01-13-12, 08:38 PM | #1 |
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Stumped on a lake in NJ, What would you do?
Hey guys, I went to a lake for the first time in NJ. Species present are pike, pickeral, lmb, trout, crappie, sunfish and carp. The lake is surprisingly small, and only about 5-7 feet at its deepest point. The water is muddy throughout, and the day I went the water temp was about 37 degrees.
I fished for 3 hours and ending up snagging 1 crappie. I did have a pickeral take the tail off my fluke though. I saw a nice 2-2.5 lb largemouth swimming the shallows chasing bluegill but I couldn't get it to bite. According to a regular there, I wasted 2 hours of my time fishing an unproductive portion of the lake, the tail end where water flows out. He said the only part I should be concerned with is the top end where a small stream flows in. I spend my last hour fishing this top part, and that was where I caught my crappier, saw the lmb, and had the pickeral bite. Thats also where I saw 3 other fisherman fishing literally 10 feet from each other, all regulars that said they fished there 4+ times a week. Obviously, there is a ton of fishing pressure there but at least of these regulars practice catch and release. The various baits I tried are lipless cranks and suspending jerkbaits, but it was so weedy they were unproductive, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, dropshotting and weightless super flukes. If you were on this tiny, unusual lake, what would you done? |
01-13-12, 09:32 PM | #2 |
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Need to define tiny.
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01-13-12, 10:49 PM | #3 |
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Tiny as in you can walk around the entire lake in 12-15 minutes.
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01-13-12, 11:02 PM | #4 | |
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It sounds to me like yoou need to slow down your presentation of your bait, water temp at 37 degrees slow it down.
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01-13-12, 11:52 PM | #5 |
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I don't know but....1/2 acre shallow pond....with 3+ regulars.....I'd look for another pond if possible. If not then downsize your offering and fish the "bad" side. I mean in a pond that small how much better can a few feet be.
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01-14-12, 12:44 AM | #6 |
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Its called Haddon Lake, and I know its stocked with all kinds of fish. A regular told me he pulled out a 35 inch pike out of it 2 weeks ago. I know there are definitely some nice bass like the one I saw chasing bluegill and I'm going to go out tomorrow. I'll probably throw a dropshot and work a few other plastics slowly and see if I can entice a bite.
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01-14-12, 01:10 AM | #7 |
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I assume you're fishing from shore? Muddy and cold water are a tough combination. Typically cold water calls for a painfully slow presentation with a small finese bait. That's the type of bait that can get lost in murky water, so I'd try something with a scent like power-bait. Your problem is you need bait that you can let sit in one place for at least 30 seconds, before twitching it - something that flaots might never get down to the fish and something that sinks gets hung up in the weeds. Drop-shotting might be a good compromise even in such shallow water. Also Carolina-rigging a small floating plastic is something you might be able to fish slow enough at the right depth.
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01-14-12, 05:32 PM | #8 |
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Go big. waking bluegill swimbait, deadsticked, slow twitched, slow waked(painfully slow) in the top section. I'm surprised it hasn't frozen with this cold spell(?) Place is definitely bigger than a 1/2 acre, but the culverts(storm water drains) look promising on the right side(east?), and the weeds in the top section look nice too, the lower section looks pretty narrow. All in all, perfect place for a float tube, or 'toon(?).
Last edited by Dogmatic; 01-14-12 at 06:48 PM. |
01-14-12, 05:38 PM | #9 |
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HEY! we have small lakes in NJ but with big bass... wait no not really haha but i found in all the lakes in NJ power fishing such as spinner baits work but if with me i use a small finesse soft plastics like 3 inch senko, small trick worms. On anyone new lake in New Jersey. Thats just the way i go with it in New Jersey
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01-14-12, 09:48 PM | #10 |
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Fished there for 4 hours today with my friend. I spend most of my time in the upper portion where there is water running in. There were literally 500 sunfish and 4 to 5 bass in a 10 by 10 foot square right were the water comes in. Most of the bass were small, less than 8 inches, but a couple were around the twelve in mark. I tried a plethora of baits the first hour but couldn't get any to bite, I even rigged up a sunfish I snagged and the bass were interested by didn't eat it.
