Trout stocking by the numbers:

[AndyS]

This spring the Spruce Run Creek will get 3,210 trout while the main stem of the Raritan river will get 3,390 trout stocked.
Sorry, I don't get it

https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/trtinfo_spring19.htm

[Capt. Lou]

Andy maybe your getting all breeders !🐟🎣😉

[Jigman13]

This rain/precip keeps at this pace theyll all end up in the mainstem anyway...

[FASTEDDIE29]

Oh boy!!! I’d rather catch a the Stripers, Hybrids, Lm, Sm, Pike, Musky and other fun fish out of the Raritan! Stock the Trout already so I can put them on a Stringer and then put them in my garden whole as fertilizer!!!!!!

[Jigman13]

Oh boy!!! I’d rather catch a the Stripers, Hybrids, Lm, Sm, Pike, Musky and other fun fish out of the Raritan! Stock the Trout already so I can put them on a Stringer and then put them in my garden whole as fertilizer!!!!!!

Lol hahaha!

[AndyS]

I just like catching the ones that hold over so I have something to do in the fall.

[nsell]

Hey Andy,

I see you are concerned about trout numbers. Take a look at the 2018 stocking numbers of the South Branch of the Raritan compared to the 2019 stocking numbers of the South Branch of the Raritan and you will see a decrease of 2,780 trout. Also you will see an increase of almost 4000 trout for the Pequest.

This should be a concern to all. We need to increase stocking places was the reply I got. Less places to stock means less fish, simple as that.

[Mikey topaz]

What a waste of trout getting dumped into the main stem of the Raritan 😑

[Hookmanski]

As someone who is quite partial to the SRC, I don't think they're stocking enough in it! Most of the stocking points are very close to the end of the stream, one big rain and they all get washed into the reservoir. Can't stress how amazing that creek is, I've done a lot of exploring over the last year and there really aren't any water bodies that leave me in awe like the SRC. Maybe thats because i have a ton of secret spots ;)

[Jigman13]

What a waste of trout getting dumped into the main stem of the Raritan 😑

Theres no such thing as a waste of trout. It's all put and take aside from restricted rivers/streams. Just like the big fish stocked in RVR by RVTA--very few get released.

Those that do survive in the mainstem of RR can grow large. More forage and diversity of forage there versus most water bodies in NJ.

And maybe, just maybe--some hit the salt and return all shiny and chrome lol.

[thmyorke1]

I prefer trout in the fall/winter than spring. It would be cool if they shifted some resources from spring towards fall stockings, although I know this is unlikely with how popular spring trout fishing is.

Im surprised at how many trout production waters get stockings, but we've seen a few already get removed recently so this might continue.

[Mikey topaz]

Theres no such thing as a waste of trout. It's all put and take aside from restricted rivers/streams. Just like the big fish stocked in RVR by RVTA--very few get released.

Those that do survive in the mainstem of RR can grow large. More forage and diversity of forage there versus most water bodies in NJ.

And maybe, just maybe--some hit the salt and return all shiny and chrome lol.

Yeah right 😆 Someone that wants to catch a trout... isn’t gonna go to look ya main stem, so many better places it’s a waste lol

[Drossi]

This spring the Spruce Run Creek will get 3,210 trout while the main stem of the Raritan river will get 3,390 trout stocked.
Sorry, I don't get it

https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/trtinfo_spring19.htm

CONSPIRACY! I bet the Russians are behind it....

[Andrushkin33]

CONSPIRACY! I bet the Russians are behind it....


Da comrade,

On a side note we did receive a major contribution to our buckets from Gannets United.


Andre

[Hookmanski]

If you want to get angry about numbers, look at the musconetcong. 51,000 trout? Really? There are only a few other bodies of water getting over 20,000, they should spread the wealth there imo. Take 10-15k out of the musky and disperse them elsewhere. I get the musky is a popular river but aren't there a lot of clubs on it? Doesn't seem like it should be the river to get the most trout.

[Drossi]

If you want to get angry about numbers, look at the musconetcong. 51,000 trout? Really? There are only a few other bodies of water getting over 20,000, they should spread the wealth there imo. Take 10-15k out of the musky and disperse them elsewhere. I get the musky is a popular river but aren't there a lot of clubs on it? Doesn't seem like it should be the river to get the most trout.

