[bulletbob]

I am not sure you guys from NJ realize how fortunate you are.. NJ DEC does a fantastic job with a LOT less habitat than we have in NY... Yes, NY maintains a good fishery for Pacific Salmon in Lake Ontario, and it keeps the Finger Lakes and catskill streams stocked, but almost all of that is geared toward the tourists..
They stock next to nothing as far as warm water species in moderate sized or smallish lakes.. Everything is left as is... Too expensive, not enough return, and a million other reasons why... Walleye, SMB, LMB, Cats, Crappies, are never stocked anywhere in NY state.. All hatchery production is geared toward maintaining salmonids in the tourist areas, and for whatever reason, throwing Tiger Muskies in places where they promptly decimate panfish production, and usually prove tough as hell to catch for most anglers.. When Walleyes showed up a few years ago, in Skaneatles the DEC wated them eradicated FAST.. I saw with my own eyes in Cayuga Lake, NYC DEC guys gill netting Pike in their spawning area at the south end of the lake , clubbing and killing them.. Most likely to keep them from eating their precious trout...
We have NO Stripers, NO Hybrids, No White Perch,Crappies are non existent in many lakes, Channels cats are present, but mostly just in the large rivers is there a decent fishery for them... They are present in some of the big lakes, but try catching one... NY is great if you like trolling in giant lakes, or catskill stream fishing for trout, but I'll take the variety, and the production NJ offers in its smaller but extremely well managed smaller lakes and FW rivers,, There are some really productive waters here, no doubt, but they seem to often be found where the main tourist money is spent... Lake George, Lake Ontario, Catskills, etc...

Rant over I guess... I have lived here 31 years, lived in NJ for 37...I would take NJ fishing overall[ [salt and fresh] over NY state any day.. Yeah we have pacific Salmon here, but no stripers or hybrids.. Maybe I'm crazy, but the pics don't lie, when I see angler photos and reports.Outside of big trout and salmon caught by trollers or in the LO tribs,, I often see more impressive catches here on NJF than on the Lake Ontario United site... bob