Quote:
Originally Posted by Delawareriver
Don't forget 90% of those guys you see opening morning of trout you won't see again till next year. Basically yes the trout stamp but the state also got the money for there general license as well that they wouldn't buy if they couldnt fish for trout.
Either way I would love to see less money invested in the trout and a little more money spent on our other fisheries. Really could use some better boat ramps, underwater structure, access points, more studies to provide better management strategies etc. With more and better fishing opportunities we could reverse the downward Trent of license sales.
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Very true regarding those 'Opening Day trouters', especially in central/south Jersey, except that they generally tend to make it out the first 2-3 Saturdays before calling it quits. Only from my observations I'd say it's more like 65-70%. As for north Jersey the number of Opening Day only guys is far lower. A much higher percentage fish well into the stocking season. As for their general license fees most of these folks turn to other freshwater species when they quit chasing trout so their license money is spoken for in the management of those other freshwater species and the monitoring, maintaining and in some cases improvement of those habitats as well as creating and maintaining accesses. All else aside, as Skunk City mentioned, if it wasn't for the work of F&W all we would have to fish for would be pickerel and bullheads. Despite being a small state we still only have about 8 or so freshwater fisheries biologists to monitor a LOT of water.