It (and the Pequest) probably have the most public water. The upper Musky is pretty much all accessible from Waterloo down through where Rt 57 parallels it. The lower river I think has many of the clubs, not sure as I don't know that section as well. Don't ask me to explain their distro formula, I'm sure its all convoluted. Hell the Rahway river (and I use that term very loosely) gets 11,970!

[Billfish715]

I just like catching the ones that hold over so I have something to do in the fall.

Andy, Have you caught any "holdover" brown trout in the Raritan from the load that was stocked a few years ago when the hatchery was disposing of the infected fish? Quite a few were dumped into the Raritan and Rahway Rivers to name a few. What ever became of them? Stocking quotas have more to do with angler access and pressure than about holdover potential of the waterbody. Trout are stocked so that trout can be caught, as you know.

I do agree that sections of the Raritan have holdover possibilites but, yet, of all of the trout stocked, not too many seem to holdover. The Raritan is just not as hospitable to holdover possibilities as is the upper Delaware where monster browns and rainbows flourish and grow to enormous sizes. Limestone versus shale river bottoms might make a difference as does the constant river temperatures produced by regular water discharges from the reservoirs.

[Mark B.]

This spring the Spruce Run Creek will get 3,210 trout while the main stem of the Raritan river will get 3,390 trout stocked.
Sorry, I don't get it

https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/trtinfo_spring19.htm

Broken record keeps skipping,........skipping,......skipping,....same as it ever was,.....

[AndyS]

A few Brown Trout were encountered after the stocking in the lower Raritan. I know FazzEddie had a run in with a few. About 2 years after the Brown Trout stocking I had a woman contact me and F&W because she saw a large Brown Trout being retained in South Bound Brook during the normal closed season for most streams, around late March. She is a fly fisher person and knows her fish well but did not know that there was no closed season for trout on the lower section of the river. She said it was a very large healthy fish. There were scatted reports, but nothing confirmed.
A fall on the Raritan river with "normal" flows like a few years ago was lights out for the "holdover" trout. This past fall was a bust as it never stopped raining. Use the search bar at the top of the page and type in Raritan river and you will see.

[Lard Almighty]

When I go to the Raritan River main stem, I go there to catch smallies, or walleye, or stripers. I'm not going to make the trip there to catch the same stocked trout that are thrown into every other goose-toilet pond from Weehawken to Wildwood. It'd suit me just fine if the main stem never saw a stocking truck again.

[thmyorke1]

When I go to the Raritan River main stem, I go there to catch smallies, or walleye, or stripers. I'm not going to make the trip there to catch the same stocked trout that are thrown into every other goose-toilet pond from Weehawken to Wildwood. It'd suit me just fine if the main stem never saw a stocking truck again.

In the fall I might fish for trout there, but for spring I agree it's just not what Im targeting while on the raritan. Ill be catching rainbows but really just looking for a big mean bass :D

I wouldnt be totally against not stocking there- but only for spring... then stock it directly in the fall :p

Yet with all the people I saw fishing DIP - Nevius street bridge last year in the spring, I know spring stocking there isnt goign anywhere

[Mikey topaz]

When I go to the Raritan River main stem, I go there to catch smallies, or walleye, or stripers. I'm not going to make the trip there to catch the same stocked trout that are thrown into every other goose-toilet pond from Weehawken to Wildwood. It'd suit me just fine if the main stem never saw a stocking truck again.

The truth!!!! Well said lard!

[AndyS]

I don't rush to Raritan to catch 10 inch trout either, but like I said, enjoy catching the ones that hold over in the fall and winter.

[Drossi]

I don't rush to Raritan to catch 10 inch trout either, but like I said, enjoy catching the ones that hold over in the fall and winter.

As you should that's a cool holdover.

But more trout stocked doesn't automatically = more holdovers. Each stream, even very marginal ones, will holdover fish. But every stream has a finite carrying capacity of food and optimal lies that effect how many will have the ability to hold over.

Remember the goal of the stocking program isn't to maximize holdover trout, it's to maximize angler enjoyment! And that helps determine the stocking allocations, more angler usage = more trout stocked. If the state wanted to maximize holdover trout fisheries they'd stock nothing but brown trout as they are more tolerable of the higher end of water temps.

FWIW - my favorite streams are mostly on the low end of stocking allocations also but they are also on the lower end of angler usage.