New Jersey Trout Stocking - Fall 2020

Mid and late October can be an ideal time to go trout fishing in New Jersey as the state's fall stocking program coincides with cooler days, less crowded waters, and colorful fall scenery.

During the second and third weeks of October, the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife undertakes its fall stocking program, which consists of stocking only two-year old trout, some of which can be 18 inches in length.

Fall stocking begins Tuesday, October 6 in 2020 and concludes on Wednesday, October 14.

All trout are raised at the division's Pequest Trout Hatchery and measure approximately 14" to 18" in length.

Trout that evade anglers during the fall could hold potential for winter fishing. A few of the large, fall stocked trout survive the winter and provide fly fishermen and other anglers with early spring catches.

The Division will be stocking 6,000 additional fish for the 2020 fall trout stocking season. These extra fish equate to each waterbody receiving roughly 25% more fish per waterbody than in a typical fall season.

Approximately 27,000 trout will be stocked over the two week stocking effort. Four additional areas will be stocked as part of the Fall 2020 program.

The 4 new waterbodies are:

• Dahnert's Lake - Bergen County
• Holmdel Park Pond - Monmouth County
• Manny's Pond - Hunterdon County
• Pohatcong Lake - Ocean County
  

All fall-stocked waters may be fished as soon as they are stocked (no "closed waters" during fall stocking). all fly fisherman

The complete list of fall-stocked waters and the stocking schedule is available at www.njfishandwildlife.com or through the Trout Stocking Hotline 609-633-6765.

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. Those waters, along with Tilcon Lake in Allamuchy Mountain State Park, are included in the landlocked salmon stocking program, now in its 13th year. All three yield harvestable size salmon (12 inches).

Two Trophy Trout Lakes, Round Valley and Merrill Creek Reservoirs, are additional 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.).

Source: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Fish and Wildlife

Northern Snakeheads in Pennsylvania

The northern snakehead is one of the most notorious aquatic invasive species found in Pennsylvania. This slender fish is found in several rivers and impoundments in the state

In May, 2020, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) urged anglers to report and dispose of any invasive Northern Snakehead fish that may be caught in the lower Susquehanna River.

The advisory follows the documented movement of 21 Northern Snakeheads past the Conowingo Dam into the Conowingo Pool, a 14-mile-long section of the Susquehanna River located between the Conowingo Dam in Maryland and the Holtwood Dam in Pennsylvania.

Fisheries management of the Conowingo Pool is shared between the PFBC and Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MD DNR).

In late March, operators of the fish passage systems used at the Conowingo, Holtwood, and Safe Harbor dams to assist migrating American Shad during their spring spawning runs indicated that due to restrictions associated with COVID-19, fish passage operations had been delayed from the original start date of April 1.

Over the course of four days, lift operators observed 35 northern snakeheads within the east fish lift; 14 of the invasive fish were able to be netted and removed, while another 21 entered the Conowingo Pool.

Due to the concern over increased invasive species passage and the lateness of the season for successful American Shad passage, the Susquehanna River Anadromous Fish Restoration Cooperative (SRAFRC) recommended that fish passage operations be immediately ceased to prevent further passage of snakeheads.

Fish passage operations at the Holtwood and Safe Harbor dams upriver were also ceased immediately, although no snakeheads were observed at either location.

Northern Snakeheads were discovered in the mid-Atlantic region in 2002 when a pair were discovered in a Maryland pond.

Snakeheads were confirmed in Pennsylvania in July 2004 in Meadow Lake, Philadelphia County, and are present in the connecting lower Schuylkill and Delaware rivers.

In summer 2018, anglers began catching snakeheads in Octoraro Creek in Lancaster County, a tributary that enters the Susquehanna River below the Conowingo Dam; however, snakeheads are not known to occur in the upper Octoraro Creek basin above the dam at Pine Grove.

In September 2019, an angler reported catching of a single snakehead in the Monongahela River near Braddock, PA, and the specimen was verified by PFBC biologists.

Anglers are reminded that possession, transport, and importation of a live snakehead is unlawful in both Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Anglers who suspect they have caught a snakehead are encouraged to NOT release it, and report it to the PFBC at (610) 847-2442 or by sending an email to tgrabowski@pa.gov.

For more information on Northern Snakeheads in Pennsylvania, including an identification guide, visit the PFBC snakehead resource page on the agency’s website (www.fishandboat.com).

source: Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

 

Related Information

Pennsylvania Freshwater Fishing