Headgates dam Raritan river Duke Island Park:

[AndyS]

http://www.nj.com/somerset/index.ssf/2014/01/dep_to_consider_removal_of_last_dam_on_main_stem_o f_raritan_river.html

http://www.nj.com/somerset/index.ssf/2014/01/dep_to_consider_removal_of_last_dam_on_main_stem_o f_raritan_river.html?fb_action_ids=102030732360985 67&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_ref=s%3DshowShareBarUI%3Ap%3Dfacebook-like&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B291309510994031%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.likes%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%22s%3DshowShareBarUI%3Ap%3Dface book-like%22%5D

[FASTEDDIE29]

Wow!!! That will be amazing to see.

[kcritch]

That would be a really good thing. The water just above that dam in summer is just nasty....looks devoid of life all the time. It will be great to see how much it changes when the flow is unrestricted. The difference at Nevius st. still amazes me. I hope it gets done and not held up in a bunch of red tape.

Cool stuff for sure.

[calbo]

Yes - the difference at Nevius Street is amazing - it's now virtually devoid of fish after 80+ years of great fishing - 55 of which I can attest to. The water above the "damn" is and always has been fine for bass, carp, catfish, suckers, sunnies and other slower, warmer water species - if you want others travel farther upstream or downstream.

Rather than wasting $'s removing the damns put the $'s into cleaning up the causes of pollution and stocking.

I enjoy fishing in all sorts of environs - rivers, lakes, ponds, and surf - local and in NJ, Block Island, Nantuckett, the Outer Banks. I also enjoy fishing for Salmon and Steelhead in New York - on damn controlled rivers that would not support the salmonid population without the damns that control the flow to the rivers - so don't respond that I don't know how or where to fish (Andy).

The damns provide holding areas for fish - predatory fish can trap bait-fish against the damn and they hold there looking for easy meals. The oxygenated water beneath the damns also helps support the game fish. Damns in the west and mid-west have converted dead rivers into fantastic tail-water fisheries.

And, as I've stated before in several posts - I have seen and caught stripers and shad above the Nevius Street spillway (damn) - they can and did easily navigate above the small structure.

I'm getting tired of listening to the arm-chair ichthyologist claiming removing these structures is going to improve the Raritan.

[NJMountainMan]

I had a blast at the Nevius St. Dam this past spring. I got two trout over 20" there, and it was a great spot to fish. A Raritan twp. police officer showed me the spot when he saw me fishing down river of the dam. I was looking for the spot where the guys were catching muskies in the spring. Too bad I learned about it this past year! I fished it a bunch of times this spring, I also caught some large shad there (released). I was walking the dam one day and a lamprey or a eel (about 4ft long and brown) shot up in the air in front of me trying to get up the dam. It sure did scare the crap out of me! It was a great spot to fish, but I have mixed feelings about tearing it down. I definitely watched the lamprey struggle trying to get up the dam only to be washed away. There were a bunch of shad below the dam that did not seem like they were getting very far.

[calbo]

Glad you had a good time - kiss it good bye - the "damn" is gone. I used to fish their all winter and catch rainbows and brookies and an occasional brown - fall stocked and usually large. The crew took down the spillway - gone for ever.

Fished there since I as 5 years old - sad to see it destroyed.

[AndyS]

It's a long 23 minute video, but a good one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCQiaT1KcPo

[shucker]

Yes - the difference at Nevius Street is amazing - it's now virtually devoid of fish after 80+ years of great fishing - 55 of which I can attest to. The water above the "damn" is and always has been fine for bass, carp, catfish, suckers, sunnies and other slower, warmer water species - if you want others travel farther upstream or downstream.

Rather than wasting $'s removing the damns put the $'s into cleaning up the causes of pollution and stocking.

I enjoy fishing in all sorts of environs - rivers, lakes, ponds, and surf - local and in NJ, Block Island, Nantuckett, the Outer Banks. I also enjoy fishing for Salmon and Steelhead in New York - on damn controlled rivers that would not support the salmonid population without the damns that control the flow to the rivers - so don't respond that I don't know how or where to fish (Andy).

