Trout Meeting

[Mike M]

Who is going to the trout meeting tomorrow?

[UglyStick]

My wife and I will be there... sounds like they will re-state the plan as presented at the last meeting down south and maybe review feedback they have received so far. I think the main point of it is to take 1 last chance to get feedback on the plan before it goes to the F&W council for final approval on Tues 3/11

[AndyS]

I'll try to be there.

[Mike M]

Hope to see everybody there I will be wearing an NJFishing tee shirt.

[AndyS]

Good meeting, about 100 people there, most 50 years of age or older.
The Passaic and Raritan are going to get a ton of trout this year.
Gonna be one heck of an interesting year. Wish I saw more of a younger crowd there but it is what it is, ran into a few NJF members as well.
Good showing from RVTA and KDC

[NorthJerzyG]

Did they say when they will be getting started? Prob next week or so, right?

[AndyS]

YES. They want to UNLOAD the hatchery ASAP. People talked about alternating weeks during stocking to keep the 7 week season but F&G said we gotta move these fish now, so a 4 week in season stocking stands.

[FASTEDDIE29]

Interesting year indeed.............. Cant wait!!!!!!!

[Mike M]

Good meeting, about 100 people there, most 50 years of age or older.
The Passaic and Raritan are going to get a ton of trout this year.
Gonna be one heck of an interesting year. Wish I saw more of a younger crowd there but it is what it is, ran into a few NJF members as well.
Good showing from RVTA and KDC

Nice talking to you and Wilson after the meeting. Hope to fish with you this year.

[Wilson]

Nice talking to you and Wilson after the meeting. Hope to fish with you this year.


Why would you....we don't catch shit:D

Nice to meet you too.

My 2 cents on this whole disease thing is it's being hyped way too much.
This naturally occurring disease is bad for fish but not humans. It has been around for a 100 years, and was yearly occurrence in the Hackettstown hatchery.
Pennsylvania offered to buy are disease carrier fish so they can stock them anywhere in Pa.!!!!!
The only way to almost insure against furunculosis is to enclose the entire raceway area and re-plumb the water supply so there is no cross contamination.

The state can't even fix a boat dock on RVV, how are they gonna pull off a hatchery re-build:confused:

[Mike M]

Why would you....we don't catch @#!*% :D

Nice to meet you too.

My 2 cents on this whole disease thing is it's being hyped way too much.
This naturally occurring disease is bad for fish but not humans. It has been around for a 100 years, and was yearly occurrence in the Hackettstown hatchery.
Pennsylvania offered to buy are disease carrier fish so they can stock them anywhere in Pa.!!!!!
The only way to almost insure against furunculosis is to enclose the entire raceway area and re-plumb the water supply so there is no cross contamination.

The state can't even fix a boat dock on RVV, how are they gonna pull off a hatchery re-build:confused:
You and Andy catch your share of fish I agree with you 100% on the disease situation The old hatchery had disease outbreaks all the time. Its a part of nature.

[FASTEDDIE29]

I wouldn't mind paying 5-10 dollars more for a fishing license. I'd rather pay more for the safety of NJ's hatchery fish than watch them go to waste. We have it easy when it comes to fishing licenses. I've bought a PA, NY, Maine and Vermont license all in one season. Fishing gets pricey when you go out of state. Being passionate can be costly but 33 dollars for a NJ Fishing license is dirt cheap considering the fishery and diversity our little state has. If there was a way I could help I would.

[gwl2oneida]

I was hoping to hit wanawue river since its so close. My non resident license wasn't to cheap with the addition of that stamp.

[Wilson]

I was hoping to hit wanaque river since its so close. My non resident license wasn't to cheap with the addition of that stamp.
They lowered the price this year to maybe $60.00 but a NY non resident license with no endorsements is $70.00. $54.00 non resident with a Trout stamp for NJ is in line with PA;) Just saying:)

[Dave B.]

Why would you....we don't catch shit:D

Nice to meet you too.

My 2 cents on this whole disease thing is it's being hyped way too much.
This naturally occurring disease is bad for fish but not humans. It has been around for a 100 years, and was yearly occurrence in the Hackettstown hatchery.
Pennsylvania offered to buy are disease carrier fish so they can stock them anywhere in Pa.!!!!!
The only way to almost insure against furunculosis is to enclose the entire raceway area and re-plumb the water supply so there is no cross contamination.

