Fall Trout Stocking Begins

[thmyorke1]

I love the fall trout stockings, one suggestion is to wait and stock only once the waters get high. Cause it seems every fall we do get some good rain, but it's a matter of luck/timing if it falls at the same time of the scheduled stocking.

Regardless, it seems eventually by late October a bunch of rainbows swim down into the raritan mainstem a fun time

[AndyS]

Fall trout are unlike the trout in the spring, these are very large fish with built up body fat. The smaller stocked trout need to feed often, these broodstock can go weeks before they need to slap on the feedbag.
Look at fall with the fluctuating water temps, then the tons of leaves that fall off the trees and mat the surface making it almost impossible to fish.
Move to the first week of November, temps stabilize, leaves are mostly gone, time for those big trout to start feeding ! I love November for fall trout fishing.

[baetis]

I like some of the newer stocking protocols better than the old.
- loved the C&R for two weeks before opening day. They should continue that policy in the future on all of the major in season closed streams and make it artificial lures only for those two weeks.
- I like the no publishing of the date stocked, especially in the fall with low water. Those fish are usually stacked like cord wood and don’t have a chance.
- they need to start raising brown trout again. It’s ridiculous all neighboring states can raise a multitude of species but NJ can’t.

[briansnat]

Originally Posted by RWole

Hopefully this does not become the new way the state stocks trout. Hopefully next year they return to the schedule as in years past with bodies of water and dates clearly stated. They have screwed up trout stocking enough with eliminating Browns and Brookies.

I actually like it. No more everybody coming out on stocking day and picking the area clean.

I would like to see "X body of water is being stocked with Y number of trout between DD/MM and DD/MM".

And they can mix it up. Dump in all of the trout on one visit in some rivers and spread them out over a few weeks in others. If you hit an "all in one day" river it will be like hitting the lottery.

I'm sure it will increase the number of hatchery truck followers, but most of us don't have the time for that.

[Fred E. Goose]

Originally Posted by baetis

I like some of the newer stocking protocols better than the old.
- loved the C&R for two weeks before opening day. They should continue that policy in the future on all of the major in season closed streams and make it artificial lures only for those two weeks.

I personally did not like this decision. You still had the people ignoring the rules and keeping them, on the other hand there were a lot of people trying to follow the rules but mishandling their catch and I saw a ton of dead trout this year compared to years past. Much of that has to do with photographing their catch for facebook and various fishing forum websites bragging boards (no offense guys)

I do agree that not publishing the date stocked is a good move. If they would just list the bodies of water that are stocked for each season it is enough. You either hit it right or miss it. The only thing that publishing exact dates does is draw crowds to an otherwise socially-distant covid-era-approved activity.

There's people that play by the rules and then there's unfortunately people who make their own rules. Nothing you can do about the later other than call enforcement and hope they get there in time when you observe people breaking the rules.

C&R on opening day and during the fall stocking program at least give trout the opportunity to acclimate to the water they're stocked in and a chance to spread out if water levels allow. It will also keep some meat guys off the waters for a few weeks. There will be unfortunately some mortality through mishandling of fish but at least every fish landed doesn't end up on a chain. Worst thing I think I've ever seen in our sport are guys following stocking trucks around and a group of people surrounding freshly stocked fish pulling them out ass first. Catch and release for the first two weeks of stocking at least attempts to address that problem and while it won't eliminate it, it should help reduce the negative impacts of the above. It should also offer the added benefit of giving trout some time to become a bit more river savvy and not commit suicide the first day they're stocked.

[Capt. Lou]

It worked in spring ,I also noticed more dead fish strewn about on some streams . However like was mentioned I believe it can help sustain better fishing during late fall thru winter !
The biggest issue is the way fished are released , if they had the manpower these fish would not have to be bridge dumped .
Spreading them out would insure those fish could get time to adapt and make for a better angling experience for all !
If this one method was changed it would better the fishing throughout the season

[Jigman13]

I hear they make great sword fish bait... soft, supple and they slide right down the hatch when stitched to 4x 10/0 jobu hook

[BT67]

with the rain we just had now is the time to dump em in

[Billfish715]

Originally Posted by BT67

with the rain we just had now is the time to dump em in

Keep an eye on this site to see the water levels. Watch to see how fast the levels drop or don’t. More showers are in the forecast for the next couple of days. Any rain will help.

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?s...00060&period=7