Opening Trout Season in NJ...where are all the young folks?

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Trout season opened in NJ this weekend. As I walked my early morning exercise walk along the Rahway River in Union County, NJ, I noticed that there were not many folks. Especially young teen folks. Most of the fishermen were over 50 years old.

When I was young, the Rahway River was lined, elbow to elbow, with folks of all ages on opening day. Most of the fishermen were under 20 years old. Since the Rahway River cuts thru a dense suburb of NJ, there use to be a lot of kids, including myself, fishing off the banks of the river. Boy...that was fun when I was young.

What happened?

My brother said that there is probably a computer game that simulates this event now. Tell me that it's not so.

Jeff :)

[Bill Cunningham]

Their still fishing, on the playstation, and their parents won't kick their butts outside for some fresh air!

[Joe Pelonio]

I was just wondering how long little league and soccer will last, not that the kids are all walking around with their faces in ipods and smart phones. Fishing and other great outdoor recreation doesn't have a chance.
And we used to think the Nintendo and computer were turning them into blobs.

[Pat Germain]

I bet some of the local kids are indeed inside on video games and on the computer. And they likely would not be permitted outside until their parents come home from work.

The kids who aren't inside would be at soccer practice, baseball practice, cheerleading practice, cub scout meetings or church youth group activities. These days parents work very hard to keep their kids in organized, supervised activities almost all the time. They desperately want to keep them away from strangers and keep them out of trouble. They also hope their kids can someday get an athletic scholarship. Considering the insane cost of higher education and the inability to borrow against a house which is now "upside down" in value, this is big deal these days.

[Dave Gaul]

I have 4 kids at home, ranging from age 7 to 16. They each have some type of ipod, and the 3 oldest have cell phones. One is in color guard (16yo girl), one in several choruses (14yo girl), one in track (14yo girl), and the youngest (7yo boy) just started cub scouts. We also are starting fishing very soon, I'm waiting for $200 worth of Cabela's gift cards to show up (bank rewards) to go gear up for it. We also take our kids for hikes and to state parks all the time. Oh yeah, and the 3 oldest (girls) just started horse back riding too.
Our kids have plenty of electronics, but we also have them very active outside, and when we are out, electronics stay home or in the car.
Please don't blame the electronics, if anything, it is the fault of the parents.

We would never let our kids out in the middle of nowhere to fish or do whatever by themselves. Too many damn freaks out there!

[David Weaver]

Speaking as someone who went out as a young one on opening day, it was a waste of time for us. Elbow to elbow, can't get somewhere good to fish without someone else casting across your line, or someone who was a jerk making false claims about how they were where you're standing earlier and had to leave to take a pee or something and they want the spot back (as in, "oh, those are just kids, I deserve to be there and they can move, i'll give them a line of bull and tell them to leave")

That was in PA, though, maybe it's better in NJ. We only went out opening day one year.

Kids just have a different opinion on what's fun these days, I guess. Elbow to elbow and getting nearly in fights several times on opening day isn't my idea of fun.

Delayed harvest in the fly fishing area where you could move around and walk a couple of miles of stream over the day...that was a whole lot better.

[Mike Cutler]

They're in my backyard.;)
I have a small stream that runs along the back of the house. Every year the kids are fishing off the rocks in front of the church, 400 yards down stream, and off the banks. They occasionally wander into to the yard, which the dog, find very exciting, unkowingly.
They're good kids and I have never had a problem with any of them in the 20 years I've lived there. I also had to re-take all of my hunter safety courses last fall. The class was full of kids.

They're still out there!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

It's interesting really. When my boys were very young, they enjoyed fishing. When they got to there teens, they didn't. As an adult, my youngest son still isn't interested in fishing to my knowledge and my oldest son enjoys it.

There are plenty of kids here that enjoy fishing and hunting.....and skiing ....and skateboarding......riding ATVs........riding horses....camping.....

[Douglas Clark]

My first response to myself when I saw the thread title was to be a bit smart alec and ask... "There are trout in New Jersey?!" Then I got honest with myself and realized that I had never thought about there being trout in New Jersey. I always think of Jersey as being too urban and dense and I guess I kinda always thought of trout as a western fish. Which is kinda silly, when you think about it. So, I debated admitting that I had that thought because I realized that some of you might think this Californian was either a) super ignorant, or b) had no room to talk because most of California ain't exactly rolling in good trout fishing these days.

Then Ken's response made me laugh a bit more and I decided to reveal my silliness, for two reasons. First, because it was a Idaho native that was once in utter disbelief when my dad informed her that, yes, deer are actually quite prevalent in many parts of California, even near some large cities (funny how that happens when hunting regulations are as strict as they are). Of course, there were also the NEastern Canadians that were absolutely blown away when they learned that parts of California get substantial amounts of snow. But I guess a lot of have trouble seeing California as more than beaches and Hollywood. Just like I have trouble envisioning trout in New Jersey.

The second reason I laughed at Ken's comment was because we had some friends move up to Missoula, MT recently. As it so happens, all of their kids had pretty much lived in Palm Desert their entire life and so the climate and cultural changes were a bit drastic. It didn't take long for the oldest daughter (a high schooler) to express some dismay to her parents about how "little" there was to do in Montana. According to her, all the kids do up there is fish and hunt and... EVEN THE GIRLS!!! Can you say culture shock?

But hey... Trout... in New Jersey... that's a good one!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Douglas,

I have friends in California that hunted those deer for years and fished the lakes and streams in California.

My point was that the phenomenon the OP was reporting was not just related to NJ but I think everywhere.

Even here in Idaho where we have the opportunity to pursue hunting and fishing with greater ease and opportunity, the number of young people was declining.

