How's This Fair? 2024
Dylcook91 reply :
So I drove about 40 mintues today to go to one of my favorite spots. Upon arrival I get out, and start setting up my gear beside my car. A car pulls up next to me and the gentalmen informs me I can't fish here, that the game warden has been kicking people out because they stocked it with trout due to an issue at a near by location where they normally do.
This pond has some very good size bass in it, it's where I got my first 5+lber. As far as I know there is no season on lmb, and I have purchased my freshwater fishing license for what? Im still not allowed to fish.
How is it fair that they just come in and claim waters that have normally for the most part been over looked. I don't want anything to do with trout. Now I also fear the dawn of bucket fisherman will ruin this place before I ever get to fish it again.
Sorry but after driving for an hour and a half for no reason I had to rant hahaha
QUAKEnSHAKE reply :
Who knows who that guy was maybe he just didnt want you there. If its not posted no fishing no trespassing fish til/if warden comes and tells you directly.
Shane J reply :
I agree. Fish until an authority figure tells you otherwise.
Alonerankin2 reply :
See above answers, I agree with them both!
Dylcook91 reply :
Yes, that was my initial thought as well. So I took a walk around the pond, and came across a half ripped up paper stapled to a post on the other side from which I had parked. It was from the NJ fish and wildlife, saying "Trout stocked waters" and "No Fishing" from early March to about mid April. .I forget the dates specifically.
Senko lover reply :
Well at least you can fish it later!
Thornback reply :
I keep the phone number of the FWC (Florida Wildlife and Fish Commission) in my cell phone contact list should I need to contact them for any reason. A phone call to the proper authorities would have answered your question.
Crestliner2008 reply :
I agree with Thronback. I keep the number for the Natural Resource Officer on my cell. And I call them if there ever is a problem. But I would have called them right away, while this guy was standing there telling me this! I'd almost betcha he'd have hi-tailed it out of there when he heard who you were calling. 
RanndomUndead reply :
On 3/29/2015 at 6:32 AM, Dylcook91 said:Yes, that was my initial thought as well. So I took a walk around the pond, and came across a half ripped up paper stapled to a post on the other side from which I had parked. It was from the NJ fish and wildlife, saying "Trout stocked waters" and "No Fishing" from early March to about mid April. .I forget the dates specifically.
Is it one of the stupid seasonal ponds that are mistreated and deemed fish killers, yet even though the pond has problems they constantly stock it and close it for months every year?
Seriously wish i could sue owners of those for animal abuse, even if it is the city.
Big C reply :
Think about it this way. You say there's BIG fish in that lake right? Now there's BIG fish and trout. You need to get a swimbait rod and a hudd. It's like a mini Cali Delta.
Dylcook91 reply :
It's really all just a big waste of time and money. They stock these select waters every year. When it opens to fishing literally hundreds of fisherman who don't fish the rest of the year, but decide they wanna play sportsmen for the day stand side by side and drain it of all the trout. Then when people who have a passion for fishing go there they are outta luck, it doesn't take much to ruin a small body of water.
My fear is that they will also take the bass, and that's the end of that pond..it's only about 3-4 acres in size. one species of fish gets the entire body of water closed, how does that make sense.
slonezp reply :
They close the stocker lakes here for a couple weeks after the trout are stocked. They pull fish out of these lakes so quick, the trout are gone in a week or so. A number of years back, I was fishing a stocked lake after it had opened. A stocking truck pulled up along with the dnr. The dnr checked my license and said they had leftover trout they were getting rid of. I caught my limit within 10 minutes of the fish being dumped in the lake.
Munkin reply :
Maryland has certain places they close in order to stock trout so if they are listed you are SOL. I was fishing a local lake several years ago that they were o stocking with trout the same day I was fishing it. The DNR said something to me to which I replied I was a bass fisherman and could give a s**t less about the trout. The Warden gave me a song and dance about fishing during the stocking to which I replied I didn't know about the stocking until the truck showed up? He them tried saying I was fishing for them (using a 1/2oz jig and LC pointer 100sp like all trout fishermen) to which I replied no I was not and if he felt so to search my boat? Guy searched my boat and found some drop shot minnows which meant I was fishing for trout according to him so he threatened me again. Most of the MDDNR I deal with is professional but I guess this guy was use to illegals or something so I just said go ahead and prove that in court? Mood change that led and I got a "warning" but that lake was not closed officially for any stocking so he can go screw himself.
