[Billfish715]

The state has been releasing surplus trout for years to make room for the next year's stock. It prevents overcrowding and the inevitable stunting and diseases which are byproducts of trying to raise too many fish in too small an area. Once the fish are released, everyone has an idea about where they should have been stocked. I'm sure that this is going on right now. It really doesn't matter where the little trout are stocked because there will always be negative comments and better ideas about where they should have been dumped.

Put them in Round Valley and people will say that the bigger trout will eat them. Put them in the Raritan and once again they become bait. Put them in the rivers and they affect the natural production of wild trout. Put them in the lakes and ponds and they become food for the cormorants or will die from oxygen depletion. Too many trout in one stream and they compete for food with the other bigger, more desirable holdover trout. There is no winning. Will some survive? It's likely that some will.

In the end, the trout are an expendable commodity. It's like pruning a tree or shrub. In order for the tree to grow stronger, the smaller branches have to be sacrificed. In this case, in order for the rest of the trout to grow larger, the smaller ones have to go. If any of those surplus trout survive and grow in the Raritan, it's a bonus. If not, they had a chance. If history repeats itself, very few will find their way onto anyone's stringer. A look back at the "diseased" brown trout that were released into the Raritan and Rahway Rivers a few years back, never to be seen again, will prove my point.