I don't know what the current trend is as I've been away from it for about 10 years. I still fish occasionally but haven't hunted elk in 10 years.

BTW...even in Idaho we have telephones....highspeed internet service......the City of Lewiston just built a brand new skateboard park.........

Why I have in my pocket a new Samsung 4G cell phone...though we only have 3G currently. Since becoming deaf, I find it handy to text my wife when we are apart as we are currently. She's in Houston babysitting the 1 year old twin granddaugters for a week and I just texted her wishing her a good night's sleep.

Would you believe Douglas here in the valley formed by the Snake and Clearwater Rivers, we have 2 hospitals.....5 MR scanners.....3 CT scanners......they perform everything but cardiac surgery at the local regional medical center....they provide major medical services for an area about 400 miles by 360 miles....

Here in town I can fish two rivers for several types of trout including steelhead trout, sturgeon, smallmouth bass, channel cat....we have had a bull elk with a rack drown here in town while swimming the Snake River.....twice we have had black bears wander through within 3 blocks of my house.....moose wander through town......a block from the local state college, an elderly lady went out to put her trash by the curb for pickup one morning. She found 2 mountain lion cubs on the steps leading to the basement apartment she rents out to college students.......

2 airlines provide air service to Boise, SLC, Seattle or Portland less than a mile from my home. Whenever a sports team flies in to play either Washington State University or University of Idaho, they typically land at the Lewiston airport and bus them the 30 miles to Pullman, WA or Moscow, ID.

Why.....would you believe they have the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival at Moscow, Idaho annually? Hmmmmm.....

I moved to Idaho in 1982. I love my adopted home state!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

PS.....the guys I worked with in Chicago were betting whether or not I could learn to slow down enough to enjoy living in Idaho! They didn't think I could survive the culture shock. I fooled them!

[Douglas Clark]

Ken, i would believe everything you've said, but only because i drove through there once and saw it with my own eyes; otherwise, everyone knows that part of Idaho is still waiting for indoor plumbing! :p. BTW, if you already have 3G and high speed internet you may have my inlaws in the Flathead Valley beat!

That said, when you set out to make a guy jealous, you do it with gusto! I've said it before but I'll say it again, if I could ever find a job in that neck of the woods I would be there in a heartbeat! Heck, I might even take up hunting and fishing as a regular activity!

In the meantime, until I see them with my own eyes I will still struggle to fully grasp that are actually trout in New Jersey. :D

[David Weaver]

I moved to Idaho in 1982. I love my adopted home state!

Don't forget napoleon dynamite!

[David Weaver]

In the meantime, until I see them with my own eyes I will still struggle to fully grasp that are actually trout in New Jersey. :D

I can say this much about the trout - you can raise them at a farm and stock them anywhere you want.

I don't know how many trout species exist here in pa naturally, I thought I heard once (long ago before you could just easily verify such things on the internet) that the brown trout was it. But as long as there's money flowing through fishing licenses and people who want to see lots of rainbow trout, you could find them in NYC in a cool water pool if the demand was there.

[David Weaver]

on a separate discussion, hunting is down around here.

I used to go, but I don't want to go on public land, and our farm (several hours from where i am now) has adjacent farms that just get stacked with people (relatives, friends, etc) who squat at all of the property junctions.

If I go out to hunt, if the deer didn't start on our property in the morning, then it'll never be able to run the gauntlet of hunters to get there. That can make for a dull week when one could do something productive.

Now, in my neighborhood here in suburbia, if I were allowed, I could knock off several each evening with a bow.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Don't forget napoleon dynamite!

I wasn't familiar with the movie David. I had to Google it.

[David Weaver]

There's a lot of idaho stuff in it, but it's sort of stealth to non idaho folks and not so stealth (like Rick's College t-shirts) to idaho folks.

[Douglas Clark]

Ha! Rick's College and the trip to the "thrift store" and the Liger reference (isn't there a liger the zoo in Ogden, UT) and the "i made like a billion of those at scout camp", or the choice of dance music. And the invite to the dance by cake and so on and so on. Not that any one of those things is unique to Idaho, but taken together they paint a picture of a fairly distinct culture. So many "stealth" cultural codes, David! Did I mention that my BIL graduated from "Rick's College" a couple of years ago.

[David Weaver]

I figured there'd be another person on here who saw the movie and thought it was interesting enough to remember as more than "just another movie".

Never been west of houston, tx, so when I hear anything about idaho, I always think of napoleon dynamite.

[ray hampton]

I wasn't familiar with the movie David. I had to Google it.


I may be wrong but the movie that involve fishing and dynamite is Crocodile Dundee

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ray....I suggest you Google the name.....there is a movie by the name Napolean Dynamite....it is was supposed to have taken place in Idaho.......

[David Weaver]

....it is was supposed to have taken place in Idaho.......

Actually, unlike a lot of movies that are filmed somewhere and claimed to be in a different location, it was filmed in idaho, but they didn't make a big deal about the location in it.

[keith ouellette]

Thats too bad. I remember when I was a kid and spent summers on a lake in new hampshire and me and my friends loved to go fishing. We didn't go every day because there was so much else we had fun doing (none of it in doors by the way). I think its a sad commentary on todays life.

I remember reading a story a long time ago about a civilization that existed on earth eons ago. they had reached a point in technology where no body actually had to do anything of actual value. it was all fun and games and no fishing. Through some cataclysm everything went awry and all the wondrous technology that took care of these full grown children stopped working. no one new how to fix it and no one knew how to do much of anything else. Hence they disappeared.

I always thought it was rather far fetched. no body fended for themselves? seemed impossible. But then I always thought kids would always love to fish also.