Allen
Bruce424 reply :
If there was no posting and he wasn't a game warden...tell him who are you to tell me.
justhere reply :
PA used to do this too, but changed it recently. Now if the lake/pond has other species, you can still fish it, but have to throw the trout back until trout opens. And yes I agree this was so annoying, and the first day of trout is the worst day of the year to fish somewhere they stock, but is great in places they don't stock.
gulfcaptain reply :
If they are fishing trout and catch a few bass it's not going to hurt the population. Once the fishing slows, they leave. If the bass eats one of those stupid Power Mouse baits, well then he needed to go in the bucket. Saw a guy today who had a 1lb buck bass on a stringer. It happens, he was in aww when I threw back a 3lber (wanted the 7lb female he was with) and continued on my way. The harvest of a few will improve the fishing by removing some and freeing up the food for the others to grow bigger. I would look into a swimbait though and when they all show up to fish for trout, well then I'd fish a 8" hudd and smile.
Dylcook91 reply :
Unfortunately what passes for a big fish here in NJ is 5+ lbs. I've heard people talk about a "hawg" that in reality barely weights 3lbs, followed by "if I catch that thing, it's going on my wall". The white bucket fisherman here take everything they can get.
I am definitely gonna try a swimbait in there to see what it can do...that is if anything is left.
Kevin22 reply :
We have a lake similar to that around me. Its a little bit bigger though, and there is no closed season after they stock. Oddly from the day they stock and for about 3 weeks you can't catch a bass over 14". Yet nobody believes me that the bass will eat trout. This lake is also where the local fish hatchery dumps their "too old to breed" females. So it has a stocked population of 7-8# fish and 3000 trout a year (8-12" trout), in a 20 acre lake. If I ever decide to try my hand at swimbaits you can bet that lake will be where I go. I'm just not a big fish hunter, by that I mean I couldn't handle fishing a week without a hit waiting for that 7lber to find a swimbait. I'd go nuts!
Montanaro reply :
On 3/29/2015 at 8:19 AM, Dylcook91 said:It's really all just a big waste of time and money. They stock these select waters every year. When it opens to fishing literally hundreds of fisherman who don't fish the rest of the year, but decide they wanna play sportsmen for the day stand side by side and drain it of all the trout. Then when people who have a passion for fishing go there they are outta luck, it doesn't take much to ruin a small body of water.
My fear is that they will also take the bass, and that's the end of that pond..it's only about 3-4 acres in size. one species of fish gets the entire body of water closed, how does that make sense.
Waste of money? Here in wv a license with a trout stamp is around 40 dollars. Say 100,000 in states buy a license and bam you have 4 million. I assure you that raising trout barely makes a dent in that revenue. Why do you think DNR is more active during the spring than summer/fall
Angry John reply :
CT and WA close all waters that are trout stocked for a "closed season". I could also care less about trout to keep but I do catch and release if the bass bite sucks. I dropshot them so the fish is hurt very little and I have never gut hooked one. Lame policy for put and take lakes.
gulfcaptain reply :
On 3/29/2015 at 10:45 AM, Kevin22 said:We have a lake similar to that around me. Its a little bit bigger though, and there is no closed season after they stock. Oddly from the day they stock and for about 3 weeks you can't catch a bass over 14". Yet nobody believes me that the bass will eat trout. This lake is also where the local fish hatchery dumps their "too old to breed" females. So it has a stocked population of 7-8# fish and 3000 trout a year (8-12" trout), in a 20 acre lake. If I ever decide to try my hand at swimbaits you can bet that lake will be where I go. I'm just not a big fish hunter, by that I mean I couldn't handle fishing a week without a hit waiting for that 7lber to find a swimbait. I'd go nuts!
They don't need to be 7lb's to eat a swimbait. Those 3lb fish have no problem sucking down an 8" swimbait although the smallest I've caught on them is just over 4lbs. The 68's will catch all sizes. Have seen 2lb fish try and eat a Deps 250. The bait was almost as big as it was but I guess he didn't know that. Think about how many times we have all caught little bass on cranks and thought to ourselves "what was that fish thinkng"......well I'm guessing it was "I'm going to eat you!!!"
Penguino reply :
On 3/29/2015 at 10:36 AM, Dylcook91 said:Unfortunately what passes for a big fish here in NJ is 5+ lbs. I've heard people talk about a "hawg" that in reality barely weights 3lbs, followed by "if I catch that thing, it's going on my wall". The white bucket fisherman here take everything they can get.
I am definitely gonna try a swimbait in there to see what it can do...that is if anything is left.
