Sunfish & Crappie ~ New Jersey Kayaking

Sunfish & Crappie

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Bluegill Sunfish

There is scarcely a body of water in the state that does not have Bluegills in it. Bluegills get to a foot long, but are seldom seen at that size.

All sunfishes are aggressive and territorial. Their belligerence is heightened in the confines of an aquarium, where you may start out with several small ones, but you will end up with just one big one. A sunfish will tear a fish-store cichlid to pieces. They adapt readily to regular fish food, but lose most of the attractive wild colors.

-- Wikipedia

Pumpkinseed Sunfish

The Pumpkinseed is the second most common type of sunfish

-- Wikipedia

Redbreast Sunfish

Redbreasts can be found in the D&R Canal.

-- Wikipedia

Black Crappie

Crappies are fun to fish for - seems they'll hit just about anything. They also do well in an aquarium, where they are not aggressive towards anything they do not regard as food. They do require live food like minnows, although eventually you can train most individuals to take freeze-dried krill and worms.

-- Wikipedia

Fishes, Wildlife,

Delaware & Raritan Canal

Delaware & Raritan Canal
( 40.38309, -74.68637 )

D-R Canal - Amwell Rd ( 40.50340, -74.58268 )
D-R Canal - Blackwells Mills ( 40.47550, -74.57220 )
D-R Canal - Griggstown (N) ( 40.43834, -74.61397 )
D-R Canal - Griggstown (S) ( 40.42912, -74.61816 )
D-R Canal - Kingston (N) ( 40.37489, -74.61854 )
D-R Canal - Kingston (S) ( 40.37326, -74.61861 )
D-R Canal - Lawrence (N) ( 40.27450, -74.70332 )
D-R Canal - Lawrence (S) ( 40.26746, -74.71071 )
D-R Canal - Lawrenceville ( 40.30501, -74.68490 )
D-R Canal - Manville ( 40.52861, -74.58178 )
D-R Canal - New Brunswick ( 40.50806, -74.46376 )
D-R Canal - North Trenton ( 40.24901, -74.72865 )
D-R Canal - Plainsboro (E) ( 40.34321, -74.62964 )
D-R Canal - Plainsboro (W) ( 40.34190, -74.63758 )
D-R Canal - Princeton (N) ( 40.33879, -74.64715 )
D-R Canal - Princeton (S) ( 40.33177, -74.65282 )
D-R Canal - Province Line Rd ( 40.30273, -74.68819 )
D-R Canal - Rocky Hill ( 40.39826, -74.62702 )
D-R Canal - Somerset (N) ( 40.54077, -74.51404 )
D-R Canal - Somerset (S) ( 40.52390, -74.49248 )
D-R Canal - South Bound Brook ( 40.55880, -74.53118 )
D-R Canal - Trenton (N) ( 40.23886, -74.74194 )
D-R Canal - Trenton (S) ( 40.18384, -74.74666 )
D-R Canal - West Windsor ( 40.30844, -74.67979 )
D-R Feeder Canal - Bull Island ( 40.41036, -75.03421 )
D-R Feeder Canal - Lambertville (S) ( 40.34206, -74.94044 )
D-R Feeder Canal - Rt 202 ( 40.37987, -74.95175 )
D-R Feeder Canal - Scudders Falls ( 40.26529, -74.84790 )
D-R Feeder Canal - Washington Crossing ( 40.29842, -74.86852 )
D-R Feeder Canal - West Trenton ( 40.24497, -74.81917 )
Griggstown Canoe & Kayak Rental ( 40.43843, -74.61454 )
Lake Carnegie - Plainsboro ( 40.34362, -74.62973 )
Millstone River - Amwell Rd ( 40.50294, -74.58755 )
Millstone River - Blackwells Mills ( 40.47487, -74.57503 )
Millstone River - Griggstown ( 40.43893, -74.61757 )
Millstone River - Kingston ( 40.37419, -74.61962 )
Millstone River - Manville ( 40.53025, -74.58926 )
Millstone River - Plainsboro (N) ( 40.34262, -74.62981 )
Millstone River - Rocky Hill (N) ( 40.39957, -74.62809 )
Millstone River - Rocky Hill (S) ( 40.39969, -74.62867 )
Princeton Canoe & Kayak Rental ( 40.33209, -74.65262 )
Stony Brook - Princeton ( 40.33219, -74.65340 )

The blue line on the map is the Delaware & Raritan, or D&R, Canal. The canal is a basically 40-mile-long pond. The water flows very slowly from west to east; it is essentially still. Access points generally coincide with bridges or locks.

The thin red line is the "fall line" - the nominal division between uplands and lowlands. It appears the builders of the canal wanted to stay above the fall line for the entire length, and followed the Millstone and Raritan Rivers. The series of dams resulting in a chain of lakes along the Lawrence Brook reveals a shorter alternate route the canal might have taken. These dams were not built until over 100 years later. Perhaps surveying in the 1830s was not good enough to discover this, or perhaps it would not work, but it certainly looks like it should.

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