Re: Are comprants destroying lake fishing for trout?
 

First off, the stocking of trout in waters that are not hold over and pretty much a waste of time to put it frankly is what the state MUST do. They put forth a temporary fishery for those who decide they need to get out or a few days to fish. When you purchase your license and buy the trout stamp, you are only purchasing a privilege to attempt to catch the fish that the State stocks where they chose and your stamp fee subsidizes that cost to raise and stock the fish. The state chooses the obvious best streams and lakes to stock but must also include urban lakes and streams as well as shallow state and county ponds to stock to give all who purchase the stamp a chance to fish . Alot of people who can not travel far or do not have the gear to wade and fish a stream or a boat to fish a lake need the opportunity to get out and fish. The state tries to give this opportunity to all who wish to catch the stocked fish. Personally I do not trout fish and the last time I was out on opening day was 20 yrs ago and never plan to go again, but I do understand the excitement of opening day, for me it's 365 days a year weather permitting so trout fishing in the spring has no real significance. On the subject of cormorants
, those birds need to be significantly thinned out. The amount of birds I've recently seen is disturbing espically in mid to southern nj waters. I can not phathom the amount of fish they must deplete. It's just not stocked trout, it's all juvenile species. Mother Nature can be a bitch. Just my 2 cents..

Re: Are comprants destroying lake fishing for trout?
 

Ted, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.
You suggest shooting rifles in park ponds (not helpful) and I'm the tough guy hiding being the screen? BTW,I fish with a ten year old, too.
Again, sorry.

Re: Are comprants destroying lake fishing for trout?
 

Exactly!

It's all about the money! Putting trout in the frog water sells licenses with trout stamps. God forbid people drive to a cold water stream, a river or a reservoir for trout! Instead Fish & Game has taken the supermarket approach, a 1 stop shop for any fish you want to catch in your local duck pond!

Re: Are comprants destroying lake fishing for trout?
 

They have ruined Colonial Lake in Lawrenceville as well. I hear they were taking surveys about these birds on opening day, lets hope F&G does something.

Re: Are comprants destroying lake fishing for trout?
 

Yes, opening day, the state volunteer asked me how many I've seen so hopefully a plan is in the works. the problem I have with them now is the numbers. I've fished Verona park my whole life and there used to be 1 or 2, now there is 5 possibly more. There has to be a middle ground between killing them off and letting them harm fisheries.

Re: Are comprants destroying lake fishing for trout?
 

Not everybody has a car. And, is that what you really want? An additional dozen people at your favorite hole? And is fishing a stream or river where the trout are all holding in one pool under the stocking point really that much more of a challenge that the one stop "shop" at the local duck pond?

Re: Are comprants destroying lake fishing for trout?
 

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Cormorants can be a real problem. It's always controversial when sportsmen have to compete with a native species of protected waterfowl for fish.


Here is a previous thread about them:
http://www.njfishing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68325



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Re: Are comprants destroying lake fishing for trout?
 

I did some research on cormorants last year to see if they were truly becoming a more substantial nuisance or it was just in all of us fishermen's heads.

Well, apparently we aren't imagining it... Cormorants, along with most other large birds, were dramatically thinned out back when we used to use organichloride pesticides (like DDT). Eagles, peregrine falcons, ospreys, etc., were all nearly wiped out. Cormorants were thinned but fared a bit better.

Once we stopped using those pesticides bird populations started to recover. The problem is that cormorants breed and therefore multiply at far, far faster rates than their natural predators (eagles, etc.). An eagle pair is lucky to have one eaglet survive it's first winter. Cormorants are love machines.

By the 70's, some species had recovered to only a few hundred birds, yet the cormorant population already 10,000+. Multiply that out a few more decades and you have the downstream effect of us screwing up the food chain pretty damn badly.

Re: Are comprants destroying lake fishing for trout?
 

Not to get off topic but I gotta respectfully disagree with this. Personally, I'm not the biggest trout guy in the world, I like going to a local pond and grabbing a few trout for dinner and enjoying the nice weather. Its much easier to go to a pond as I don't live near many trout streams. Also, i tried taking my nephew and sons friend to the pequest years ago and streams aren't the easiest place to fish with 9 year olds, let alone the non- smoking 45 min car ride with screaming kids:p

Re: Are comprants destroying lake fishing for trout?
 

Two things: quit smoking... And bump some Wu; its for the children! :D