5/23/2006
2006 Hackettstown Hatchery
Broodstock Collection
y Craig Lemon
Hatchery Superintendent, and
Ed Washuta,
Fisheries Pathologist
The 2006 spring trap-netting season began right on schedule on March 12 when
the
Hackettstown Hatchery crew set their nets on Budd Lake to collect
northern pike broodfish, and proceeded without a hitch through the end of
musky collection April 27th on Echo Lake Reservoir.
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The spring climate was mild and dry which allowed the netting crew to
get an early start on Budd Lake. Over the nine-day netting period, the
crew captured a total of 213 northern pike of which 157 were males and
48 were females. Male pike ranged in length from 16-28 inches and
weighed an average of 2 pounds. Female pike were slightly larger at
19-34 inches and averaged 3.5 pounds. Two of the northern females
weighed in at over 10 pounds with largest being ripe 12.5 pounder. Eggs were collected from 25 Budd Lake northern females. The average female northern produced 24,409 eggs for a total production of 622,430 eggs, of which 64.3% or 400,106 hatched. The hatch rate is comparable to the long-term rate of approximately 65%. Over the next two-month period, the number of pike will be culled down to the 23,000 top-quality six to seven-inch fingerlings for stocking in New Jersey lakes. |
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After completing a successful northern pike broodstock season on Budd
Lake, the Hackettstown Hatchery crew set their nets in Cranberry Lake on
March 22nd. Their goal was to collect data on the lake's fish population
and to evaluate its potential as a northern pike broodstock lake. In
five days of trapnetting only two northern pike were collected. Both
were five to six pound adult females. Hatchery workers were encouraged by the capture of spawning condition pike and plan to return to Cranberry Lake next year in an attempt to locate the bulk of the spawning population of pike. Low water flows from tributary streams into the lake may have accounted for the failure of pike to congregate in areas where the trapnets were set. |
 The author adds milt as Crew Supervisor Ed Conley strips eggs from a northern pike. Click to enlarge |
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The very dry month of March was also reflected in the conditions of
Swartswood Lake where the water level was about 2 to 2.5 feet below
normal, compounded by a fall drawdown of the lake. The skills of the
hatchery trapnetters were tested by the low water levels, but they were
able to meet the challenge by collecting 216 adult walleyes over a ten
day period.
The catch was composed of 146 males and 70 females. This 2 to 1 balance between males and females indicates that the crew timed the spawning season perfectly. Most of the females captured were running ripe; only a few were spent (had already released their eggs). Fifty-two females were spawned to produce 6.5 million eggs, an average of 124,130 eggs per female. The expected hatchery pond production of walleye fingerlings is 300,000 two-inchers and 35,000 four-inchers. Male walleyes ranged in size from 13.8 - 21.6 inches, weighing 1.05 - 4.2 pounds. Females ranged from 14.2 - 29.2 inches in length and 1.3 - 10.06 pounds in weight. The average Swartswood Lake walleye was 19.6 inches long, exceeding the minimum size limit of 18 inches, and weighed 3.39 pounds. A remarkable number of 10 females weighed over 6 pounds (about 5% of the catch!). |
On April 10th, the Hackettstown Hatchery trapnetting crew moved their operation north to Greenwood Lake for the dual purpose of collecting walleye broodstock and muskellunge broodstock. The trapnetters were successful on both charges. A total of 77 adult walleye were collected along with 22 muskies. Female walleyes averaged 25 inches long and weighed 6.5 pounds, while males averaged 17 inches and 2 pounds.
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The hatchery crew continued to be successful in muskellunge collection
from Greenwood Lake in 2006 as they were in 2005. In a one-week period,
22 adult muskellunge (12 males and 10 females) were captured. The
females ranged in length from 34 - 50 inches and weighed an average of
17 pounds. Males ranged from 25 - 40 inches and weighed an average of
8.6 pounds. The largest muskie captured from Greenwood was a 33-pound,
50-inch spent female.
