Quote:
Originally Posted by logs22
I won’t be able to make the meeting but would be much obliged if someone could advocate (on my behalf) adding the Rahway river to the fall stocking list. I know it’s a long shot, but I would argue it is preferable to Echo Lake (which is nearby and the only place in the area that gets fall breeders). My reasoning is - 1) Trout fishing in Fall/winter is just more fun in a river, 2) the Rahway River is more accessible and would provide nearby year round fishing to residents of almost a dozen towns, 3) Echo usually gets a few spring breeders anyway while the Rahway does not so stocking it in the fall would provide an opening day to remember for the lucky few who catch surviving fall stock and 4) while widely disputed many local anglers (myself included) know/believe there are a few places in the river capable of sustaining holdovers while any trout stocked in Echo have ZERO chance of lasting past June/July.
I rest my case.
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Rahway I'm actually closer to, I checked it out once last early fall and caught some dink largemouth. I have to return.
Rahway just got an additional two miles of stocking with the latest code changes. For spring I believe.
From my understanding, only lower lake gets fall stockies and only at 170.
A low number like that is good for a closed body of water, but for the a river the trout will spread out and there would hardly be any catching.
I figure the state prefers stocking them in the pond since its more accessible and doesn't need a lot of trout. A big concern against stocking the Raritan is that there just isn't enough numbers, and they aren't eager to shave off some from another water body and move em to another.
My idea was that since the a portion of the south branch was assigned as a WTS, no longer needing stocking, that those numbers get put into Duke island park. Additionally whenever waters are too low to stock, like the black river in 2016, the Raritan is designated as plan B since that body of water isn't running short on water flow compared to its headwaters.
The Raritan already has a few trout, it just needs a slight boost to make it a good trout fishery with some direct stocking.
