New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife |
Nov. 19, 2003
The Winter Trout Stocking Program is administered by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife and is entering its fourth year. The highly successful program provides additional opportunities for Garden State anglers during the late fall and winter months by providing trout outside the regular spring and fall stocking seasons. The trout are raised at the Pequest State Trout Hatchery in Oxford, Warren County, where the regular season trout are also raised.
Every year, winter trout anglers eagerly await the stocking of trout in their favorite lake or pond. Although much of the winter fishing activity on these areas occurs during open water or unfrozen periods, many anglers look forward to the opportunity to catch trout through the ice. In North Jersey, safe ice is usually present on most of the stocked water bodies during the winter. However, some of the parks where trout are stocked, particularly in the urban areas, prohibit ice fishing. Anglers should check with the individual park office regarding their regulations on ice fishing.
Proven methods for catching trout through the ice are using tip-ups with powerbait or fathead minnows, and jigging with small jigs or ice jigging flies. Traditional baits like worms, fathead minnows, meal worms and powerbait fished on the bottom during open water work well for the shoreline angler. All anglers should pick up a copy of the Freshwater Fishing Issue of the New Jersey Fish and Wildlife Digest and familiarize themselves with the rules and regulations pertaining to the waters they want to fish. The Digest as well as other information about fishing in New Jersey is also available online at www.njfishandwildlife.com.
The following list contains winter trout stocking information. A total of 24 lakes geographically distributed throughout the state will be stocked with 12,940 rainbow trout averaging 11 inches in length. Stocked lakes range in size from five to 100 acres and have shoreline access and/or boat launching sites. The smaller waterbodies (i.e., Rowands Pond, Verona Park Pond and Ocquittunk Lake) have a higher success rate for catching trout than larger lakes such as Furnace Lake, Little Swartswood Lake and Shepherd Lake.
North Jersey Lakes Stocked November 24-26, 2003
Bergen County Mill Pond 400 trout Essex County Verona Park Pond 500 trout Hudson County Woodcliff Lake 510 trout Hunterdon County Amwell Lake 410 trout Middlesex County Hook’s Creek Lake 520 trout Morris County Mt. Hope Pond 410 trout Speedwell Lake 520 trout Passaic County Barbours Pond 420 trout Sheppard Lake 1,000 trout Union County Lower Echo Lake 420 trout Warren County Furnace Lake 900 trout Sussex County Lake Aeroflex 1,000 trout Lake Ocquittunk 500 trout Little Swartswood 1,000 trout Silver Lake 600 troutNorth Jersey Lakes Stocked January 5-6, 2004
Atlantic County Birch Grove Park Pond 460 trout Camden County Haddon Lake 250 trout Rowands Pond 250 trout Cumberland County Shaws Mill Pond 510 trout Gloucester County Mullica Hill Pond 410 trout Monmouth County Spring Lake 480 trout Topenemus Lake 470 trout Ocean County Lake Shenandoah 580 trout Salem County Riverview Beach Pond 420 trout