The state can't even fix a boat dock on RVV, how are they gonna pull off a hatchery re-build:confused:

Agree completely Wilson, far too much hype and holler about a little germ. As you say Hackettestown stocked exposed and treated trout statewide for nearly 2 decades. Hell, in addition to Furunculosis they regularly battled IPNV there! These 2 pathogens were the main reason they brought in brookies from the federal hatchery in PA for many years to offset what was lost at Hayford. They (the diseases) are also why not a single fish from Hackettestown was ever introduced to Pequest when it went online in 1980.
Anyone who was around to enjoy the 1st fall stocking in '84 when they emptied out Hackettestown should have some outstanding trout memories! Literally tons of fish, all 3 species, all sizes, and active ascan be right through Nov into Dec! The odds are strong we'll never see the likes of that again!

Oh yeah, and PA stocks exposed and treated fish statewide every year. Anyone ever hear of an outbreak as a result?

[Almaink]

Does F&G have a clue what they are going to do? I just checked F&G web page to see Mercer Lake is now getting 8,000 trout pre season, it was 4,000 last week. But when I checked the allocation PDF Lake Mercer wasn't even on the list? I wonder what list is correct?
It is on this list
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/2014/trout_changes14.pdf

But missing from this one.
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/2014/trout_allocation14-sched.pdf

I also question the wisdom of dumping 8,000 trout in a lake that is managed for muskies. The Assunpink is right there why not put them in there instead, or put more in the other local lakes that get stocked?

[Eskimo]

.


I will be wearing an NJFishing tee shirt.


Are NJFishing t-shirts still available?


Fishing gets pricey when you go out of state.

It sure does. I paid $50 last month for a Florida non-resident saltwater-only license.



.

[Dave B.]

Does F&G have a clue what they are going to do? I just checked F&G web page to see Mercer Lake is now getting 8,000 trout pre season, it was 4,000 last week. But when I checked the allocation PDF Lake Mercer wasn't even on the list? I wonder what list is correct?
It is on this list
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/2014/trout_changes14.pdf

But missing from this one.
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/2014/trout_allocation14-sched.pdf

I also question the wisdom of dumping 8,000 trout in a lake that is managed for muskies. The Assunpink is right there why not put them in there instead, or put more in the other local lakes that get stocked?

The omission of Mercer Lake on the one list was a typo. The other list which was posted on the Div. website on Feb 21 had Mercer listed for 8,000 as it still does. You may have mis-read it initially but I have the Feb 21 printout in hand showing the 8,000 number for Mercer. I also have a copy of the proposed list direct from the Div showing Mercer recieving 8,000. Hopefully there are no other mis-leading typos, I haven't checked the entire list myself. Given all that our limited Freshwater Fisheries staff have had to deal with throughout this entire situation I think I can forgive them a minor typo here and there.
Naturally the muskies are going to have a blast chowing on those trout but some of them will find their way upstream into the creek around Edinburg.
As for the other area waters if you check the list against last years you'll see they are all getting much higher allocations already. Some examples, Assunpink Crk 2013 Season total-1,380...2014 Total-2,280 Rosedale Lk 2013-1,520...2014 Total-2,470 Stony Brk 2013-2,930...2014-3,800 Colonial Lk 2013-1,210...2014-2,030
Also keep in mind the bulk of these fish are going in pre-season although the in-season numbers are slightly higher than usual too in most cases. Some pre-season numbers...Assunpink-1,400 Colonial Lk-1,330 Rosedale Lk-1,390 Stony Brk-2,440
I hope this helps to answer some of your questions. If you check the entire list you'll find that the normal numbers on just about all of the normally stocked non-trout waters are scheduled to be greatly exceeded this spring. Ought to make for some fast action fishing for a good while in alot of places!

[Polelock]

Catch, but do not eat from non trout waters... In all the documents and power points, I did not read anything about Florfenicol which is used to treat the fish...
From the Div, "The bacterium does not pose any health risks to humans. It is not advisable however, to eat any species of fish
or wildlife that appears to be diseased."

Here is the MSDS Link on the antibiotic.
http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/aadap/03_Florfenicol/06_MSDSs/MSDS%2010-697_Florfenicol.pdf

Lets just keep our fingers crossed that rolling the dice now doesn't come back to get us 5 years down the road...

[Almaink]

Thanks for the reply Dave B.. Polelock I read that MSDS link but it said nothing about eating fish treated with Florfenicol, nor can I find anything online about the health risks of eating these fish.
Was anything said during any of the meetings about it?

[UglyStick]

This has been discussed already in other posts - Studies show that 15 days after the end of administration salmonids are safe for harvest and human consumption. Catfish is even less at 12 days.

[Mark B.]

This has been discussed already in other posts - Studies show that 15 days after the end of administration salmonids are safe for harvest and human consumption. Catfish is even less at 12 days.

Correct,..........they will be held @ Pequest for the specified amount of time before they are stocked.

