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Deal Lake has been stocked with a variety of over 14,500 fish within the last two months to make up for a decrease caused by hurricane Sandy.

Due to the storm’s effects on the lake, The Deal Lake Commission requested additional stocking from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, according to Don Brockel, chairman of the Deal Lake Commission.

“Deal Lake by the ocean is brackish (a mixture of salt and fresh water), but the 13 feet of storm surge upset the balance of salt content,” he said.

Brockel said the commission noticed dead pike and other game fish directly after the storm, the sunfish population was also dramatically reduced by the spring. Other fish were pushed inland with the storm surge.

Close monitoring by the state saw the balance of salt content right itself within a few weeks, he said.

All of the fish come from the Hackettstown Fish Hatchery.

Hatchery employee Ron Jacobsen [photo at top] “spread the stockings over 20 spots around the lake where he could have just had dumped in one spot and been done for the day,” Brockel said.

‘From what I have heard, in the past, they used to just go to the boat ramp by the 7-11 and open the faucet, so to speak,” he said.

Spreading the locations of entry for the fish gives them a better chance of survival, Brockel said.

[Photos are courtesy of Don Brockel.]

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