Headgates dam removal official announcement:

[Lard Almighty]

It's going to be bittersweet. I've caught a lot of big fish under that dam. But it will make the river healthier in the long run. I wonder what the fishing will be like there when the dam comes down? I've seen it go both ways.

[AndyS]

I like fishing where the Robert St. dam used to be, got this one there.

[Jigman13]

No ladder? Just straight removal?

[AndyS]

Originally Posted by Jigman13

No ladder? Just straight removal?

They didn't want to put in another fish ladder that doesn't work, besides the dam is cracking and has a very large sewer line runs through it.
A rock ramp is going in down at the Island Farm Fish Weir near Bridgewater/South Bound Brook.

[Detour66]

Originally Posted by Lard Almighty

It's going to be bittersweet. I've caught a lot of big fish under that dam. But it will make the river healthier in the long run. I wonder what the fishing will be like there when the dam comes down? I've seen it go both ways.

I agree! that spot holds a lot of nice walleye and smallmouths!

[Billfish715]

It will be great for allowing more fish to move upstream. There's no saying how many but the kind of fish that will move upstream is predictable. How far upstream they will go is also debatable depending on water flow and oxygen levels, but it is not inconceivable to hear of striper catches up, pretty far on the South Branch. I think the next, big upstream dam would be in Clinton.

The ecosystem will be changed, no doubt. I know that stripers enjoy eating trout in the Delaware River. Can the same thing happen in the branches of the Raritan and its tributaries? The results of removing the barriers will certainly be worth watching although significant changes will take time. Even with the removal of the Columbia Dam on the Paulinskill, the feared mass migration of shad into Blairstown and Marksboro hasn't been a factor .........yet!

[Hookmanski]

Originally Posted by Billfish715

It will be great for allowing more fish to move upstream. There's no saying how many but the kind of fish that will move upstream is predictable. How far upstream they will go is also debatable depending on water flow and oxygen levels, but it is not inconceivable to hear of striper catches up, pretty far on the South Branch. I think the next, big upstream dam would be in Clinton.

The ecosystem will be changed, no doubt. I know that stripers enjoy eating trout in the Delaware River. Can the same thing happen in the branches of the Raritan and its tributaries? The results of removing the barriers will certainly be worth watching although significant changes will take time. Even with the removal of the Columbia Dam on the Paulinskill, the feared mass migration of shad into Blairstown and Marksboro hasn't been a factor .........yet!

As someone who grew up going to school in Clinton I was there a ton as a kid. To be able to catch a striper from below that bridge.... would be absolutely incredible. Our 5th grade class did a walking trip to the Mill to look for invertebrates and there is an insane amount of life just below that dam. Stripers would make it even cooler!

[thmyorke1]

It will be interesting to see shad and stripers go up farther. Not that I personally saw many stripers up that far, a lot of shad 1 spring though. I know some nice stripers have been caught up around there though.

Unless the dam by the fish ladder also changes with that ramp, im not expecting much of a change TBH

I'm more interested in seeing what will happen to the resident fish. Wonder if some of the other spawning runs like suckers, carp, etc will change much in the branches.

[Billfish715]

Here’s a thought about future fishing possibilities for the Raritan and its branches with a the removal of the head gates dam………..Will there be an attempt to imprint and stock steelhead or more sea run browns? Probably a waste of money but some people have short memories or were not around when it was tried before. Remember the Swimming River project? Many of you were not even around then. The Manasquan River brown trout stocking?

If the shad return and they spawn, all bets are off once the shad fry start to swim toward the ocean. It’s fun to think about.

[Mark B.]

A recent publication about the status & plans for dams on the Raritan R. and other NJ waterways:

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories...cadfd7bbf732b6