5K Fish May Be Artificially Added To Union County Lake

PLAINFIELD CITY, NJ - The New Jersey Fish and Wildlife Division is looking to artificially add thousands of fish to Cedar Brook Park Lake in 2026.

The proposal, introduced by the Fish and Game Council last month, includes 22 sites across the state in an effort to provide "family fishing opportunities in a park setting." A total of 570,000 trout are currently being stocked each spring from various bodies of water managed by the state into focused areas. The additional 5,000 would not affect this process.

This new focus on Cedar Brook and others highlights an initiative to better spread these efforts out geographically with an emphasis on highly populated areas. The locations were also selected based on accessibility to the public.

The council also proposed a handful of other changes to the state's fishing code for 2026. These include modifying certain restrictions on different species, removing specific dates for stocking, and allowing for an earlier start to the fishing season on all trout-stocked lakes and ponds.

A public hearing on the proposal is being held on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the NJFW Central Regional Office Assunpink Wildlife Management Office in Allentown (1 Eldridge Road).

Those who cannot make the meeting can submit comments online by Oct. 16 here.

MORE FROM PATCH: