2017 Freshwater Fishing Digest

[Lard Almighty]

It's here!

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/digfsh17.htm

There do not appear to be any significant changes from last year. There are some interesting articles about dam removals and hooking mortality.

[23cardinal]

Anybody see for trout- during spring stocking season- seasonal tcas- gear regulations do not apply? Pg 23
Curious how that will go- i know that marked section of the pequannock usually is very popular with fly fisherman

And hooray almost time to regular fish.

And yea lard- some of those hook studies were mentioned in trout unlimited this year- cool stuff. Dam removals is all new to me- cool read ty

[Delawareriver]

Always been like that as far as I know hence why they are called seasonal conservational

[ReelErIn]

Check out page 42 I'm still a celeb in NJ.

[23cardinal]

Always been like that as far as I know hence why they are called seasonal conservational

I've never really fished it in season- always packed. But in hindsight yes- I suppose your right. I'm not always the brightest at 3am lol my mistake

[AndyS]

Thanx for posting.

[Dave B.]

It's here!

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/digfsh17.htm

There do not appear to be any significant changes from last year. There are some interesting articles about dam removals and hooking mortality.

You won't see any changes until next year if any. We're on a 2 year reg cycle now. This was process was initiated in 2013 to take effect in 2014. Since it takes a substantial amount of time to move a proposed reg change through the entire process of scientific review, public input periods, additional review and hearings by the F&G council, and often legal and/or review other by the DEP personnel it can take anywhere from 1+ to 3 or more years to enact a reg change. In light of this the Freshwater Fisheries bureau decided to switch to a 2 year reg cycle to ease both the pressure on all involved to work through any proposals and to make things a bit easier on us anglers to keep abreast of any changes that are enacted.

All that aside, both of the articals Lard mentions are very interesting reads. I've been well aware of the 'Barbed vs Barbless' argument and all the science disproving the purported benefits of going barbless for many years.

As for dam removals, personally I'm anxiously awaiting the beginning of such work on both the Paulina and Columbia Lake dams on the Paulinskill. With Paulina gone there will be a much improved stretch of good quality holdover water in the Blairstown area, and with the demise of Columbia Lake we should see the return of spawning runs of both numerous anadromous species along with a number of freshwater species including trout and walleye. Time will tell.
Sorry for the ramble!!

Oh, don't forget to grab your 2017 licenses! Already on sale!