Round Valley Trout Association has Stocked the Reservoir

Round Valley Trout Association recently stocked 45 trophy trout, 21-24 inches, 500 brown trout 10-14 inches, and 480 tiger trout, 10-14 inches. These trout will grow very fast, although the trophy rainbows will not last very long.

The club is worth joining if you fish RV. I was a member for a number of years and served as the managing editor of the newsletter for about a year, although as anyone there can tell you, Jim Saccento, the former editor, was still there mentoring me at it. I could edit writing better and faster than anyone, but a managing editor also deals with many other procedures. My work schedule proved too much. Elected to the board and needing to be there as editor, a function Jim had given up, I couldn't make the meetings.

I found RVTA really has the down-to-earth feel of what the trout fishing at the reservoir is all about.

RVTA Trout Stocking

Official Clarification on Curbside Pickup Expected

Managing Editor of The Fisherman, Jim Hutchinson, has been working tirelessly for two months now on our behalf:

Jim Hutchinson Jr.

3 hrs · 

Heads up -- I got word from friends from the RFA government affairs team working in Trenton that Gov. Murphy is expected to officially clarify the “curbside pickup” allowance for “nonessential” businesses in his daily briefing today at 1 p.m.. So, sometime this afternoon there should be no more confusion as to how “essential” bait and tackle can be picked up by Garden State fishermen. My friends say they’re still hard at work pressing for the for-hire and boat rental folks; hopefully, today’s announcement is a sign of good things to come in the coming days on all fishing fronts in the Garden State. My glass remains half-full! #fishthroughit

Back to Round Valley

Went back to Round Valley late this afternoon, hiking from the ramp back into the Ranger Cove area for photos. Such a release from the unreality of all you can lump together as comprising life inside, including the work I do at the supermarket, even though the parking lot is outdoors and does relieve me somewhat. (Since my department is closed, I'm pushing carts and spraying them with disinfectant.)

Sadie is an old, slow dog who tried my patience. I admit I conspired with the open breeze to not bring her along next time so I can walk with a tighter step, but that would break my wife's heart. And Sadie's. She sure knows when I'm going out.

That stump in the photo is about 25 feet down when the reservoir is at full pool. Any guesses on how many bass have stationed next to it over the years?

I brought my rod, but Sadie was so slow, I didn't stay to fish. It was chilly out anyway. I spoke to some shore-bound trout fishermen carrying on the wintertime quest, and they had one 17-inch rainbow. 

Hike at Round Valley

We had a great afternoon. Matt, his mother, me, and Sadie. Last time Trish and I hiked here, before she came with Matt along and they hiked, me staying near the ramp and shooting photos, we came short of walking all the way from Ranger Cove to the ramp, and she was pissed. Sciatica in my right thigh and leg was pretty bad, and I was under the delusion that my new Nikon D850 wasn't focusing. In a word, I was a mess. Anxiety was so bad for about two months with everything gone wrong after Florida, that it affected my judgment so I couldn't tell if my camera worked. After I got home and loaded the images, I did change my mind. Everything finally got righted when Covid-19 hit.

Today, I learned that we were much closer to the goal that day than I had felt we were. And the hike back to Ranger Cove was so easy that I understood I can come over here and work from some new spots with ease to get shots with my camera.

There are dozens of trails. All sorts of them are makeshift, more than half of them below the normal water line. It's really cool hiking with so many choices and making the way up as you go. What a different feel back in the woods than at the water among bleached rocks in direct sun. And it's easy to find a way back in under the trees, and then back out. Very interesting.