Long Island Freshwater Fishery Gone Overnight – On The Water

Blydenburgh County Park Dam Collapses

On the night of August 18, 2024, up to 11 inches of rainfall caused severe flash flooding that led to the collapse of two dams on Long Island’s Nissequogue River. Mill Pond in Stony Brook and Blydenburgh Lake (also known as Stump Pond) in Smithtown were emptied, which, in the case of Blydenburgh, resulted in a popular freshwater fishery being wiped out overnight.

A Fishery Gone

Blydenburgh was a popular fishing destination, particularly for kayak anglers, with an established largemouth bass fishery where fish up to 6 pounds were not unheard of. In addition to bass, the pond carried yellow perch, bluegill, pumpkinseed, black crappie, stocked trout, catfish, and more. I can credit some of my earliest freshwater fishing memories to Blydenburgh. I spent a lot of time fishing there both from shore and in my kayak each winter and spring. Most of what I know about largemouth bass was learned fishing that pond. In addition, the yellow perch and crappie that were abundant in there made for fun fishing on ultralight tackle and it was a great place to teach someone how to fish.

The Race to Rebuild

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine held a press conference at the site of the Blydenburgh dam collapse. He was joined by many local and state officials, including State Senator Mario Mattera who, in regards to rebuilding, stated, “we need to get this done ASAP”, calling for aid from the Army Corps of Engineers and federal funding to make it happen.

Romaine also highlighted the need to strengthen the dams across the county against future storms. Commissioner of DPW Charles Bartha promised, “we will be restoring this as quickly as possible”, stating that they have already met with a contractor at the site and pledged to work closely with NYSDEC to follow through on plans.

Members of the angling and paddling community have also called for the dam to be rebuilt as soon as possible, with many citing nostalgia and the recreational benefits the pond provided. Blydenburgh was known as one of Long Island’s better freshwater haunts for its size (in comparison to smaller, nearby ponds) and accessible shoreline, and there will no doubt be rippling effects from its loss impacting other freshwater fishing spots across the island.

A Case for Not Rebuilding The Dam

As an angler, my knee-jerk reaction to the dam collapse was to want to see it rebuilt as soon as possible, with the bass fishery built back better than it was. However, I came across a different perspective on the dam from a local organization known as the Seatuck Environmental Association. I reached out to Seatuck to get their thoughts on the dam and learn more about what the pros and cons of rebuilding it would be, and I quickly got in touch with Enrico Nardone, their Executive Director.

Nardone began by telling me that there have actually been 4 dam failures in the past, and none of them have since been repaired. One recent example, West Brook Pond Dam, a once-popular warm water fishery, failed in 2019 and was not rebuilt by the State Parks office. Seatuck has since been heavily involved in removing invasive species from the area and encouraging the re-growth of native species, which sprang up from the 120-year-old seed bank after the mud dried from the subsequent drainage.

Nardone stated that Blydenburgh could be a similar ecological success story if the natural flow is left in place, and mentioned that the cons would be in the form of less warm-water fishing opportunity, but followed that with the potential pro of improved habitat for Long Island’s native sea-run brook trout that currently exist within the Nissequogue River. He also brought up migratory species such as alewife and river herring, which could enter the river in larger numbers and provide more forage for the migratory striped bass, bluefish, and weakfish that enter the Nissequogue River each spring, benefiting those fisheries.

His final points concerned the economic cost of rebuilding a new dam, and the potential for the new Blydenburgh Dam to be classified as higher-risk, which would make it more expensive to build. You can find more information about the pros and cons of not rebuilding the dam in this post of an op-ed published in Newsday from the Seatuck Organization. Nardone and John Turner highlight both economic and environmental reasons as to why the county might consider not rebuilding the Blydenburgh Dam.

While discussing the possibility of leaving the flow as-is with my buddy and avid fly angler Sean Conway, he raised an important point: there is a second dam still standing on the Nissequogue at Whites Pool, which would need to be considered if the county ultimately decided not to rebuild the Blydenburgh dam and reap the full ecological benefits.

“The Stony Brook dam not being rebuilt makes sense since it’s a direct flow to the bay. The issue with Blydenburgh is that the Nissequogue River is dammed up in two places,” he explained over text. “Even though the Stump Pond dam blew out, the one at Whites Pool is still standing, to my knowledge, and that’s the direct feed to brackish water.”

Sean continued, “There’s no fish ladder there, so even if they left Stump Pond’s dam as-is, there wouldn’t be much flowing up there besides the stocked trout in Caleb Smith State Park and any surviving native brook trout.” In other words, if the the Stump Pond dam is not rebuilt and the river is left to flow freely, a fish ladder would still be necessary at White’s Pool if there are any hopes of improving fish passage for alewife and sea-run trout between Blydenburgh and Long Island Sound.

A Huge Loss for Freshwater Anglers

The loss of the pond at Blydenburgh has created a big void for freshwater anglers on Long Island. We already had slim pickings in terms of publicly available freshwater fishing spots, and Stump Pond at Blydenburgh was one of the best.

The Long Island Kayak Bass Fishing Association (LIKBF) had to relocate a tournament scheduled for later this month. I spoke with Brian Mahon, a member of LIKBF, along with several others at a club meeting in early September. Many of them recalled catching their personal best largemouth bass from the pond. Concerns were also raised that other already pressured freshwater spots will likely see even more fishing activity due to the loss of Blydenburgh. “Blydenburgh was one of the few great freshwater fisheries on Long Island. It would be a huge disappointment to the fishing community if the dam doesn’t get fixed,” Mahon said.

Among the discussions we had, one that really piqued my interest was the club’s past conversations with the DEC regarding bass stocking, and the possibility of introducing species such as F1 Bass into our waters. You can learn more about F1’s here. Hybrid bass aside, if the dam is rebuilt, the club and other local organizations will be looking to raise funds to help re-stock the pond and make it the trophy fishery it once was, possibly even better.

Get Involved with Blydenburgh’s Recovery.

As of the time of this article being published, the county has made it clear that they intend to rebuild the dam, and do it quickly with federal aid.

If you have an interest in Blydenburgh Lake, I encourage you to stay up-to-date on new information as it is released, get involved with local fishing clubs and organizations like LIKBF and Seatuck, and stay informed on Suffolk County’s progress with the dam. It’s important for recreational anglers to be included as stakeholders in the park’s future and to advocate for Long Island’s freshwater fishing opportunities.

Related

Alewife Revival
Native Fish in Massachusetts Return After 200 Years
Fly Fishing On Long Island
The Plight of Southern New England’s River Herring