Freshwater Cookout
 

Hey All,

Quick question, besides Trout - has anyone on this site ever caught lake fish to bring home for dinner?

I wont eat anything from my lake due to pesticide treated water.

I have never tried Freshwater fish and I am fishing Waywayanda in a couple of weeks. I am going for the enjoyment of the outdoors and the fight of a large fish, but I also wouldn't mind bringing home dinner. I am mainly going to go trolling and buck-tailing for Salmon, Rainbows, Lake Trout and Walleye but I am not sure the regulations on that lake for Lake Trout or Walleye. I cant find anything on NJDEP site for Waywayanda.

Of course if I did keep anything, it would be close to the minimum sizes allowed as I hear that the smaller the fish (legal size) the better the meat tastes.

Is this site accurate? http://www.eregulations.com/newjerse...-creel-limits/

Are Bass and other fish safe to eat from Lake Waywayanda?


Any good recipes?

Re: Freshwater Cookout
 

you can view fish consumption advisories at the Fish Smart Eat Smart NJ website http://www.nj.gov/dep/dsr/fishadviso...advisories.htm

here's the specific info for wawayanda http://www.nj.gov/dep/dsr/fishadviso.../wawayanda.pdf

go right to the source for the regs, and know you get the right info
http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/njregs.htm#fishing
http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/pdf...fsh16-regs.pdf - summary excluding trout
http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/pdf/2016/trtregs16.pdf - trout summary

wawayanda is a holdover trout lake, check the special regs for trout in the trout summary.

sorry no lakers or walleye in wawayanda

Re: Freshwater Cookout
 

Thanks Acabtp. I appreciate it.

Re: Freshwater Cookout
 

Get a smoker.

Re: Freshwater Cookout
 

Hey Andy, I already have one...haven't done any fish in it yet though.

Re: Freshwater Cookout
 

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Some people consider me a Catch-and-Release extremist, but living in one of the most densely populated regions of the world, I believe we can not have quality sport fishing without ethical sportsmen practicing catch-and-releae far and above the suicidal guidelines set by the state fish & game.

Remember, Hong Kong has a population density of 6,735 people per square mile. Essex County, New Jersey has a population density of 6,318 people per square mile. Almost the same. How good do you think the freshwater fishing is in Hong Kong? I would guess not very good.

In addition, imagine you are in a supermarket and you see a label on a package of meat that reads:
"DANGER: Mercury Contamination. Limit consumption by children to one meal per month and keep away from pregnant women. "

Would any reasonable person buy that meat? Probably not. But that's the same warning on Largemouth Bass in many waters and some people feel compelled to kill and eat every one they catch. Why? :confused:


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Re: Freshwater Cookout
 

I agree Eskimo. Coming from salt water fishing, I grew up eating all my catches (Fluke, Sea Bass, Striped Bass, Mako, Tuna, weakfish..etc).

It helps my wife doesn't eat seafood, so it limits me anyway. I'm just curious of the taste. I have no problem releasing either. A picture is all I need.

Re: Freshwater Cookout
 

What they don't tell you in those consumption guidelines is that for the tests they grind up the entire fish. That's right, organs, scales, bones, everything. Then they test the resulting paste. Now it's common knowledge that the vast majority of the known contaminants collect in the organs of all animals. Frankly I don't know anyone who eats the guts of the fish they catch. Bottom line, the test results are skewed way off from a real world consumption situation. I've eaten smallies and LMB, just be a bit selective of the waters you consume from.

As far as this statement from Eskimo, " I believe we can not have quality sport fishing without ethical sportsmen practicing catch-and-release far and above the suicidal guidelines set by the state fish & game" we had quality sportfishing in NJ thanks solely to the scientists at F&W long before C&R became fashionable.

The regs are established based upon the carrying capacity of a given water body, the known reproduction and growth rates of the species present, the average level of angling and post angling mortality, and other factors. Unless you have 6-8 years of higher education specifically in the field of freshwater biology and fisheries management followed by a great deal of actual experience in the field you really have extremely little to base such an opinion upon. I would suggest you instead look closely at the facts and history of fisheries management in NJ to gain a better understanding of the situation. It would be very enlightening and informative for you I'm certain.

Re: Freshwater Cookout
 

i'm almost totally C&R when it comes to fresh water but anytime this stuff comes up I have to say this: anglers keeping a few smaller sized legal fish to eat will HELP the fishery. If you know someone who likes to keep fish to eat, convince them to keep all the smaller legal fish they want but release the bigger ones with better genes and more eggs.

It's a good compromise and is actually better. If you have a small lake where nothing is ever kept you're going to see a lot of stunting. If you have an identical lake where smaller fish are taken (at a reasonable amount) You may not have quite as many fish in there but you will have many more bigger fish.

I don't feel like looking it up right now but if you want check out how they manage those small lakes down south to be trophy bass producers. (like the one bill dance fishes out of on his tv show haha)