After that I left the upper portion and went to the lower portion to fish for northern pike with a 6 inch joined x rap that weighted 1.5 ounces. No luck for an hour so I went back to the upper portion and managed to get a really beautiful 12 inch, 15 ounce bass on a green pumpkin bps 2.5 inch tender tube. This was the first bass of the year for me so that made the trip worth it. I also landed a smaller 6 inch bass on the same tube. |
01-14-12, 09:57 PM | #11 |
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Maybe try one of these...Mattlures Baby Floating Gill? |
01-14-12, 10:24 PM | #12 | |
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Quote:
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01-14-12, 11:46 PM | #13 |
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Haddon Lake in New jersey
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01-15-12, 12:05 AM | #14 |
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I have a small pond behind my house that I have stocked with bass, bluegill, catfish, crappie, and looking to put a carp or two in if I can manage to catch a couple. I've found that I can just about always get them to bite on a small spinnerbait (Strike King Bleeding spinnerbait in 1/8 oz) even in the dead of winter. That or the Reaction Strike Revolution Shad Suspending swim bait that I just got right after Christmas. I have already caught a few on that bait in the 3" model.
Slowing down with plastics is a great tactic to but not one of my strong suits. DJ |
01-15-12, 12:47 AM | #15 |
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Cold muddy water is about as tough as it gets. You say there are regulars who fish the lake. Did you happen to watch and see what they were using and how they were using it? Is the stream large enough to hold some fish? If so, maybe try fishing the stream. If not, I'd be tempted to fish the breakline where the muddy water meets the clearer stream water. A large black/blue jig with a large craw trailer would give you a larger profile and contrasting color that would maybe enable the bass to locate the lure easier. Plus a jig can be worked slowly. Also I would try a 1/2 oz single colorado spinnerbait. Normally I wouldn't use a spinnerbait in water that cold, but a large 1/2 oz single bladed spinnerbait with a large colorado blade is going to send out strong vibrations that would help bass locate your offering. And if the water is as muddy as you say, the bass are going to be feeding my what they first find with their lateral line, not their eyes.
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01-15-12, 11:25 AM | #16 |
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Well, my first inclination would be to find another lake! lol!
Then I would grab a black or black/blue silicon/rubber jig with a #1 Black Uncle Josh pork frog or pork eel, and proceed to drag that puppy ever so slowly along the channel edges into the creek channel on the upper end if it's got moving water. Then I would go to the lower end and find some chunk rock or riprap and throw the same bait and work it painfully slow!
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01-16-12, 08:52 PM | #17 |
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Try a hair jig with a small chunk trailer. Use colors that are visible and fish slow. You also might want to try burning a lipless crank or ripping a blade bait.
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01-21-12, 09:05 PM | #18 |
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Cold and muddy = staying home. If it were me, I would be pitching/flipping to any visible cover I could because the bass are most likely relating to it with the muddy water.
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01-21-12, 09:30 PM | #19 | |
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Quote:
+1...........
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02-15-12, 08:14 AM | #20 |
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Bing Maps is awesome! If you've never used it, click the link, then go to birdseye, and you can all see where he's fishing!!!
http://www.bing.com/maps/?FORM=MLOMA...43MjE0ODg5NTI1
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02-16-12, 09:53 PM | #21 |
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Just to let everyone know, I figured out the lake. I've been fishing a shallow portion where the water comes in, about 2-5 feet deep, the channel is about 35 yards across, and I've been catching bass and pickeral on crankbaits and suspending jerkbaits. I caught a 3 lb bass today, and I caught a 4 lb, 26 inch pickeral a week and a half ago. The water was 42 degrees today when I measured it, and the visibility is pretty good now, ~2 feet.
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