HeadlessVerseman
New member
does trout unlimited in new jersey actually do a ****ing thing? I cant name the last time i read of nj's chapter restoring banks, river bottoms, vegetation, aquatic life etc. New Jersey trout streams and rivers are extremely nice, but are in shambles when you look at their conditions nationwide. And there is really no reason it should be. Trout Unlimited needs to escape from dickriding montana, pumping already pristine trout streams to help a state, that has severely declined from 1999-2005. If this deterioration keeps up, more and more pools will continue to be fishless. that brings me to another issue though, New Jersey fishing regulations.
I dont believe they are strict enough. I used to be a typical worm guy when I was a kid, switched to spinners, and have since been almost exclusively fly only. However, I feel new jersey's legislation is poor and has helped kill off fish in nj.
First off, the keep limits need to be decreased. You can keep between 1-6 trout per day depending where you go. Six fish is ridiculous, especially when you look at their size limits. Aside from conservation areas, the minimum size limit of trout is 7". How much meat can you actually get from 7" of trout? Furthermore, by keeping such adolescent fish, you prevent them from passing on their genes to a new generation. Every
Second- I feel, and I can say this without being snobish because ive fished with every type of outfit for trout (livebait, spin, fly), every trout stream needs to have an extra restriction in the keeping of fish. I would add that, you only keep trout that you keep on artificial lures. This would prevent the hordes of worm fisherman, who go out on opening day and fishout an entire river within the first week. Fishing is a skill, and using live bait or artificial bait (powerbait, etc) is CRIPPLING nj trout populations statewide. Im not saying you cant fish with live bait or artificial bait, i only suggest that when you do catch them on live bait that you release them. (if the laws of loose catch and release remain as is).
third- to catch and release, i would TIGHTEN catch and release to a DEATH GRIP. I propose an allowance of 5 fish yearly, with a measurment of 15". If you want to keep more fish, you pay for a fish tag. Plain and simple.
4th. to recoperate trout populations, i believe that certain streams/rivers or portions of them, should be closed off on a cycling basis. This will allow the trout population to build back up, massively increasing hold overs and it will improve the entire ecosystem. To some this might sound a tad radical, but montana, ireland, and many other countries do the same thing. In order to properly restore a section of stream, or river, it must be closed down to repair not only the structure, but the entire aquatic, vegetative life within it.
with that off my chest....here's my opening day story
Drove around for hours, looking for some place that wasnt elbow to elbow with fisherman, took about 3 hours *my original 2 holes were taken by power bait guys...shudder*.....and eventually lead me to the south branch of the raritan river near ken lockwood gorge. it was my first time there and I was impressed, and although it was packed with fisherman, approx 200+, there was such vast water with pools, shoots, banks etc, me and my buddy found several stretches of water to fish by ourselves. Unfortunately nothing took. I flipped some rocks, found a bunch of nymph life, but what was abundent was shrimp. Opaque shrimp. Didnt hook any during mid day though.
Led me back to a place locally, and there was a dry fly fiesta happening, saw several fish completely jumping out of the water attacking what looked to be a caddis like hatch. I couldnt grab a sample so im not really sure, but i tied on my closest imitation and caught 3 small, 8"-12" inch rainbows on a size 18 caddis pattern, clipped down to more closely resemble whatever flies where out.
I dont believe they are strict enough. I used to be a typical worm guy when I was a kid, switched to spinners, and have since been almost exclusively fly only. However, I feel new jersey's legislation is poor and has helped kill off fish in nj.
First off, the keep limits need to be decreased. You can keep between 1-6 trout per day depending where you go. Six fish is ridiculous, especially when you look at their size limits. Aside from conservation areas, the minimum size limit of trout is 7". How much meat can you actually get from 7" of trout? Furthermore, by keeping such adolescent fish, you prevent them from passing on their genes to a new generation. Every
Second- I feel, and I can say this without being snobish because ive fished with every type of outfit for trout (livebait, spin, fly), every trout stream needs to have an extra restriction in the keeping of fish. I would add that, you only keep trout that you keep on artificial lures. This would prevent the hordes of worm fisherman, who go out on opening day and fishout an entire river within the first week. Fishing is a skill, and using live bait or artificial bait (powerbait, etc) is CRIPPLING nj trout populations statewide. Im not saying you cant fish with live bait or artificial bait, i only suggest that when you do catch them on live bait that you release them. (if the laws of loose catch and release remain as is).
third- to catch and release, i would TIGHTEN catch and release to a DEATH GRIP. I propose an allowance of 5 fish yearly, with a measurment of 15". If you want to keep more fish, you pay for a fish tag. Plain and simple.
4th. to recoperate trout populations, i believe that certain streams/rivers or portions of them, should be closed off on a cycling basis. This will allow the trout population to build back up, massively increasing hold overs and it will improve the entire ecosystem. To some this might sound a tad radical, but montana, ireland, and many other countries do the same thing. In order to properly restore a section of stream, or river, it must be closed down to repair not only the structure, but the entire aquatic, vegetative life within it.
with that off my chest....here's my opening day story
Drove around for hours, looking for some place that wasnt elbow to elbow with fisherman, took about 3 hours *my original 2 holes were taken by power bait guys...shudder*.....and eventually lead me to the south branch of the raritan river near ken lockwood gorge. it was my first time there and I was impressed, and although it was packed with fisherman, approx 200+, there was such vast water with pools, shoots, banks etc, me and my buddy found several stretches of water to fish by ourselves. Unfortunately nothing took. I flipped some rocks, found a bunch of nymph life, but what was abundent was shrimp. Opaque shrimp. Didnt hook any during mid day though.
Led me back to a place locally, and there was a dry fly fiesta happening, saw several fish completely jumping out of the water attacking what looked to be a caddis like hatch. I couldnt grab a sample so im not really sure, but i tied on my closest imitation and caught 3 small, 8"-12" inch rainbows on a size 18 caddis pattern, clipped down to more closely resemble whatever flies where out.
