Quote:
Originally Posted by thmyorke1
Dave, I always appreciate your informative post. Im interested in Parker brook and how it went from a great wild trout fishery to a poor one, got more info on that?
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Sorry, but no I don't have any more info on Parker. I only know that it along with most of the brooks in the Flatbrook watershed have been experiencing steady declines in the wild trout populations for the past 5-10 years at least. Even the biologists are puzzled by this ongoing decline as they so far have
been unable to discern any biological reason for it.
Here's an excerpt from a post on the Garden State Trout forum by a gent who has long been an avid wild trout angler. As you'll see his experiences have upheld all the other data showing the wild pops declines...
"by NJAngler » Sun Dec 23, 2018 10:25 pm
Tuttle Corner Brook has produced fair number of wild browns for me over the years but its been in the decline for years. Its one of the few streams where stocking was discontinued but wild trout numbers dropped. I did not fish it the last two years so can't tell you what its like now."
Tuttles Corner Brook flows into the Flatbrook right by the Rt 206 bridge. It begins as the outflow from Lake Kittatinny further south along 206 and flows north, picking up springs along the way. There has been no new development along its course, no fuel spills or other types of serious contamination, and no documented change in water quality or chemistry, so the reason(s) for the decline remain a mystery at this time. Same story with Parker Brook, Forked Brook, and most of the named and un-named tribs to the BFB. Also take note that even with the cessation of stocking in Tuttles Corner the wild numbers continued to decline. Yet another case against the belief that ceasing stocking will cause an increase, substantial or slight, in wild trout numbers. While that situation does sometimes occur, as with all things in the natural realm there are always far too many variables, both known and unknown, to assume that a certain action will automatically produce a specific result.
