

[Dave B.]

Lets not forget the other species that run up there only to be stopped by the dam as well. The walleyes come up from the 'D' in spring, when the water conditions are suitable the stripers run up to there, and when there's sufficient water in the fall some big river browns will likewise make an attempted spawning run up the 'kill only to be stopped by the dam. There is also a fair amount of smallie travel in and out of the 'kill from the 'D' throughout the year. Despite some intense opposition from some of the local residents to the loss of 'their' lake, this project can only be beneficial to the overall health of both the Paulinskill and the Delaware, not to mention the numerous fish species that will see a dramatic increase in available habitat.

Buzzbaiter, any word on the progress of the removal of Paulina? I figure you would hear of any news long before I would. The last I heard the town was having some difficulty acquiring funding for the project.

[Billfish715]

I didn't think I would revisit this topic but after the post about the bear in Blairstown on the Paulinskill on opening day, I wanted to add something. A fisherman from that area whom I met on opening day up by the Paulina Dam was ranting about the Columbia Dam removal.His complaint was about changing anything. Part of his argument was about the spawned out, dead shad along the banks up river to Blairstown. He was concerned about how many more bears would be attracted to and by the fish carcasses. I don't recall anyone talking about the same thing happening along the Delaware.