Fish and Game Mtg then Big Trout 1/20/17

[JDTuna]

Attended the NJFW Freshwater Fisheries Forum on Saturday with Chrisper, NJSquatch and thmyorke1. It was great to meet and speak with the staff, and I finally had the pleasure of meeting Mark B. I was happy to have the opportunity to discuss my displeasure of the new gear restrictions for trout. I spoke to all of the biologists present, and the take home message here was that we need to be organized and present at the meetings to make our voices heard. The new gear restrictions for the trout fishery were a result of pressure from an organized group of fishermen pushing an agenda contrary to science. We need to be present to prevent unnecessary regulations in the future. That being said, I don't foresee any issues with any other freshwater fisheries. The State does an exceptional job with NJ's freshwater fisheries, and the other stakeholder group is only concerned with pushing an agenda with regards to trout. But we need to keep our collective ears to the ground and have a strong, organized presence to prevent unnecessary changes in the future.

After the meeting, I headed to a stream to give the trout a shot. Cold, high water from the snow melt slowed the bite a little, but I got a beautiful 17 inch brown and a big fat 19 inch rainbow. The brown was either wild or a holdover, flawless fins and striking color.