The NJDEP’s Division of Fish and Wildlife has moved up its Fall Trout Stocking Program by one week. The fall stocking will now begin Tuesday, Oct. 1 and conclude on Wednesday, Oct. 9. The stocking schedule has been revised to help staff take steps to address a disease that has affected a small portion of fish at the Pequest Trout Hatchery in Warren County.
With cooler temperatures providing optimal conditions for trout fishing, the Division is looking forward to another excellent fall season. Nearly 20,000 two-year old brook and rainbow trout averaging 14 to 16 inches and weighing 1½ to 2 pounds will be distributed in 17 streams and 15 lakes and ponds statewide. Unfortunately no three-year-old breeders will be released.
Approximately 20,000 two-year old brook and rainbow trout, averaging 14-16 inches, are stocked in 17 streams and 15 ponds and lakes over a two-week period. Streams are stocked during the first week, and ponds and lakes are stocked during the second week. All fish were raised at the division’s Pequest Trout Hatchery.
The stocking boundaries for streams are the same as in the spring (see the current Freshwater Digest for information).
Growing numbers of New Jersey trout anglers now eagerly await the fall trout season. One reason is that since 2006, all of the trout stocked in the fall measure 14 inches to 22 inches and weigh one-and-a-half-pounds to eight pounds. The big fish, cool water, great weather and spectacular scenery combine to make the fall season what many consider to be New Jersey’s premium trout fishing season. And it doesn’t end with Thanksgiving; hot trout fishing action extends through the winter months until the spring season begins again in April.
Waters stocked during the first week of fall stocking are the 17 large streams and rivers in northern and coastal areas, such as the Big Flatbook, Pequest River, South Branch Raritan River, Musconetcong River, and the Manasquan and Tom’s Rivers. All fall-stocked waters may be fished as soon as they are stocked (no "closed waters" during fall stocking).
During the second week, 15 ponds and lakes in the central and southern portions of the state were stocked. Some of the more popular waters are Farrington Lake, Oak Pond, Greenwich Lake, and Mary Elmer Lake.
The complete list of fall-stocked waters and the revised stocking schedule is available at www.njfishandwildlife.com or through the Trout Stocking Hotline 609-633-6765. If you need help finding one of these trout-stocked waters, refer to the list of fishing access locations linked below for driving directions.
Other waters offer fine trout fishing opportunities even though they are not stocked in the fall. The Holdover Trout Lakes, like Lake Aeroflex and Lake Wawayanda, provide year round trout fishing opportunities. The landlocked salmon stocking program at these two lakes, now in its 8th year, is yielding harvestable size salmon (12 inches). Our two Trophy Trout Lakes, Round Valley and Merrill Creek Reservoirs, are also great trout fishing destinations. Shoreline fishing on Round Valley is particularly popular in the fall, as big rainbows cruise the shallows (See the current Freshwater Digest for special area regulations.) Also, sea run brown trout begin returning to freshwater in the Manasquan River during the fall and early winter.
Trout fishing will really heat up once fall stocking gets underway. The line-busting, bragging-size trout being stocked in October will test the skills of anglers fishing with lightweight tackle, leaving some anglers with fond memories, to last a lifetime, about the big one that got away. Whether you chose to fish for stocked or wild trout, there are plenty of trout-fishing opportunities in the Garden State. So take the time from your busy schedules to enjoy trout fishing during the splendor of fall.
What you will not see this year, however, are bonus three-year-old browns. Unfortuantely these were lost to a rare disease at the Pequest Hatchery and were euthanized. Furunculosis, a fatal disease affecting cold water species of fish such as trout, was discovered recently in the lowermost portion of the concrete raceway system used to raise trout. “We are taking all precautions to contain this disease,” Division of Fish and Wildlife Director David Chanda said. “This will have minimal impacts on the availability of fish to be distributed throughout the state as part of our fall stocking season.
“We have thoroughly tested other fish in the facility and have ample supplies of two-year-old trout to distribute for the fall trout stocking season. Unfortunately, however, we will not be able to stock any of the super-sized three-year-old trout, and no brown trout will be distributed,” Chanda said.
The section of the hatchery affected held about 2,500 brown trout, which were all destroyed. As a precaution, the hatchery is also euthanizing all trout in the pools/raceway system downstream of the affected area. In all, about 25,000 fish will be euthanized, a small portion of the more than 600,000 trout the hatchery raises every year.
The Division of Fish and Wildlife believes the disease was transferred to the hatchery by ospreys and herons. These birds, feeding on infected fish in the wild, may have spread the bacteria through contact when feeding on fish in the affected pool at the hatchery.
The disease is not transmissible to people but it is never advisable to eat any diseased-looking fish or animal. Signs of furunculosis include darkening of the skin of affected fish as well as large boils and lesions.
The hatchery carries sufficient surplus of trout and anticipates only minimal impacts to its successful fall, winter and spring stocking programs. Approximately 20,000 two-year old brook, brown and rainbow trout will still be distributed in the upcoming fall program, as well as 5,000 rainbows this winter. These fish reside in a separate area of the hatchery and have tested negative for the disease. The hatchery also has 570,000 unaffected trout to be distributed in the spring of 2014.To avoid future problems, the affected area of the hatchery will be drained and disinfected, Equipment will also be disinfected.
The hatchery already uses an elaborate system to deter birds, including air cannon, electrified fencing, and cables strung out over the pools. But the birds have figured out a way to enter the pool area by swooping in horizontally, thus evading the cables. The hatchery is now investigating using a full covering system.
