New Jersey’s fall trout stocking is, and has been, underway!
A mere 32 days after the re-arranged fall trout stocking concluded in late October, New Jersey’s Division of Fish & Wildlife (Division) hatchery trucks will be rolling again on November 25 and 26, delivering husky 2-year old rainbows to 18 select lakes and ponds spread over 11 counties, ranging from Sussex to the north and Cape May to the south.
Gone is most of the arboreal finery of the Indian summer season, replaced with deciduous hangers on that have taken on a dun-like complexion resembling the rust that quickly spreads over sheets of pocked and fatigued metal. Mountain and hillsides now show these as testament to the advent of the winter season.
Welcome to late November, right around Thanksgiving that quickly gives way to the Yule Month. A perfect time to enjoy yet another round of trout fishing in what has become a popular program in New Jersey with the Division’s Winter Trout stocking.
Size Matters
Started back in 2000 and receiving a significant upgrade in 2006 when the decision, fueled by input from Garden State trout fishing enthusiasts, was made to halve the numbers of 9-1/2- to 10-inch standard ‘bows in favor of exponentially more robust 2-year old fish that ranged from 14 to 16 inches. It was a seamless transition at the Pequest Trout Hatchery in adjusting to the new size mandate, and the upgrade in size as opposed to numbers was, and continues to be, well received judging by the participation that continues into the New Year.
Piggybacking the 20,400 statewide (20 of 21 counties) fall stocking payload is another of 4,480 robust ‘bows. The venues range from urban to suburban to rural. The timing was planned at the program’s inception to meld with the Thanksgiving holiday, thus giving families a prime opportunity to experience the fun of Garden State trout fishing. Also, as per the stillwater selections, it gives those who are not able to safely negotiate rivers and streams, or who simply prefer a laid back approach, the chance to enjoy the fishing for bigger trout on accessible venues at a time when trout stocking was in the rear view mirror.
Yet another plus of the program is that, where legal, it provides a bonus shot under the ice should conditions allow.
Meet The Players
As in the 2-year cycle rotation when it comes to the fertilization rearing and eventual release, the winter rainbows are actually a part of the fall program. The fish are set aside in different raceways, with feeding schedule that allows for a bit more growth and weight gain by the time they are loaded and let free.
“The rainbows for the winter stocking are in great shape, have great color and grew a bit from the extra month or so they’ve been in the raceways being fed,” said Pequest Trout Hatchery superintendent Ed Conley, while adding “It should be excellent fishing not only the Thanksgiving weekend but through December as well.”
Conley’s excitement for the program, as well as the springtime and October endeavors, is palpable. A full circle thing. On a size basis, this fifth smallest state boasts a stocking program that sees approximately 600,000-plus rainbows stocked, ranging from the standard 10-inch fish up to spent breeders to 5 pounds-plus.
Indeed, the Garden State, via its aggressive stocking program and impressive roster of Wild Trout Streams, Wild Brown Trout Enhancement Streams, Stocked/Wild Brown Trout Managed Streams, Trout Conservation Areas (portions of the Toms, Musconetcong, Pequest and Pequannock), Catch & Release Areas (portions of the Big Flat Brook and South Branch of the Raritan River), Trophy Trout Lakes and Holdover Trout Lakes, offers quality trout fishing opportunities at every turn of the calendar page.
Regional Rundown
This time of year lends itself to all three stringer crowders: hardware, bait and flies. The latter in particular is a favorite of ours when breezes are light or non-existent, and one can see the occasional rise of a ‘bow picking off a midge or other unfortunate bug, or a bulge just below the surface. We shine off the surface thing and prefer casting and stripping small streamers such as the chartreuse or white Woolly Bugger, and doing the tried ‘n true hand twist retrieve with bead head nymphs like the Prince, Hare’s Ear and Pheasant Tail.
