Do You Want To See the Annual Gillnet Results?

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Robert Ivan

In this recent myCentralJersey.com article by Jim Stabile the following quote appears:

The Fisheries Bureau hasn’t disclosed the results of the annual private fall gillnetting survey done at Merrill Creek and will keep stocking lakers there. Bureau Chief Lisa Barno said nobody had ever asked for the survey results.

Nobody has ever asked? I asked Biologist Shawn Crouse back in November of 2010 about Round Valley gillnet results. Here’s the email below:

Here's a screenshot of an email I sent to Shawn Crouse back in November 2010. I asked to see the Gillnet survey results and share them on RoundValleyFishing.com. (click image to see it bigger))

As you can see, I asked to share the results of the Round Valley Gillnet Survey. Shawn’s response was that, “the information is not written into reports.” That’s fine and I don’t begrudge Shawn for not sharing at the time, but CLEARLY I asked and I can’t believe I’m the only one.

So would you like to see the results of all the lake trout gillnet surveys for Round Valley Reservoir and Merrill Creek Reservoir?

RVTA Offering Free Jigging for Lake Trout Seminar

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Robert Ivan

The Round Valley Trout Association will be hosting a free trout fishing workshop on Jan. 19, starting at 7:30 p.m. at the American Legion Hall on Ridge Road and Route 22 East in Whitehouse NJ. The guest speaker will be John Korn, who will give a PowerPoint presentation and discuss jigging techniques for lake trout in Round Valley Reservoir.

JohnFKorn_RoundValley_LakeTrout_2010December11

John Korn holding a 25lb lake trout he caught (jigging) and released on December 11, 2010 at Round Valley Reservoir.

For information visit the club’s website at www.fishrvta.com.

Lake Trout Limit Increased at Round Valley

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Robert Ivan

For 2012 the lake trout size and creel limit has been raised as a measure to increase the viability of trophy lake trout.

The creel limit for lake trout in Round Valley Reservoir is increased (from the former three
fish at 15 inches to less than or equal to 20 inches plus one additional fish of 24 inches or
greater—for a total of four lake trout) now to a six fish limit—which may range from 15 inches
to less than 24 inches, plus one additional fish of 24 inches or greater — for a daily creel total of seven lake trout. Visit http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/digfsh12.htm to learn more.

Looks like we’re going to be eating a lot of lake trout this year!

2011 Round Valley Lake Trout Gillnet Survey Results

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Robert Ivan

Every year the NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife conducts a gill netting survey of Lake Trout at Round Valley Reservoir to monitor their health, population, reproduction rate and more. The 2011 survey was conducted last week and the gill nets “caught some [lake trout] in the 20-inch range, killed one of about 10 pounds” according to this article in the Daily Record.

This is a pretty poor showing compared to last year’s catch. Watch this video of the 2010 Round Valley Lake Trout gillnet survey to learn about the survey and see a 32lb laker caught and released in that year’s survey.

October 22 Fishing Report

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Robert Ivan

Chris, Bill and I got a super late start and wound up at the dock at 3:30am. Air temperature was 38 degrees and water temp was 63 degrees. We double anchored in 35, 45 and 55 feet of water. Our greatest success came at 35 feet where we caught Rockbass after Rockbass. At one point we were joking it was the same fish, but who knows.

rockbass

We toughed it out till daybreak and it got down to 31 degrees at one point, brrrrr! Night fishing is DONE, we were the only boat out there.

Sun Up - Time get coffee

After the sun came up we tried jigging for lakers, but the wind was so strong we couldn’t keep our lines vertical enough to contact the bottom. We were using a Krokodile, Hopkins, white bucktail, Kastmaster and Binsky. After a couple hours of fighting the wind we called it a night/day.

Leaves are changing color - Fall is here.

Back at shore, there were a decent number of anglers in the cove between the two boat launches. Almost all of them were fishing the bottom for Rainbows using a variety of baits, shiners, worms, powerbait. I know of one fella that caught a 16inch rainbow using powerbait.

Photos courtesy of WoodallPhotography. Stay warm out there!