LOL I have a lake here in Central NJ that is pretty much the same as you're talking about. It's called Lake Manaplan and the state stocks trout in it too. When you think about it, stocking trout in small lakes and ponds is a extremely boneheaded idea. The majority of the time, the trout get caught within the first week of stocking, and the state ends up wasting thousands of dollars. Also, this negatively effects the fishing as the people who keep the trout usually also inadvertednly end up keeping the bass.
Alonerankin2 reply :
While I understand your point of view, especially on Largemouth being caught and kept, you have to remember that ANY legal license holder has the right to fish & keep the catch in accordance with the laws of the state they are fishing in. It's just a fact. One, that all of us have to understand and comply with..
Munkin reply :
On 3/29/2015 at 11:26 PM, Penguino said:LOL I have a lake here in Central NJ that is pretty much the same as you're talking about. It's called Lake Manaplan and the state stocks trout in it too. When you think about it, stocking trout in small lakes and ponds is a extremely boneheaded idea. The majority of the time, the trout get caught within the first week of stocking, and the state ends up wasting thousands of dollars. Also, this negatively effects the fishing as the people who keep the trout usually also inadvertednly end up keeping the bass.
They stock trout like that so people can catch and keep them. There is a 1 acre pond by my house that they stock like 500 trout for a kids fishing derby. The pond is 3' deep at most (City regulation) with no cover or baitfish so it cannot sustain anything.
Allen
KyAngler_1120 reply :
I feel your pain Dylcook91... here in Kentucky there are only a very few areas that have closed waters due to trout stockings and that is only near one of our hatcheries. If your fishing a body of water when the stocking truck pulls up then it is just your lucky day here in KY. It is also frustrating with the type of fisherman you talk about, but the lake I fish on the most is a trophy lake that has a 1 bass 20inch limit, so bobber fisherman don't take large numbers of bass out
Kevin22 reply :
On 3/29/2015 at 2:14 PM, gulfcaptain said:They don't need to be 7lb's to eat a swimbait. Those 3lb fish have no problem sucking down an 8" swimbait although the smallest I've caught on them is just over 4lbs. The 68's will catch all sizes. Have seen 2lb fish try and eat a Deps 250. The bait was almost as big as it was but I guess he didn't know that. Think about how many times we have all caught little bass on cranks and thought to ourselves "what was that fish thinkng"......well I'm guessing it was "I'm going to eat you!!!"
I don't doubt that at all, but you also have to realize where I live.. our fish are a little different than cali fish. From what I understand, and I know it varies from location to location, but a 4lb fish in cali isn't anything to talk about. A 4lb fish wins big fish here. Seems for the most part we have a huge population of 12-14" fish, then a decent population of 17-19, then a very small population of 20". IMO it is because of the 15" minimum size limit. Let the people who want to keep bass keep the 12-14 and lets throw back the 15+...
This trout lake is the exception, like i said it is stocked with big fish each year. They are hard to catch, but they are in there!
A-Jay reply :
On 3/29/2015 at 2:14 PM, gulfcaptain said:They don't need to be 7lb's to eat a swimbait. Those 3lb fish have no problem sucking down an 8" swimbait although the smallest I've caught on them is just over 4lbs. The 68's will catch all sizes. Have seen 2lb fish try and eat a Deps 250. The bait was almost as big as it was but I guess he didn't know that. Think about how many times we have all caught little bass on cranks and thought to ourselves "what was that fish thinkng"......well I'm guessing it was "I'm going to eat you!!!"
Agreed ~ Here's an example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk-JSYwbaz8
Throw a swimbait.
That is all.
A-Jay
Delaware Valley Tackle reply :
"Fair" is where you ride the rides and eat cotton candy.
Joedodge reply :
Well said^^^^ life ain't fair man. The sooner Ya realize the better
Dogmatic reply :
Stop knocking Jersey's trout stocking! I rely heavily on those trout to get the Striper bite going when they get flushed down to the "Big D". It's the only time I get to fish my trout swimbaits.
Dogmatic reply :
On 3/30/2015 at 3:54 AM, Kevin22 said:I don't doubt that at all, but you also have to realize where I live.. our fish are a little different than cali fish. From what I understand, and I know it varies from location to location, but a 4lb fish in cali isn't anything to talk about. A 4lb fish wins big fish here. Seems for the most part we have a huge population of 12-14" fish, then a decent population of 17-19, then a very small population of 20". IMO it is because of the 15" minimum size limit. Let the people who want to keep bass keep the 12-14 and lets throw back the 15+...
