Garden State Trout

Drossi wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:06 pm

With the high water levels I hit a wild brook trout stream that's on state land in search of fish. Had a ball catching a half dozen 7"-8" wild................fall fish! Not a brookie to be found where I used to catch quite a few, they've been replace by the fall fish. I strongly suspect that something changed in this watershed and that brook trout are no longer present (I've fished it several times over the last few years with no trout observed). It's a documented wild trout reproduction in the old Coldwater Fisheries plan. Is there a way to get an update or an electro shock done, I mean if it's no longer populated with brook trout it A) might as well be added to the stocking list or B) might be worthwhile to try planting wild browns from another documented wild trout stream.

Drossi wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:06 pm

I mean if it's no longer populated with brook trout it A) might as well be added to the stocking list or B) might be worthwhile to try planting wild browns from another documented wild trout stream.

BiggerThomas wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 02, 2021 7:59 pm

Drossi wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:06 pm

I mean if it's no longer populated with brook trout it A) might as well be added to the stocking list or B) might be worthwhile to try planting wild browns from another documented wild trout stream.

Nah, it's good PR for it to remain classified as such. Everyone knows the presence of Brook Trout indicates clean water, so it helps reverse the Dirty Jersey narrative.

coaltrout wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 04, 2021 10:12 am

drossi hit me up ill just dump some brookies from dunnfield and start keeping all those creek chubs for my Sardine-Pizza recipe.

Worked with middle brook, should work with any other stream amiright??

Jokes aside, I wonder if they would find it optimal to introduce brookies from another stream in the same watershed, I reckon they would have to investigate WHY they brookies left. Creek chubs arent known to overtake/displace them right? Only when another part of the stream changes?

coaltrout wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 04, 2021 10:12 am

drossi hit me up ill just dump some brookies from dunnfield and start keeping all those creek chubs for my Sardine-Pizza recipe.

Worked with middle brook, should work with any other stream amiright??

Jokes aside, I wonder if they would find it optimal to introduce brookies from another stream in the same watershed, I reckon they would have to investigate WHY they brookies left. Creek chubs arent known to overtake/displace them right? Only when another part of the stream changes?

Fishybig wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:25 am

Call me what you will but when im in tiny lil trout streams my fallfish always get chucked up onto the bank,deep in the woods....racoons gotta eat too.

Rusty Spinner wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 05, 2021 10:25 am

Fishybig wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:25 am

Call me what you will but when im in tiny lil trout streams my fallfish always get chucked up onto the bank,deep in the woods....racoons gotta eat too.

Curious as to why you would do that with a native fish that trout eat when they are younger? They do not compete with trout other than to eat the same insects, but do not push trout out of prime lies like brown trout do to other trout, especially to brookies. To each his own, I guess.

Fishybig wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 05, 2021 11:26 am

Rusty Spinner wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 05, 2021 10:25 am

Fishybig wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:25 am

Call me what you will but when im in tiny lil trout streams my fallfish always get chucked up onto the bank,deep in the woods....racoons gotta eat too.

Curious as to why you would do that with a native fish that trout eat when they are younger? They do not compete with trout other than to eat the same insects, but do not push trout out of prime lies like brown trout do to other trout, especially to brookies. To each his own, I guess.

Ive personally noticed that once fallfish populations increase, trout populations decrease....and vice versa...so anytime a catch a fallfish in some favorite trout tribs, to the woods they go....pretty sure once they reach a certain size, they eat as many trout eggs as they can find??

brettdv wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 12, 2021 9:18 am

Has anyone noticed the same correlation with chubs and Brook trout?

Fished a brook I haven’t been to in more than a few years. Brook trout numbers were never off the charts high at this spot but the avg size made you for the lack of numbers. High gradient stream below a dam. Fished it hard for nearly 4 hours and zero Brookies. I must have caught 75+/- chubs. Water levels were fine. Nearly every cast is each decent pocket was hit. Some quiet large but a lot mixed class years. Made me wonder if the brookies have been reduced/eliminated. I can’t see them competing with the sheer number of chubs for food. I may have seen a few redds but could have been recent rain events clearing out the gravel.