The damns provide holding areas for fish - predatory fish can trap bait-fish against the damn and they hold there looking for easy meals. The oxygenated water beneath the damns also helps support the game fish. Damns in the west and mid-west have converted dead rivers into fantastic tail-water fisheries.

And, as I've stated before in several posts - I have seen and caught stripers and shad above the Nevius Street spillway (damn) - they can and did easily navigate above the small structure.

I'm getting tired of listening to the arm-chair ichthyologist claiming removing these structures is going to improve the Raritan.

Really!!!!!Dams hold the river back and load up silt and pollutants above them, I've never seen the river cleaner and healthier since the 3 dams were removed.The good fishing you speak of is because fish are trapped in these areas which makes your average fisherman become a star,instead of trying and learn a river and the secrets they hold.

[bigfishy]

Vry much agreed with shucker....
I guess its looked at as bad when you can no longer stand in one spot ALL day and catch fish...Well its a river....Move around, the fish sure do...

[AndyS]

Tell the half a million shad that used to run up the Raritan river how good the dams are. They were called the "founding fish" because the early Indians used to rely on these fish as a food sorce to hold them over. I don't think we will see half a million shad returning to the Raritan river each year, but to think it had a run that rivals the Delaware river is amazing.

[Worksforjerks]

If this actually happens I am buying a drift boat

[EJS]

Really!!!!!Dams hold the river back and load up silt and pollutants above them, I've never seen the river cleaner and healthier since the 3 dams were removed.The good fishing you speak of is because fish are trapped in these areas which makes your average fisherman become a star,instead of trying and learn a river and the secrets they hold.

Shucker, You are 100% correct... well said!!! What people fail to realize... If mother nature wanted an impoundment at that location, mother nature would have put one there! The algae bloom choked the life out of the river, dropping saturated Oxygen to almost immeasurable levels! Heavy contaminates simply sank and were trapped in the silt/slime because the flow rates were hampered by a dam. Fish migrations stopped in their tracks. Water temps rose with such a low flow rate.

[EJS]

If this actually happens I am buying a drift boat

Laughing.... Andy, you have some competition!

[Lard Almighty]

http://www.njfishing.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=66851&d=1388342784

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/575586_10101210580044771_198875965_n.jpg

http://i1163.photobucket.com/albums/q544/Gatto1227/null_zps5b00d48_edit_1388328809223_zps4coh9l0v.jpg

http://www.njfishing.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=64314&d=1379795566

http://www.njfishing.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=63892&d=1378605550

http://www.njfishing.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=61395&d=1373773528

http://www.njfishing.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=58830&d=1369006258

Yeah, those dams coming down are just killing the river. :rolleyes:

[JimmyMas]

I say take them all down! What a great day that would be. The Raritan River has such a bright future! CPR!

[Dave B.]

Hah! Best testament yet Lard!! Nice!

[jimmythegreek]

absolutely........can we get a private fund setup for a sea run trout program that will actually work? I got my $$ ready to donate, forget pulaski lets do it right here at home

[NickN]

absolutely........can we get a private fund setup for a sea run trout program that will actually work? I got my $$ ready to donate, forget pulaski lets do it right here at home

I hear that.... I'll kick in a few bucks. Where are we going to build the hatchery?

[EJS]

absolutely........can we get a private fund setup for a sea run trout program that will actually work? I got my $$ ready to donate, forget pulaski lets do it right here at home

It's a killer idea! With notariety comes money!

[steve392]

anyone think if they took the dundee dam down on the passaic in garfield it would improve the river at all?

[acabtp]

anyone think if they took the dundee dam down on the passaic in garfield it would improve the river at all?
Unfortunately no. The Dundee dam keeps the tons of dioxin, PCBs, and other contaminants in the Passaic River mud from being dispersed upriver by the tide any farther north than Garfield. Without it, the stretch of river from Garfield to Paterson would be just as polluted as the stretch from Garfield to the Newark Bay Complex. It is a shame really, but the lower Passaic is the most polluted river in the state and there are billions and billions of dollars of chemical remediation work that must be completed before the Dundee could come down.

[jimcnj]

Any chance the Rahway River dams could come down?