Musky 4/8

[Billfish715]

I fished today instead of on the weekend and still found pockets of trout without a soul in sight. The fish were tight to the cover and the bright sun might have had something to do with it but I surmise it might have more to do with the low water. All of the major streams were in the same condition.....low and very clear. We really need rain.......a lot of rain. I felt like I was fishing in May, today.......low water and warm temperatures. Fishing from this point on will be lights out for the 5 o'clock crews. The freshly stocked trout will have nowhere to go but right where they were thrown in. I like to fish off the beaten track so it may be some time before some of these new fish will make it beyond the bridges and roadside access points. Today, I started at noon and quit at 2:30 after catching and releasing 18 stocked brookies. After that, I started undecorating the low hanging branches of a dozen assorted lures left there by the fishing elves. Finally, there was caddis hatch going this afternoon and there were a few trout slurping them. Also, many of the brookies were brightly colored and in great shape considering they spent the winter in the concrete raceways. To those of you who stock the fish......please spread them out so there's some left for the days after stocking day.

[Michael82929]

Billl

I have stocked trout streams for years and the information you have regarding the stocking program is somewhat untrue. Im replying to you in the spirit of sportsman ship to shed a little light so you can identify the behind the scenes aspect of trout stocking.

3600 fish get taken out of a runway of oxygeniated water into goldfish bowl of a stocking truck. You have 400 hundred fish in 8 tanks that need to get in the water very quickly or they will go belly up in the tank. Have seen it plenty of times.

Their are usually two guys to a truck that have to run a span of a trout stream from top to bottom that take severals hours and doesnt motor at mach speed. If the workers had the luxury that you are looking for to spread the fish out - you would have 1600 dead trout and 3/4 of a stream stocked.

You also have a transfer truck thats gets a decent number of fish that throw nets to access points the big truck doesnt have the ability to get to.

As for low water - fish seek water - no matter where you spread them out - if the water is low, the fish will seek darker deeper water..

I know spots that I have stocked personally off bridges that have no pool or water flow that hole up 1000 yards from where I dumped them.

Stocking needs to be opportunistic and people pay for licenses and want to catch fish. That is not to say fish dont spread out. The best days on the paulinskill musky and flatbrook have been midweek haunts with no pressure and the ability to fish and cover water.

One thing I want to dispell is the majority of the fish that get stocked in the water, arent ready to be caught on the day they have been thrown in.

I have fished stocking days in my early years only to realize I have had better days on the 24 / 48 hours after the fish have been thrown in. You ask 100 seasoned trout fisherman and I think the vast majority would agree that all the fish arent caught on the day they are stocked - low water or high. Real time experience throwing 200 fish in a hole on a stocking Friday and staying there till lights out and seeing 80 fish taken out.

Take into consideration the thousands of fish that have also been thrown in preseason that arent ready to go neither. Catching holdover brookies in Late April - May is very common occurance being stocked in March and April.

Bill you caught fish from 12 - 230 -(18 of them) - you know how many lines those fish saw before you gulped them up.

Stocking is a lot of time and energy to stock streams day in and day out and its a thankless job to satisfy the fisherman of this state. The only thing you really hear are complaints instead of .. I got 18 brookies today in 2.5 hrs - which is a great catch, Thanks NJ Fish & Game.

Originally Posted by Billfish715

I fished today instead of on the weekend and still found pockets of trout without a soul in sight. The fish were tight to the cover and the bright sun might have had something to do with it but I surmise it might have more to do with the low water. All of the major streams were in the same condition.....low and very clear. We really need rain.......a lot of rain. I felt like I was fishing in May, today.......low water and warm temperatures. Fishing from this point on will be lights out for the 5 o'clock crews. The freshly stocked trout will have nowhere to go but right where they were thrown in. I like to fish off the beaten track so it may be some time before some of these new fish will make it beyond the bridges and roadside access points. Today, I started at noon and quit at 2:30 after catching and releasing 18 stocked brookies. After that, I started undecorating the low hanging branches of a dozen assorted lures left there by the fishing elves. Finally, there was caddis hatch going this afternoon and there were a few trout slurping them. Also, many of the brookies were brightly colored and in great shape considering they spent the winter in the concrete raceways. To those of you who stock the fish......please spread them out so there's some left for the days after stocking day.

[Capt. Lou]

Mikes right on, it never ceases to amaze me if I continually work a good piece of water over a period of time the fish I take that were NOT there a couple days before!
Try on rising water after this low water period & you'll think you died & went to trout heaven !

[Billfish715]

Mike, Don't take my suggestion/request the wrong way. I know the stocking routine very well from a brother and uncle who worked closely with the division and who regularly rode the trucks and stocked trout. It's an all-day job and one that is very time-sensitive. I've seen the chaos when a pump breaks down on one of the big bertha trucks and a load of trout has to be frustratingly dumped into the nearest stockable river or lake so as not to see them belly up in the tank. My point, I guess, was that because of the low water, the trout will seek the deepest holes and runs and that they will be concentrated there. That, in turn, attracts the crowds which are now elbow-to-elbow surrounding the pool making catching more of a no-brainer than a challenge. There are always some left for the next morning or two but they are still not far from where they were put because of the low water volume. I know you've seen the 5 o'clock crowds surrounding the stocking points. Years ago there was an outcry to allow fishermen to start fishing at 5:00 P.M. instead of 5:00 A.M. the next morning. The fish were still where they were put, but there were lots of them that had a chance to move and acclimate, plus many of fishermen had to wait until the next afternoon to fish their favorite spots on the major streams unless they wanted to fit in a few hours in the A.M. before work. I do appreciate the efforts of the division. I come from a generation who were ecstatic about catching dinky 8" trout from the Hackettstown hatchery. A 10" or 12" trout was a real trophy back then. Breeders? Forget about it. Our fishery is put and take and some fishermen are not so concerned about the challenge of catching but are more concerned about going home with a full stringer. I've talked to CO's who told stories of fishermen standing with nets waiting for the trout to be thrown into the lake and trying to catch them on the fly. That's another story. Keep up the good work, but if you have the chance to throw some in beyond the first deep spot, I would personally appreciate it.

[Michael82929]

Bill - thanks for the note, I wasnt taking it the wrong way and understand your point - it makes sense on the 5 oclock whistle notion.. tight lines and catch em up.. hopefully this rain will come over the next couple days and raise the waters some... no winter snow run off should have these stream spike up and down real quick unless we really get saturated.. the woods are dry.