New Jersey Lakes
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Try the Newark Watershed reservoirs, and then try Merrill Creek, Spruce Run, and Round Valley. You can find out more info on the State website.
New Jersey lake recommendations
Greenwood and Hoaptcong get slammed all year anyway so it's nice to have alternatives. As mentioned earlier, the Newark Watershed lakes (Clinton, Canistear, Oak Ridge, and Echo Lake) are nice lakes to fish that are electric only. They all have good access with Canistear being the worst of the three. I fish mostly northern NJ so those are the lakes I know the best. Swartswood Lake is a good place for bass, walleye, and maybe a gator or two. Little Swartswood is also in the area and has a nice bass population. Aeroflex is another nice lake with big bass and some nice weedlines to fish...it has a nice ramp too. Cranberry Lake is a good place to fish but parking is limited. Musconetcong is a weedy lake but has a healthy bass, perch, and gator population. Waywayanda state park has a nice lake but I find it a tough lake in the summer. Very weedy, deep, and full of toothy critters...but big bass too. If you want smaller lakes...but still have good access. Green Turtle Pond (West Milford), and Sheperd's Lake (Ringwood) are nice little lakes with good ramps. The road down to Green Turtle is a little bumpy...but the ramp is fine. Monksville Reservoir has a great LM and SM population and two great ramps. You can also nail a big musky or walleye there too. Merrill Creek (Harmony, NJ) is a beautiful lake full of LM and SM bass if you want to travel a little. It's electric only...but loaded with fish. Pompton Lake (PL, NJ) has a small town ramp with no parking but if you get there early you can find a spot on a side road to park. I fished Budd Lake once and didn't do very well there. You can run your big motor on it. If I can think of any more I'll post later.
Greenwood and Hoaptcong get slammed all year anyway so it's nice to have alternatives. As mentioned earlier, the Newark Watershed lakes (Clinton, Canistear, Oak Ridge, and Echo Lake) are nice lakes to fish that are electric only. They all have good access with Canistear being the worst of the three. I fish mostly northern NJ so those are the lakes I know the best. Swartswood Lake is a good place for bass, walleye, and maybe a gator or two. Little Swartswood is also in the area and has a nice bass population. Aeroflex is another nice lake with big bass and some nice weedlines to fish...it has a nice ramp too. Cranberry Lake is a good place to fish but parking is limited. Musconetcong is a weedy lake but has a healthy bass, perch, and gator population. Waywayanda state park has a nice lake but I find it a tough lake in the summer. Very weedy, deep, and full of toothy critters...but big bass too. If you want smaller lakes...but still have good access. Green Turtle Pond (West Milford), and Sheperd's Lake (Ringwood) are nice little lakes with good ramps. The road down to Green Turtle is a little bumpy...but the ramp is fine. Monksville Reservoir has a great LM and SM population and two great ramps. You can also nail a big musky or walleye there too. Merrill Creek (Harmony, NJ) is a beautiful lake full of LM and SM bass if you want to travel a little. It's electric only...but loaded with fish. Pompton Lake (PL, NJ) has a small town ramp with no parking but if you get there early you can find a spot on a side road to park. I fished Budd Lake once and didn't do very well there. You can run your big motor on it. If I can think of any more I'll post later.
Wow Mark,
You have just about covered them all...ALMOST leaving me with nothing to add. (Yeah right--that'll be a first. LOL)
There is also Manasquan Reservoir down near Freehold. It is electric only and they do have a boat rental and small tackle shop on site. I am not sure if they will let you dunk the Ranger there so you should call them to ask. They do have a good ramp that is capable of handling any bass boat. There are both LMB & SMB in there. You will find the SMB to the right of the launch area in the deeper water and especially off of the rip rap. LMB can be caught all over the lake. I particularly like the standing timber that is there. There is also a good lake at Cheesquake State Park that I fished a few years ago. It is also electric only and has some nice LMB there.
You have just about covered them all...ALMOST leaving me with nothing to add. (Yeah right--that'll be a first. LOL)
There is also Manasquan Reservoir down near Freehold. It is electric only and they do have a boat rental and small tackle shop on site. I am not sure if they will let you dunk the Ranger there so you should call them to ask. They do have a good ramp that is capable of handling any bass boat. There are both LMB & SMB in there. You will find the SMB to the right of the launch area in the deeper water and especially off of the rip rap. LMB can be caught all over the lake. I particularly like the standing timber that is there. There is also a good lake at Cheesquake State Park that I fished a few years ago. It is also electric only and has some nice LMB there.
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335 Posts
Anybody ever fish some of the lakes in southern Jersey?
My club is also in northern NJ and we fish all the usual suspects (previously mentioned).
Since I’ve been in the club we’ve never done any of these "southern lakes".
I very likely will be named tournament director at our next meeting (I’ve turned the guys on to a few new bodies of water since I’ve been in the club) so the pressure is on to do good.
I’d like to add (sneak in) one of these lakes to our tournament schedule.
I’ve heard of (never fished) Deal Lake (Asbury Park), Farrington Lake, Newton (Camden County), Salem Canal, and Union Lake.
In a perfect world it should have a decent ramp and allow gas engines.
I’m not sure if that’s possible.
Electric would be OK if it had a decent ramp (we’d probably have to do it when the water warms up enough to wade in to load the boats on their trailers).
I’d also like to avoid any places that we have to remove props or gas.
What’s my best shot?
Fish-Eye…. <*))}}}}>><{{
My club is also in northern NJ and we fish all the usual suspects (previously mentioned).
Since I’ve been in the club we’ve never done any of these "southern lakes".
I very likely will be named tournament director at our next meeting (I’ve turned the guys on to a few new bodies of water since I’ve been in the club) so the pressure is on to do good.
I’d like to add (sneak in) one of these lakes to our tournament schedule.
I’ve heard of (never fished) Deal Lake (Asbury Park), Farrington Lake, Newton (Camden County), Salem Canal, and Union Lake.
In a perfect world it should have a decent ramp and allow gas engines.
I’m not sure if that’s possible.
Electric would be OK if it had a decent ramp (we’d probably have to do it when the water warms up enough to wade in to load the boats on their trailers).
I’d also like to avoid any places that we have to remove props or gas.
What’s my best shot?
Fish-Eye…. <*))}}}}>><{{
What about the DOD lake??
I'm not really sure where it is in south jersey, but I know it's a hike from north jersey. I've heard stories of huge bass in there, but I don't know much about it. If anyone has fished it....let me know...thanks...Mark
I'm not really sure where it is in south jersey, but I know it's a hike from north jersey. I've heard stories of huge bass in there, but I don't know much about it. If anyone has fished it....let me know...thanks...Mark
Re: What about the DOD lake??
Here is an excellent site for info on the lakes of New Jersey.
www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/fishplc.htm
DOD Lake is in Salem County in the town of Penns Grove. It is 120 acres and allows car toppers, has a boat ramp and is electric only. Thats all I know about it.MarkNJBass said:
Here is an excellent site for info on the lakes of New Jersey.
www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/fishplc.htm
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