[Almaink]

The omission of Mercer Lake on the one list was a typo. The other list which was posted on the Div. website on Feb 21 had Mercer listed for 8,000 as it still does. You may have mis-read it initially but I have the Feb 21 printout in hand showing the 8,000 number for Mercer. I also have a copy of the proposed list direct from the Div showing Mercer recieving 8,000. Hopefully there are no other mis-leading typos, I haven't checked the entire list myself. Given all that our limited Freshwater Fisheries staff have had to deal with throughout this entire situation I think I can forgive them a minor typo here and there.
Naturally the muskies are going to have a blast chowing on those trout but some of them will find their way upstream into the creek around Edinburg.
As for the other area waters if you check the list against last years you'll see they are all getting much higher allocations already. Some examples, Assunpink Crk 2013 Season total-1,380...2014 Total-2,280 Rosedale Lk 2013-1,520...2014 Total-2,470 Stony Brk 2013-2,930...2014-3,800 Colonial Lk 2013-1,210...2014-2,030


Also keep in mind the bulk of these fish are going in pre-season although the in-season numbers are slightly higher than usual too in most cases. Some pre-season numbers...Assunpink-1,400 Colonial Lk-1,330 Rosedale Lk-1,390 Stony Brk-2,440
I hope this helps to answer some of your questions. If you check the entire list you'll find that the normal numbers on just about all of the normally stocked non-trout waters are scheduled to be greatly exceeded this spring. Ought to make for some fast action fishing for a good while in alot of places!

Well, apparently not. In todays paper it said Lake Mercer will get no fish at all now. It seems Mercer Counties biologist told F&G she didn't want those fish put into Lake Mercer, because they could contaminate the other fish in the lake. So we get no fish at all now. I'd like to know who this woman is and who gave her this power. I didn't think it was a good idea to put those trout into Lake Mercer in the first place but not for her reason. I wonder where they will put them now. The paper also said Shadow Lake won't be stocked now either. Thats 12,000 preseason fish going where? Nothing at F&G website either about any of this yet.

[Dave B.]

I'm not sure what you mean by 'Mercer Co's biologist'. Does this mean the county has it's own biologist? If so I don't believe such a person would have the power to dictate policy to the Div. F & W is responsible for managing all the fisheries in the state. This even extends to private ponds and lakes, a stocking permit from the Div.is required even for private waters.

All that aside it is possible that Mercer may be removed from the list as may other waters. As well some numbers may yet be changed. I can assure you that no final decisions have yet been made despite whatever rhetoric may be floating about but they should be forthcoming very soon since we are now officially into the pre-season closure period.

[Almaink]

Here is what was in the paper.

http://www.trentonian.com/sports/20140315/rick-methot-trout-hatchery-disease-sparks-action-in-new-jersey

[Dave B.]

Thanks for the link 'Almaink', I appreciate it. Since I was unable to attend either the trout meeting at Hackettestown or the NJF&W council meeting I've been relying on private contact with the Div. to try to keep everyone as updated as possible.
If Pat H. did indeed make the statements attributed to her then you can bank on the accuracy on them. In addition to covering the upper Delaware watershed/N.W. Jersey territory she is, as many here know, in charge of the overall trout program in the state including the WTS program, although in recent years biologist Ross Shramko has taken on the duties of handling the vast majority of the stocking program.

So it would appear that 2 lakes have been removed from the '1-time' list. As for the Mercer Co. naturalists' purported stance of not wanting the possible introduction of the bacteria into the lake, apparently she's not that informed. The bacteria was there before the lake since the Assunpink has been stocked since at least the early '60s, which means it recieved thousand of those potential carrier fish from the old Hackettestown hatchery. As well it is still getting those potential carrier fish stocked immediately above the lake into the Assunpink at Edinburg.

Regarding the 'Bonus Broodstock Lakes' program, I've been purposely avoiding that subject since there have been no solid decisions made yet, except that there would be some sort of continuation of the program this year.

Regarding the author's comment on the number stocked last year versus the proposed number for this year in relation to Lisa's comment, the 614,000+ figure from last year is the actual total stocked. However the baseline proposed total was the same as this year at approx. 570,000. With very few exceptions the Pequest hatchery staff manage to produce 30-50K more fish each year than the baseline number, a real testament to the knowledge and skill of those folks.

Finally, thanks to Michael82929 as always for helping to keep us informed on the stocking program. Always useful and valuable info, this time he's tossed us a pretty intense teaser that I'm certain will be of interest to just about everyone.

[Almaink]

This whole thing is turning into a soap opera. Better information between the hatchery and the places the fish are going would be nice, they have a web site and should use it better. If it wasn't for this site and Dave B. we would be completely in the dark. Thanks again for the updates Dave.