Hardware hammers it providing the leaves have sunk and provide no interference. Spinners, small plugs (the Yo-Zuri Snap Bean and Pin’s Minnow heinous offenders), the Trout Magnet and other 1/32- to 1/16-ounce jigs, downsized spoons such as the Mepps Bantam Syclops, and, of course, the Berkley PowerBait and Gulp dough baits, are all limit makers on the stillwater scene.
Testaments abound besides our limit makers. As we traverse the state chasing trout, we meet and discuss the salmonid slurpees as per area venues be it spring, autumn or winter stockings. With some variety expected, it’s an amalgam as to what puts the bend in the late November rod.
“Yellow and pink PowerBait, and the pink and the mealworm Trout Magnet on a gold head under a bobber,” professed Brian Lantz, proprietor of the Stokes Forest Sport Shop in Sussex County talking the trout takers at the nearby Lake Ocquittunk in Sussex County.
Hi Way Sport Shop in Warren County matriarch Irene says the nearby Furnace Lake November rainbows are suckers for the quarter-ounce gold blade/white tail Joe’s Flies, and live shiners under a bobber.
“Oh man, when it comes to Lake Shenandoah it’s the pink head/white tail Berkley Mouse Tail,” enthused Jason from Fishermen’s Supply, an Ocean County ground zero location for area trout fishing, adding that the No.1 Blue Fox Vibrax spinner, and the gold head/pink tail Trout Magnet will also draw ‘bow strikes.
| STOCKING SCHEDULE |
| The venues/county and dates for fall trout stocking in New Jersey as follows (number of trout stocked in parenthesis).
Monday, November 25 Passaic County: Green Turtle Pond (330) Sussex County: Lake Aeroflex (370), Silver Lake (300), Lake Ocquittunk (250), Little Swartswood Lake (350) Warren County: Furnace Lake (360) Monmouth County: Topenemus Lake (200), Spring Lake (200) Ocean County: Lake Shenandoah (240) Hunterdon County: Amwell Lake (260) Tuesday, November 26 Passaic County: Barbour’s Pond (270) Camden County: Haddon Lake (210), Rowands Pond (100) Morris County: Mt. Hope Pond (280) Cumberland County: Shaws Mill Pond (210), South Vineland Park Pond (190) Atlantic County: Birch Grove Park Ponds (190) Cape May County: Ponderlodge Pond (170) |
Capt. Dave “The Rave” Showell at Absecon Bay Sportsman in Atlantic County was about as direct as it gets regarding the pre-Thanksgiving Tuesday and beyond rainbow blasts at the nearby Birch Grove Park Pond: “The silver blade 1/8-ounce Tsunami Cocktail Spinner, and chartreuse PowerBait will catch all the trout you want.”
Brandon from Blackwater Sports Center said the store is geared for the hot ‘bow bites going on via the October stocking at Iona Lake (Gloucester County), Giampietro Park Pond and Mary Elmer Lake, and now at South Vineland Park Pond all in the Cumberland County zone. “The Berkley white head/orange tail Mouse Tail catches a lot of trout, from spring through November,” Brandon advised, while adding that the yellow and the 1/8-ounce yellow and the white Rooster Tail is a meal maker.
“It’s great to see trout fishing down here,” enthused Nick Dutton at Hands Too Bait & Tackle in Cape May where trout fishing interest is surprisingly vibrant in the peninsula county getting an April/May and November double shot of freshly stocked trout. “Ponderlodge (Pond) is the best kept secret when it comes to South Jersey trout fishing,” said Dutton, describing it as “Beautiful, deep clear water, a boat ramp, and plenty of shoreline fishing. And lots of trout!” The gold head/white grub, and the plain head/green-black grub Trout Magnets, and pink and rainbow PowerBaits make it happen.
The Thanksgiving through Christmas months, and beyond, deliver promising and surprising, rainbow riding opportunities. Keep in mind the daily limit is four trout at the statewide 9-inch minimum, and you do need a freshwater license and trout stamp which you’ll find online at njfishandwildlife.com.
And unlike the spring fling, fishing is allowed as trout are being stocked in the fall.
