Hopatcong Report

Laurie Murphy:


We are still open with bait & boat rentals and are happy to report that the advisory for the algae bloom has been lifted for pretty much the whole lake. We still have herring, but only smaller ones & will continue to net until the end of the month. We are fully stocked for the fall jigging season and will start to get ready for hopefully, what will be a great ice fishing season. For the few fisherman still out there, reports have come in for lots of yellow & white perch, pickerel, hybrid striped bass on chicken livers & some walleye and nice crappies, along with several carp caught on jigs in deeper water. Pete Rathjens made his way to the scale with a Largemouth, weighed in at 5 lb 2 oz. Our hours for the fall are 6:30 AM - 6 PM. We are also set up with Fish & Wildlife’s new licensing system & it is up and running. Have a great week !

Lamington River Dam Removal Begins

Trout Scapes River Restoration, led by Brian Cowden, began removal of the defunct dam on the Lamington River near the bridge over Cowperthwait Road, Bedminster/North Branch, on Saturday morning, October 12. More is on the agenda than removal of the dam. Cowden intends to create better habital for smallmouth bass and stocked trout.

The effort is part of a movement in New Jersey to remove river dams, allowing the passage of migratory fish species like shad, river herrring, and striped bass. Freer flow also creates better ecologies for resident species. Here on the Lamington, the improvement will suit resident and stocked fish, although, if all Raritan River dams were removed, it might not be completely out of the realm of possibility for striped bass to move into the river during periods of high water. It seems extremely unlikely, but stripers do easily move up to the Island Farm Weir in May.

They swim well upstream in the Musconetcong River, now that many dams are removed there.

https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2015/12/lamington-river-restorations-strike.html