Surprise Holdover Brown Trout

[Lard Almighty]

After work today I went to Echo Lake in Howell, chucking big hardware in the hopes of landing a big breeder 'bow. After about 20 minutes something slams my #4 Blue Fox. Imagine my surprise when I reel in a brown trout! As we are all aware, NJF&W is only stocking rainbows this year. I could not find this lake on the fall or winter trout stocking list. Therefore, it seems that this trout held over from at least last year, through the hot summer. The fish was a bit thin, but otherwise healthy looking, and put up a good fight.

I don't know much about this lake, but I am surprised that a 6-acre tanin-stained lake in south Jersey can hold trout all year. Is it spring fed? Is it deep enough to have cool water during summer? If anyone has any info, I'd love to hear it.

BTW, fish was returned to hold over for another year.