Point Mountain TCA -- 6/7/15

[johnkk111]

Hit the TCA around 1 and it was pretty quiet, but those of us there were pulling in a bunch of trout. I used a mop fly with an indicator and was again amazed that it caught a ton of fish. Attached is a pic of the chewed up fly and one of the fish. There was some activity on top. I failed to connect on the surface, but I saw a guy, chomping on a cigar standing on a boulder, execute a beautiful long roll cast about 30 yards to the opposite bank, placing the fly right under an overhanging tree limb and landing a pretty rainbow. He told me he had on a caddis.

 

[Rusty Spinner]

Just a heads up that we will be restoring the middle 1/3 mile from June 16 - 19. You won't want to fish anywhere but the upper 1/3 during that time. But you will like it when we are done, that I promise! Well, maybe not the giant rootwad we hope to jam in the new pool at the S-bend, but the local fly shops will all thank us for that one.

 

[johnkk111]

Thanks for all your work on stream restoration! That section is a real wasteland right now. How long would you guess before the restored section becomes productive?

 

[FIN-ITE 34]

Thanks for all your work on stream restoration! That section is a real wasteland right now. How long would you guess before the restored section becomes productive?

The State Division is going to have a special stocking in that area as soon as the water clears, which should be about 2 days after the work is completed. I understand that they will be including some real heavyweights in the stocking. Right Rusty?

 

[Rusty Spinner]

Thanks for all your work on stream restoration! That section is a real wasteland right now. How long would you guess before the restored section becomes productive?

We actually cause a short term negative impact in that stretch because we remove virtually all of the sediment and detritus in that reach which means no bugs. How quickly it rebounds depends on a variety of factors, none of which are in our control. They are basically the behavioral drift where insects move in from upstream over time and flows that bring in some sediment and detritus to give the aquatic insects better habitat. I've seen restored reaches fish great in a few months and others it takes up to a year to fully reach its potential.

But when you think of how few anglers fish that water right now, it should be an improvement almost right away. Visually, anglers will want to fish it ASAP, but my word of warning is to not expect too much until fall to be realistic. Enjoy the view for now. I hope to see some of you out there next week. If so, make sure to introduce yourself. I'll be the one standing around pointing to the machine operator what I want him to do and looking like I know what I'm talking about. Kinda like here on NEFF :crap:

 

[Rusty Spinner]

The State Division is going to have a special stocking in that area as soon as the water clears, which should be about 2 days after the work is completed. I understand that they will be including some real heavyweights in the stocking. Right Rusty?

Yeah, let's go with that

Point Mtn. TCA is a weird section of river to me. There are a few pockets up high with wild browns and brookies and then again below the TCA on water we are also about to restore on the Wattles Tract that NJ Audubon controls (state land). Not sure how much our work will help those pockets of wild fish which come from the Penwell tributary as well as one upstream another 1/4 mile in Mansfield, both of which have wild browns and brookies. We do expect to get into some cold groundwater when we excavate a few new pools, and those always help the trout whether wild or stocked.

 

[MS22]

Yeah, let's go with that

Point Mtn. TCA is a weird section of river to me. There are a few pockets up high with wild browns and brookies and then again below the TCA on water we are also about to restore on the Wattles Tract that NJ Audubon controls (state land). Not sure how much our work will help those pockets of wild fish which come from the Penwell tributary as well as one upstream another 1/4 mile in Mansfield, both of which have wild browns and brookies. We do expect to get into some cold groundwater when we excavate a few new pools, and those always help the trout whether wild or stocked.

Any talk of extending the TCA downstream to incorporate some of the restored water? Not sure where the lower restoration starts but there is a length of river below the bridge that has public property on either side...

 

[Rusty Spinner]

Any talk of extending the TCA downstream to incorporate some of the restored water? Not sure where the lower restoration starts but there is a length of river below the bridge that has public property on either side...

Not by me, but the one mile of river we will be restoring starts at the Point Mountain Road bridge and goes to the Mannon Farm just above Butler Park. It is 100% state land on the Warren side and about 1/3 Hunterdon Park land on the other side until you hit about 6 or 7 private homes on river left. Personally, I think it's a good thing for TU to restore general regulations waters and not only private lands and TCAs. Maybe some of the general regs anglers will think differently of the one major coldwater conservation organization doing anything to improve their fishing experiences here in NJ.

That said, I would like to see additional no-kill sections added to our better trout rivers in NJ. We are loving our special regs waters to near death at certain times of the year and need to spread that pressure out to new waters so we can see how our wild fish and holdover fish will respond when not yanked out on a stringer.

 

[gregschmegg]

"Maybe some of the general regs anglers will think differently of the one major coldwater conservation organization doing anything to improve their fishing experiences here in NJ."

Maybe some will... but it only takes 1 dolt and a few friends (comrades) to clean out a stretch of reg. water.

But im jaded, and eventually just want to see more TCA claimed everywhere.

Good Luck with your Root Ball this weekend Rusty.

 

[Rusty Spinner]

"Maybe some of the general regs anglers will think differently of the one major coldwater conservation organization doing anything to improve their fishing experiences here in NJ."

Maybe some will... but it only takes 1 dolt and a few friends (comrades) to clean out a stretch of reg. water.

But im jaded, and eventually just want to see more TCA claimed everywhere.

Good Luck with your Root Ball this weekend Rusty.

True, but there are no bridges in that stretch except the one up top at Pt Mtn road. And we all know that trout in NJ only live in the pools next to the stocking bridge points anyway, so that about to be restored reach won't see too many anglers