This trout lake is the exception, like i said it is stocked with big fish each year. They are hard to catch, but they are in there!
...and as a swimbait fisherman, I would be on that lake every chance I got!
Penguino reply :
On 3/30/2015 at 6:56 AM, Dogmatic said:Stop knocking Jersey's trout stocking! I rely heavily on those trout to get the Striper bite going when they get flushed down to the "Big D". It's the only time I get to fish my trout swimbaits.
Ummmm.... but New Jersey's trout stocking isn't smart at all. They end up stocking tiny ponds that reach 80 degrees in water temperature during the summer. Check the New Jersey Trout Stocking Locations. Even though they no that the trout have no chance of surviving beyond spring, they still do it just for the people who "keep and eat" all the stocked trout in the first month. If New Jersey actually did some quality research in stocking trout, then I wouldn't be knocking their program. But the fact that they stock tiny ponds where the water depth is 10ft max and the water temp. reaches 80 degrees just isn't right.
deep reply :
On 3/29/2015 at 9:53 AM, gulfcaptain said:If they are fishing trout and catch a few bass it's not going to hurt the population. Once the fishing slows, they leave. If the bass eats one of those stupid Power Mouse baits, well then he needed to go in the bucket. Saw a guy today who had a 1lb buck bass on a stringer. It happens, he was in aww when I threw back a 3lber (wanted the 7lb female he was with) and continued on my way. The harvest of a few will improve the fishing by removing some and freeing up the food for the others to grow bigger. I would look into a swimbait though and when they all show up to fish for trout, well then I'd fish a 8" hudd and smile.
Yes, them small bass need to be removed. I'm not gonna do that; and so I am glad if someone else is willing to do it for me.
The only problem is that there are only so many 5#+ bass in a small 50 or 100 acre reservoir/ CPL. You Cali guys are well aware of that.
Fish Chris had an awesome article titled *The Trophy Bass On Fluorescent Playdough Theory* on his (now defunct) website. Be happy to mail that to anyone who wants to read it.
Dogmatic reply :
...and that's YOUR money at work. They also stock many quality rivers and streams, I follow Jersey's stocking closely, just like PA's, usually means striper and musky are biting. I didn't mean to offend your sensitivities for stocker trout, the reality is, for every dollar they spend on a stocker trout they reap ten fold in license fees.
Penguino reply :
On 3/30/2015 at 9:09 AM, Dogmatic said:...and that's YOUR money at work. They also stock many quality rivers and streams, I follow Jersey's stocking closely, just like PA's, usually means striper and musky are biting. I didn't mean to offend your sensitivities for stocker trout, the reality is, for every dollar they spend on a stocker trout they reap ten fold in license fees.
LOL... I don't give any money to the state. I'm barely under 16, so I still don't have to buy my license or trout stamps.
Bruce424 reply :
On 3/30/2015 at 9:26 AM, Penguino said:LOL... I don't give any money to the state. I'm barely under 16, so I still don't have to buy my license or trout stamps.
And when your 16or 17 and still look 15you still don't need a license!!!! LOL
Master Bait'r reply :
DVT nailed it oh man I laughed.
Life isn't fair. Learn to laugh about it or figure out something that does work for you. Beating your head against a wall is only going to get your feelings hurt.
Alonerankin2 reply :
LOL^^ About the only thing that gets better in middle age, is the true acceptance that life is anything but fair..
Dylcook91 reply :
oh they steal money for sure, then just stock some waters to make it look like they are doing something with all the money they are collecting.
I have nothing wrong with fisherman taking their limit of fish...but the rangers can't always be around, people abuse it and take what they please when they please. Remember this pond is only 3-4 acres...the smallest bass I ever caught there was just above 2.5lbs. Since it's such small waters I think the bass do there own culling.
Master Bait'r reply :
On 3/30/2015 at 10:31 AM, Dylcook91 said:oh they steal money for sure, then just stock some waters to make it look like they are doing something with all the money they are collecting.
OH COME ON. Get over yourself kid. Teenknowitallitis is a terrible disease, and only you can make the choice to rise above it.
You said so yourself in the same breath that people do what they want when the wardens aren't around! Seriously, how you can argue both sides in the same post without even realizing it is beyond me, but color me impressed.
J Francho reply :
Let's see, we have illegal fishing, politics, personal attacks… can we get some religion in here too?
Jeez guys. OP, if it's the law, then obey it. It's your job to find out, and if it isn't what you like, you can contact your local reps and vote. When you're old enough to vote. For now we're done here.
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