Might give it another shot downstream but seems to run through swamp and beaver ponds before getting stocked further downstream.

martalus wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 15, 2021 9:20 am

brettdv wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 12, 2021 9:18 am

Has anyone noticed the same correlation with chubs and Brook trout?

Fished a brook I haven’t been to in more than a few years. Brook trout numbers were never off the charts high at this spot but the avg size made you for the lack of numbers. High gradient stream below a dam. Fished it hard for nearly 4 hours and zero Brookies. I must have caught 75+/- chubs. Water levels were fine. Nearly every cast is each decent pocket was hit. Some quiet large but a lot mixed class years. Made me wonder if the brookies have been reduced/eliminated. I can’t see them competing with the sheer number of chubs for food. I may have seen a few redds but could have been recent rain events clearing out the gravel.

Might give it another shot downstream but seems to run through swamp and beaver ponds before getting stocked further downstream.

Could they have been busy spawning? I havent fished that place in about 10 years, but I cant imagine what would disrupt the brookies there as its a tailwater with the whole headwater section protected from development on public land. Every so often I would get skunked there and only catch chubs and then the next time I would catch a 14 inch wild brookie with serious shoulders. I am curious if something bad did happen or if they just moved around (either to a trickle to spawn or down to the beaver ponds for winter)

Drossi wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 15, 2021 12:45 pm

martalus wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 15, 2021 9:20 am

brettdv wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 12, 2021 9:18 am

Has anyone noticed the same correlation with chubs and Brook trout?

Fished a brook I haven’t been to in more than a few years. Brook trout numbers were never off the charts high at this spot but the avg size made you for the lack of numbers. High gradient stream below a dam. Fished it hard for nearly 4 hours and zero Brookies. I must have caught 75+/- chubs. Water levels were fine. Nearly every cast is each decent pocket was hit. Some quiet large but a lot mixed class years. Made me wonder if the brookies have been reduced/eliminated. I can’t see them competing with the sheer number of chubs for food. I may have seen a few redds but could have been recent rain events clearing out the gravel.

Might give it another shot downstream but seems to run through swamp and beaver ponds before getting stocked further downstream.

Could they have been busy spawning? I havent fished that place in about 10 years, but I cant imagine what would disrupt the brookies there as its a tailwater with the whole headwater section protected from development on public land. Every so often I would get skunked there and only catch chubs and then the next time I would catch a 14 inch wild brookie with serious shoulders. I am curious if something bad did happen or if they just moved around (either to a trickle to spawn or down to the beaver ponds for winter)

My supposition is that something changed in the tailwater mixture that caused a prolonged spillage of warm top water putting a severe damper on the brookie population. At one point I started catching largemouths down by where the houses are.

cappy wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 15, 2021 1:21 pm

Drossi wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 15, 2021 12:45 pm

martalus wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 15, 2021 9:20 am

Could they have been busy spawning? I havent fished that place in about 10 years, but I cant imagine what would disrupt the brookies there as its a tailwater with the whole headwater section protected from development on public land. Every so often I would get skunked there and only catch chubs and then the next time I would catch a 14 inch wild brookie with serious shoulders. I am curious if something bad did happen or if they just moved around (either to a trickle to spawn or down to the beaver ponds for winter)

My supposition is that something changed in the tailwater mixture that caused a prolonged spillage of warm top water putting a severe damper on the brookie population. At one point I started catching largemouths down by where the houses are.

I agree. I've caught just as many sunfish as fallfish. I give at least one try a year since I live close by just to see if something changed for the better. Been a good number of years since I saw a trout in that water. I always pick up fish where they should be, just not trout, and brookies are aggressive, if they were there I would have picked one up.

martalus wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 16, 2021 10:23 am

In the meantime-hopefully some brookies did survive and can repopulate the area-there are at least four tiny tribs that I can see on the map in that area-maybe there are some holdouts there than can repopulate.