The final phase of broodstock collection in 2006 was carried out in Echo Lake Reservoir in Passaic County between April 18th - 27th. Over that 9-day period, 20 adult muskellunge (12 males and 8 females) were captured. The muskellunge spawning season was at its peak, demonstrated by the fact that all 20 fish from Echo were ripe at the time of collection. The average sizes of muskellunge collected at Echo lake were: 43.0 inches and 18.9 pounds for females, and 37.6 inches and 12.2 pounds for males. Ten of the twenty fish captured measured 40 inches or longer. The longest muskie captured was 45.4 inches. The heaviest weighed 23.5 pounds before spawning. Both of these fish were females. |
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Twenty-one female muskies produced a total of 710,616 eggs, an average
of 33,839 eggs per female. Eggs hatched at a rate of 54%, which is
comparable to other years. Muskie fry will be raised to advanced
fingerlings in hatchery tanks and ponds to a size of 10-12 inches at
which time they will be stocked. All broodstock collected for use in the hatchery programs were transported to the hatchery where the spawn taking operations are performed by hatchery personnel. Within a week of spawning the fish are returned to the waters where they were collected. All adult muskies handled at the hatchery over the past several years have been tagged with orange streamer tags inserted near the base of the dorsal fin. The tags bear the message "CALL HACKETTSTOWN HATCHERY (908) 852-4950" along with a tag number. Anglers who call in to report catching a tagged fish will be told when the fish was tagged, and its length and weight at the time of tagging. The purpose of the Hackettstown Hatchery's brook stock program is to provide the eggs from which fish are raised at the hatchery. All fish raised at the Hackettstown Hatchery are stocked in public waters throughout the state to provide recreational fishing for licensed anglers and their families. |
In 2006, Bureau of Freshwater Fisheries biologists have requested the Hackettstown Hatchery to produce the following:
24,520 northern pike fingerlings for stocking in:
Cranberry Lake (Sussex County); Pompton Lake and Pompton River (Passaic County); Spruce Run Reservoir (Hunterdon County); Budd Lake (Morris County); Farrington Lake (Middlesex County); Deal Lake (Monmouth County); Millstone River and the Passaic River.11,111 muskellunge for stocking in:
Greenwood Lake, Monksville Reservoir and Echo Lake Reservoir (Passaic County); Lake Hopatcong (Morris and Sussex Counties), D&R Canal 10-mile stretch (Somerset and Mercer Counties); Manasquan Reservoir (Monmouth County); Carnegie Lake and Mercer Lake (Mercer County); Mountain Lake and Furnace Lake (Warren County); Shenandoah Lake (Ocean County); Little Swartswood Lake (Sussex County); and Cooper River Park Lake (Camden County).207,950 walleyes for stocking in:
Lake Hopatcong (Morris County), Swartswood Lake (Sussex County), Greenwood Lake (Passaic County), Canistear Reservoir (Sussex County), and Monksville Reservoir (Passaic County).
Below are summary tables of fish collected in Spring, 2006.
NORTHERN PIKE
|
WATER BODY |
# DAYS NETS WERE SET |
# FISH CAUGHT |
AVERAGE LENGTH (INCHES) |
LARGEST FISH (INCHES) |
AVERAGE WEIGHT (POUNDS) |
LARGEST FISH (POUNDS) |
|
BUDD LAKE |
9 |
213 |
21.4 |
34.6 |
2.35 |
12.55 |
MUSKELLUNGE
|
WATER BODY |
# DAYS NETS WERE SET |
# FISH CAUGHT |
AVERAGE LENGTH (INCHES) |
LARGEST FISH (INCHES) |
AVERAGE WEIGHT (POUNDS) |
LARGEST FISH (POUNDS) |
|
ECHO LAKE RESERVOIR |
9 |
20 |
39.8 |
45.4 |
14.9 |
23.5 |
|
GREENWOOD LAKE |
7 |
22 |
36.0 |
50.0 |
12.1 |
33.0 |
WALLEYE
|
WATER BODY |
# DAYS NETS WERE SET |
# FISH CAUGHT |
AVERAGE LENGTH (INCHES) |
LARGEST FISH (INCHES) |
AVERAGE WEIGHT (POUNDS) |
LARGEST FISH (POUNDS) |
|
GREENWOOD LAKE |
7 |
77 |
23.0 |
28.8 |
5.4 |
9.5 |
|
SWARTSWOOD LAKE |
10 |
216 |
19.6 |
29.2 |
3.39 |
10.06 |
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