NJDEP Seeking AmeriCorps Recruits

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is seeking recruits for the 2018-2019 AmeriCorps Watershed Environmental Class. After completion of training, an AmeriCorps New Jersey Watershed Ambassador receives compensation for 1700 hours of work over a 10- to 11-month period: $13,732.00. Also known as the domestic Peace Corps, AmeriCorps was first hosted by the DEP in 2000.

Here's the link to the NJDEP press release covering the operations in detail: https://www.nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2018/18_0065.htm?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Pond Declined

  

Years ago, I wrote posts about the bass pond closest to home, about a hundred yards from where I sit now in our living room, and the number and size of bass caught was astonishing. Then we got hit by two consecutive hard winters about four years ago, the second resulting in a fish kill here. The pond is very shallow and the ice was very thick. One of the dead bass Matt found would have weighed about five pounds. Despite finding so many dead bass, we still caught some and nice size the spring and summer thereafter. I optimistically assumed the fishery would come back around in a few years. I wasn't sure if the bass would be as big--averaging two pounds--because 10 years ago the fish averaged about 11 inches, so I was aware the pond was going through phases before those hard winters came.

A few years have passed, leaving me puzzled rather than optimistic. Mike Maxwell says the same as Matt. The pond is dead. Back in April, I did catch a little nine-incher, but that's all I caught, and tonight, neither of us got a hit. We were fishing a buzzbait (Matt), and a spinnerbait, instead of plastics, having anticipated muddy water when in fact the clarity is normal. We didn't care to walk back and retie, and besides, Matt used to score as many 45 bass on a weekend using buzzbaits here exclusively.

The fishing was better after the kill. Why it's worsened, rather than improved, I have no idea. We keep a watchful eye on it. The fishing pressure, which never was heavy, has been even less since the kill.

Beware of Giant Hogweed

NJDEP sent me an email about a dangerous plant I didn't know about, nor do I recall ever seeing it, and the photograph inside the pdf I've linked to shows a plant resembling common Queen Anne's Lace, though it does appear a little different.

The sap of Giant Hogweed on the skin can cause severe burns, once that skin is exposed to sun. And it can cause blindness if it gets in your eyes.

https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/NJDEP/2018/07/19/file_attachments/1041740/hogweedbrochure.pdf

It's Summer, but the Hybrids were BIG!

Laurie Murphy:

The Dominic Sarinelli Memorial Hybrid Striper Contest, held over the weekend by The Knee Deep Club, had 63 entries, with some real nice fish taking the top 6 places. Mike Truglio took 1st place with a hefty 9 lb 8 oz fish, winning $630 for his efforts. Second place went to Tom Focciola with an 8 lb 10 oz fish, taking home $300 and Frank Sarinelli placed 3rd, winning $204 with a 8 lb 3 oz beauty. $20 gift cards from The Jefferson Diner, went to Ray Sarinelli with his Hybrid weighing 8 lbs, Saige Bruzaud with a 7 lb 12 oz, and Eddie Mackin with a 7 lb 5 oz Hybrid. Other notable catches over the weekend included Trevor Nilsen with a 4 lb 4 oz pickerel, John O’Neill with a walleye weighing 5 lb 7 oz and Rob Gaydos , also with a walleye, weighing 6 lb 3 oz.

Slow During Summer

Good thing Matt and I didn't have Tilcon Lake in our plans today. Thunderstorms moved in from I-95 northward at about 2 pm and continued until about 6. We got out the door at 6:40 pm for Round Valley, my entire family, where conditions for fishing seemed good, but I just never seem to hang any fish from shore after Memorial Day. Not in the pond, either, which fishes better through the ice, than through a summer day, including the Magic Hour, when Matt and I gave it a pretty good try.

Matt did catch a small largemouth in my favorite corner of the reservoir.

Round Valley Dam Project News

Grouting work begins later this year. For now and the foreseeable future, the reservoir level at 374 feet will be maintained, but drawdown to 360 will begin next year. The reservoir reached the record low level of 359.48 on November 29, 2016. The previous record low was 361.05, set on November 28, 1982. Full capacity is 385 (above sea level).

Link: http://www.roundvalleyproject.com/

Low water here makes for some very interesting photography. Shoreline fishermen did exceptionally well for rainbows in the fall of 2016, too. My hope is that so much vegetation decomposing under water after the reservoir fills, when the work is done, serves to significantly raise that water's fertility. That will mean more baitfish. And who knows, maybe Round Valley Trout Association and the state can work things out so alewife herring get stocked, and those herring thrive and reproduce for at least a few years before fertility gets scarce again.

Round Valley Reservoir is a renaissance at its best. I've been told there've been years before when trophy trout were sparse, then water level fell, rose again, and it was a boomtown situation again for trout fishermen. And then that fertility thinned out again.

Some News

What the necessity for a power plant on the Wild & Scenic Musconetcong River would be, I don't know, but it clearly seems to me high time we move to solar energy, when I consider the disgusting effect on the clean water 2000 gallons of waste per day would incur. Tom Johnson's article provided more information, although the link to it is no longer serviceable. 

Jim Stabile recently reported on the coming of an International Fly Tying Symposium in Parsippany this fall. I thought I would pass this news along, since this is really a very big deal happening here in New Jersey. He also reports on successful boat inspections by conservation officers, and a fishing day camp for kids run by Andover Hunt & Fish.

I can just imagine the marvelous time the kids are having.

Here's the link to Stabile's Column: https://www.dailyrecord.com/story/sports/columnists/jim-stabile/2018/07/15/outdoors-international-fly-tying-symposium-coming-parsippany/785762002/
 
True to my interest in New Jersey dam removals, I wrote earlier this year on the removal of the Columbia Dam on the Paulinskill River, but I came around to that mention in a sort of roundabout way, as I had set as an objective this summer fishing Columbia Lake. Fred Matero knew before I did, and informed me, that the dam is coming down. Here's a DEP press release on the dam removal and the benefits we stand to gain: https://www.nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2018/18_0061.htm?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery