Quote:
Originally Posted by EJS
Part of the problem is do to the cold winters. Pre season stocking will start is south Jersey, as streams thaw in the north, they will be stocked closer to opening day. Allocation of resources is another issue. As the number of fish being stocked decrease, so does the time required to stock that water body.
What I can't speak to (as I am not super familier with the D&R watershed) is water quality, breeding, and any other variable which may prevent the stocking earlier in the season!
Now this is my personal opinion and in no way is meant as a jab at F&G. I personally feel the canal should be left to the warm water fish, put the trout in the rivers and cold flowing streams, put the bass, picks, and cats in the duck ponds and canals! Give the fish a fighting chance to live to maturity, without rolling belly up from water temps rising!
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Each body of water has a carrying capacity, such that if you overstock an area, only so many fish, wild or stocked, can survive.
In addition, our cold waters have populations of wild trout that could be negatively impacted by stocking. This has been an argument by several angler groups with respect to stocking certain streams *at all*, no less increasing the stocking.
The biologists take that into account when they determine the number of fish stocked, as well as another important measure (to them): angler opportunity.
The trout are funded via the trout stamp and therefore the thought is to give as many anglers who purchase a stamp the opportunity to catch trout as possible.
So, what I'm saying is that the decisions to stock a given area are driven by more than whether that water can be considered holdover or even marginally decent habitat for trout.
