Last Dam on the Raritan, NJ to come down ?

[geebee]

Study to be complete by this June :

http://www.nj.com/somerset/index.ssf/2014/01/dep_to_consider_removal_of_last_dam_on_main_stem_of_raritan_river.html

Quite impressive to have taken Down 3 in 3 years already.

American Rivers does great work IMHO

Mark

 

[troutbert]

I'm not familiar with the stream. What fish populations do they expect this will benefit?

 

[geebee]

Tb - the south branch is NJs #1 trout stream including wild bows, and the lower reaches have herring n shad runs plus the American eel so I'd guess they'd be looking at all three.

 

[JackM]

Perhaps I am showing my ignorance, but the dam being worked on in the article hardly seems formidable as a barrier to upstream movement.

 

[osprey]

I read somewhere once that the Raritan had a sea run of brown trout......LONG , LONG AGO.

 

[troutbert]

geebee wrote:
Tb - the south branch is NJs #1 trout stream including wild bows, and the lower reaches have herring n shad runs plus the American eel so I'd guess they'd be looking at all three.

Are there trout in that part of the river?

You can Google Bridgewater NJ and see that's pretty far down into the lowlands, and a highly developed area. It seems very unlikely that there would be trout there.

 

[geebee]

I don't think so - but obviously the trout in the upper reaches will benefit in terms of added protein/ forage base.

And of course as said above, they can re-instate a sea run brook or brown trout fishery like the manasquan.

 

[franklin]

osprey wrote:
I read somewhere once that the Raritan had a sea run of brown trout......LONG , LONG AGO.

Maybe brook trout?

 

[franklin]

troutbert wrote:

geebee wrote:
Tb - the south branch is NJs #1 trout stream including wild bows, and the lower reaches have herring n shad runs plus the American eel so I'd guess they'd be looking at all three.

Are there trout in that part of the river?

You can Google Bridgewater NJ and see that's pretty far down into the lowlands, and a highly developed area. It seems very unlikely that there would be trout there.

12 - 15 miles upstream of the dam you can start to find trout.

 

[ncounty23]

The Raritan River itself holds no trout. It is made up of two branches; the North Branch and the South Branch. The South Branch, as mentioned is probably NJ's top trout fishery. It is heavily stocked throughout its length however above the town of High Bridge it contains a significant wild population of browns. Above Califon, NJ only rainbows are stocked and all Browns caught can be considered wild. Although abundant most wild trout are only between 7-10 inches in length.

 

[Chaz]

I read somewhere once that the Raritan had a sea run of brown trout......LONG , LONG AGO.

Doubt it, the lower reaches are very slow moving and shallow and warm.

 

[FarmerDave]

JackM wrote:
Perhaps I am showing my ignorance, but the dam being worked on in the article hardly seems formidable as a barrier to upstream movement.

Perhaps.;-)

The "dam being worked on" is clearly not the dam being talked about because it is still standing.

That said, those little dams like the "dam being worked on" are best removed if they have served their purpose if simply for safety reasons. Besides, those are often formidable to forage fish.

However, I believe the dam in question is more substantial and is the one just below the confluence of Millstone River.

Plug [color=0000FF]550 weston canal road, bridgewater[/color] into google maps. I believe that is a close address.

I could be wrong. The article is confusing, and it's been a long time since I was in that part of the state.

 

[geebee]

i think its this one :

40.55117,-74.681518

 

[FarmerDave]

Yea, that has got to be it. Thanks for the correction.

 

[osprey]

Framklin........it was in a magazine article , probably Fly Fisherman , and it spoke of two or three streams in Jersey that hundreds of years ago , probably came with the pilgrims , had sea runs of brown trout that for some reason or the other failed eventually but not before they had become very good streams. I swear the Raritan was one of them but i'm not sure.

 

[BrookieChaser]

Brown trout were not introduced into the U.S. until 1883.