EDIT: none of these fish will be stocked in Round Valley Reservoir. The only 2010 State of NJ Trout stocking took place back in May.

Did you know that all of the trout New Jersey stocks during fall and winter measure 14 inches to 24 inches and weigh one and a half pounds to eight pounds? If not, you’re not alone. Nearly 67% of New Jersey trout anglers surveyed in 2009 were not aware of this major stocking change implemented by NJDEP’s Division of Fish and Wildlife.

The 33% of New Jersey trout anglers who do know about the fall and winter big trout bonanza couldn’t be happier. A growing number of them now eagerly await the big fish, cool water, great weather and spectacular scenery of New Jersey’s fall trout fishing season. And it doesn’t end with fall; hot trout fishing action extends through the winter months until spring stocking begins again in April.

From October 5 through November 24, more than 26,000 super-sized trout will be stocked in 16 streams and 40 ponds and lakes throughout the state. Any of these fabulous fish could very well be a once-in-a-lifetime trout for many anglers. Here is some great footage of the fall and winter lunker trout as they’re loaded on trucks at the Pequest Hatchery and then stocked in New Jersey streams.

Don’t miss out on New Jersey’s spectacular fall and winter trout fishing. If you haven’t gone trout fishing yet this year, simply buy and print your NJ fishing license and trout stamp online. It’s that easy.

For information on the NJ fall and winter trout stocking program and places to fish for trout. Stocking information is also available on the Trout Hotline at (609) 633-6765.

Summertime and night fishing on Round Valley go together like boats and water.  So far I’ve been doing this by the light of the moon, my LED headlamp, and the small white light in the stern of the boat.

People using submersible lights swear by their ability to attract more fish, and indeed I’ve successfully fished while this method was employed night Bluefishing off the Jersey shore.  Anxious to try something new, I looked into getting a submersible fishing light for night fishing on Round Valley but quickly ran into a few problems.

1. cheap lights tend to be dim, prone to leaks and failure.
2. expensive lights look great… but they’re expensive! I contacted one company to see if they would let me try one out but got no response.
3. You can make your own using a glass jar, 55watt car headlight, aquarium air tubing, wire, and some marine epoxy, but i was pressed for time.

The solution was to use things that I already owned/had in the boat.  I suspended my waterproof LED headlamp, which I had purchased years ago for $40, from the line of an unused fishing pole.

I added a 1/2 inch wrench for weight.  Here is what the light looked like in 40 feet of water.

We didn’t catch anything all night, until the light went into the water. Once in, we started catching Rock Bass like this little fella one after the other, all on small shiners (we couldn’t get herring this late!).

All fish were released.  My headlamp stayed lit the entire time we used it, 4.5hours.  The next day it was dead, taking it apart I discovered some water got into the lamp and created a short so when the lamp was switched off, it was still on.

I took everything apart and let it air dry, then wiped everything down with an old t-shirt and it works like new!  Since the headlamp is all LED’s, it does not get hot so next time I’ll just put it in a clear plastic bag to prevent the water from getting in. There you have it. A poor man’s submersible fishing lamp.

Hillsborough NJ local Chris F. and his buddy Vasili fished Round Valley Reservoir the morning of Friday August 1st, 2010 and caught something they never thought to catch – a 50 inch long American Eel.  Their eel easily beats the current NJ state record American Eel from 2005.  That eel weighed 6 pound, 13 ounces, measured 41 and 3/4 inches and also was caught in Round Valley Reservoir.

How much did their eel weigh?  No one knows… the fish was never weighed and Vasili’ took it home, cleaned it and ate it!  “I can tell you that the eel was scary looking as hell when it came up in the dark, that it was about as thick around as my bicep, and that it had 4-5 partially digested sunfish and bass in its belly”, said Chris’s buddy.

The two were fishing near the shore on the western side of the North Tower.

We were in about 15 feet of water fishing live shiners.  When the eel hit, the the rod went crazy and had a  big bend in it. We knew it was something big but didn’t know what. It wasn’t fighting like any fish we’d ever caught. Plus it was about 9 o’clock at night, getting dark so we couldn’t see too good.

When asked if they thought about weighing the eel or asking around before eating it.

Neither one of us had ever caught an eel before. We had heard they were in here and that they were big, so we didn’t really think this was some kind of record.  It was only days later when when we showed this picture around and told a friend and they were like, “dude you guys blew it, that’s a state record fish”.  Whatever, we had a great time and that’s all that matters.

Indeed. Congrats to Chris and Vasili!

On September 9th, 2009, retired contractor Tom Healy caught a new all-tackle record Brown Trout in Manistee River, Michigan.  The fish weighed 41 pounds 7 ounces and measured 43.75-inches long.

On July 16th, 2010, less than 1 year later a 41 pound 8 ounce Brown Trout was caught by Roger Hellen, Also in Michigan! Hellen was fishing in a big 9 day tournament when he caught the fish, so not only does he have bragging rights to this monster, he also won $10,700.