nj wild trout streams

[porterskill]

how have these small brooks and streams faired since they stopped stocking them?are they fished less or more and how have the fish populations done?

 

[Rusty Spinner]

how have these small brooks and streams faired since they stopped stocking them?are they fished less or more and how have the fish populations done?

Are you refering to the 35 listed Wild Trout Streams in the NJ Freshwater Fishing Digest that have special WTS regulations? Some like me refer to all wild trout streams as "WTS" so I wanted to clarify. Regardless or your definition, most of our smaller WTS do not receive a lot of pressure and those that do are fished primarily by C&R anglers. There are many wild trout streams that are not on the list of 35 for various reasons, access being the chief reason, that are every bit as good or better than the 35 named WTS. Without proper protections, those of us who know those waters are very reluctant to talk about them for fear of adding pressure where there are not sufficient conservation regs in place as the listed 35 get. We're working with the state to get more true wild trout streams listed so they get better creel protections.

Not sure I answered your question....and not all of these were stocked previously, so there is no simple answer if you are indeed talking about the list of 35 WTS.

 

[Mark S.]

i could spend days answering this question. I have 30 years of stats - before and after stocking; before and after special regs, et al but alas I'm reluctant to share TOO much info. I'll just say this: angler pressure and/or competition from hatchery trout generally have little affect on wild trout numbers but can affect sizes - especially brookies. i think one Pa study showed zero brook trout over 9" in any stream that was stocked. I'll have to find it but i'm pretty sure i'm right about that. browns seem to fare much better either because they are harder to catch or survive being handled/released better.

Mark

 

[AKSkim]

angler pressure and/or competition from hatchery trout generally have little affect on wild trout numbers but can affect sizes - especially brookies. i think one Pa study showed zero brook trout over 9" in any stream that was stocked. I'll have to find it but i'm pretty sure i'm right about that. browns seem to fare much better either because they are harder to catch or survive being handled/released better.

Mark

I too would be very interested in reading that PA report.

But I do have to ask...

The last line in your post, is that in there because it is self serving since you fish with treble hooks?