Millstone River surveys...

[buzzbaiter]

Got my hands on surveys done in July & October 2013. 4 spots were surveyed - Griggstown, Blackwell Mills and upstream/downstream of Manville/Weston Dam. I can't upload the PDF here but can share some info. They basically electroshocked from boat anywhere from 150m up to 800m of the river. Most common species were Eels, carp, sunfish, darters and shiners. Few gamefish were found but among them were lmb, smb, pickerel and walleye. The size and depth of a stream can greatly affect collection so low gamefish numbers are not unusual. 6 walleye up to 27" were found downstream side of dam. One flathead catfish caught which was the first ever caught in that watershed. I asked for the data to see if any pike were found and they were not. Thanks to Shawn Crouse at the NJFGW for the help.

[Gatto1227]

No pike... shocker. Cool info though

[buzzbaiter]

I forgot striped bass. Being a numbers freak, I love perusing thru data liike this.


MILLSTONE RIVER

Summary

The Millstone River was sampled above and below the dam at the Wilhousky Street
Bridge (Manville / Weston Causeway) using the Smith-Root electrofishing boat to gather
fisheries information above and below the dam prior to dam removal, which is planned in
the near future. These surveys provided an excellent opportunity to gather general
fisheries information to assist in the management of the lower Millstone and Raritan
rivers. This system supports a diverse recreational fishery composed of over twenty
species. These surveys produced Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, four
catfish species (including the first documented Flathead Catfish in the watershed), Striped
Bass, Chain Pickerel, an assortment of panfish including sunfish and Yellow Perch,
Common Carp, and American Eel in addition to a variety of non-sport fish. One species
of interest was the Comely Shiner, a species relatively rare in New Jersey. Several
species were collected only below the dam, indicating the Weston Causeway dam may
prevent upstream movement. For example, 6 Walleye were collected, ranging from 17
inches and 1.7 lbs. up to 27 inches and 6.7 lbs., all below the dam, and the probably
source being the Raritan River, via the D & R Canal, via the Delaware River as no
Walleye are stocked within the watershed.

Recommendation: May consider re-sampling if /
when dam is removed in the future.

Activity: General Fisheries Survey Drainage: Millstone River

Location: Wilhousky St. (Manville/ Weston Causeway) County: Somerset
downstream of dam.

Date: July 19, 2013 Municipality: Manville Boro.

Sample length 800 m(this is about 1/2 mile)

Habitat assessment score -

Fish species Number

American Eel ~50
Gizzard Shad 1
Common Carp ~21
Comely Shiner 2
Satinfin Shiner 6
Spottail Shiner 1
White Sucker 4
Yellow Bullhead 2
Channel Catfish 3
Flathead Catfish 1
Gambusia sp. 20
Striped Bass 1
Bluegill ~20
Redbreast Sunfish ~100
Smallmouth Bass 4
Largemouth Bass 2
Yellow Perch 5
Walleye 6

[Delawareriver]

Very interesting especially the flathead. Wonder if it had any size? I shot two flatheads last night on the big D pretty far north one was about 15 lbs and another was about 10". They are definitely spreading

[Doug Vitale]

American Eel ~50
Gizzard Shad 1
Common Carp ~21
Comely Shiner 2
Satinfin Shiner 6
Spottail Shiner 1
White Sucker 4
Yellow Bullhead 2
Channel Catfish 3
Flathead Catfish 1
Gambusia sp. 20
Striped Bass 1
Bluegill ~20
Redbreast Sunfish ~100
Smallmouth Bass 4
Largemouth Bass 2
Yellow Perch 5
Walleye 6

Very unfortunate that after about twenty years of stocking the Millstone with tens of thousands of pike fingerlings, no pike were sighted during this recent survey. It could be a sign that future pike stockings would be better suited elsewhere.

[AndyS]

The Stony Brook- Millstone Watershed Association is working feverishly to remove dams to try to restore the natural American Shad reproduction there and F&G keeps dumping Northern Pike in there :confused:

[saxmatt]

The lack of pike in survey doesn't mean much. Pike are very hard to get while electrofishing. They spook easily and avoid the boats better than any species i've seen. I shocked 2 lakes up in CT where the pike are very abundant and we only got 1 between the 2 lakes. We shocked 6 spots on each lake, got thousands of panfish, hundreds of bass, 1 pike.

[buzzbaiter]

Millstone varies widely in type of water from shallow, fast moving riffles to nearly stagnant, snag-filled sections. Based upon what I read here, it was mostly the faster water surveyed and water near dams/eel weirs. Also gamefish tend to evade capture which is why state agencies often incorporate multi collection techniques over many days including nightboat electroshocking and trapnetting. I think this was more of a "what the heck lets see whats in there" survey as to opposed to a full court press, lets capture everything survey.

[tautog]

Don't see any pickerel listed either and I know there are plenty of those in the Millstone.

[buzzbaiter]

What you see is only one page. There are three other pages. They found chain pickerel but only a few.


Back in the day, my brother and I used a small seine to net baitfish. We'd walk out in a straight line and then corral the fish into a cove with the top of the net a good foot above the water. Most fish were easy to get but pickerel and bass often jumped over the net. We did this often in the delaware north of the gap and found all kinds of baby fish including shad, walleye, crappie, perch, bass, catfish and even a few muskellunge. A few of those fish found their way into our 100 gallon fish tank but not sure how;)

[Denlon]

I'm also surprised about NOT seeing any Crappies in the list.
Denlon

[buzzbaiter]

Denny 2 were found at the Griggstown causeway section:

MILLSTONE RIVER

Recommendation: No further sampling
warranted at this location.

Activity: General Fisheries Survey Drainage: Millstone River

Location: Griggstown causeway, survey ended at riffle County: Somerset
under bridge

Date: October 16, 2013 Municipality: Montgomery Twp.


Water temperature 16.9°C

Dissolved oxygen 6.70 mg/L

pH 7.17

Alkalinity 53.0 mg/L as CaCO3

Specific conductance 373.1 μS/cm

Sample length 150 m

Habitat assessment score 113 (suboptimal)

Fish species Number

American Eel 198
Comely Shiner 11
Satinfin Shiner 24
Common Shiner 6
Spottail Shiner 108
Swallowtail Shiner 5
Spotfin Shiner 9
Longnose Dace 8
Fallfish 3
White Sucker 10
Yellow Bullhead 5
Brown Bullhead 1
Channel Catfish 1
Margined Madtom 3
Banded Killifish 8
Rock Bass 1
Green Sunfish 8
Pumpkinseed 2
Bluegill 12
Redbreast Sunfish 58
Largemouth Bass 4
Black Crappie 2
Tessellated Darter 108

[ScowardNJ]

The Margined Madtom is new one to me.

[jimcnj]

Margined Madtom is a great name for a fish.

[bigfishy]

A lot of fish on that list that fall into the chub category!!!! Nice post and gr8 info thx