Wanaque back in the day

[ScowardNJ]

I want in there so bad!!!! I bet there are state record fish of kinds swimming in that lake.

[NJSquatch]

What would you be willing to pay for a day trip?

[Skunk City]

Plenty of current day pictures on social media if you know where to look. Very impressive.

[Chrisper4694]

yeah it's hammered by a few people for sure haha

[Hookmanski]

Originally Posted by Chrisper4694

yeah it's hammered by a few people for sure haha

I wonder what the repercussions would be for getting caught back there. Trespassing for sure, but since its used for drinking water i feel like you could get pinned with much worse. Seems like a crazy place to fish.

[oelgnal1]

It's a whole different world there since 9/11 and there will always be a few that get away with trespassing until they get caught and penalties can be severe when your luck runs out. A friend's wife would get caught by the falls with some frequency back in the '70's but she caught a five pound brookie there in '78. No matter how good the fishing might be it's not worth the gamble.IMHO

[Rickhem]

I'm not really sure why, but a lot of areas in NJ got either closed or severely restricted after 9-11. Really can't understand the justification other than it being some sort of political power play.
I used to fish Sheppards Lake (Pond?) in Ringwood back when there was a family run boat launch there, prior to the state park being there. That was with my dad and my uncle, maybe mid 70s, and I fished there until the early 90s with my own boats. That was my favorite place to put in at around 5pm, when the rental boats had to be returned, and fish until well after midnight. Not any more. All these places close at sunset now. And I used to hunt up in Blairstown at the Yards Creek reservoirs. Now that entire area does not allow access. And don't even get me started on all the little reservoirs that have been closed for "homeland security" issues. So what are we protecting from the terrorists up there???
I used to fish Wanaque Reservoir from shore back in the day too, and while passes were not easy to get, they were available, and there were always cars and trucks parked in the most popular access points. Now everyone thinks that someone can poison the water, so access verboten. Do the math on that sometime, and you'll realize that it would take a railroad car or two of something like Sodium Cyanide to produce an even minutely detectable level in the more than 25 billion gallons of water in there. Just another example of there being stories told and re-told without anyone ever really thinking about the reality of it all.

Don't mean to rant, but I'm tired of having restrictions put on so many varied aspects of our lives, and being told that it is "for our own good".

[RWole]

I agree the restrictions are overkill. If anything was dumped into the water if would have to be a very large amount.

[ScowardNJ]

Originally Posted by Rickhem

I'm not really sure why, but a lot of areas in NJ got either closed or severely restricted after 9-11. Really can't understand the justification other than it being some sort of political power play.
I used to fish Sheppards Lake (Pond?) in Ringwood back when there was a family run boat launch there, prior to the state park being there. That was with my dad and my uncle, maybe mid 70s, and I fished there until the early 90s with my own boats. That was my favorite place to put in at around 5pm, when the rental boats had to be returned, and fish until well after midnight. Not any more. All these places close at sunset now. And I used to hunt up in Blairstown at the Yards Creek reservoirs. Now that entire area does not allow access. And don't even get me started on all the little reservoirs that have been closed for "homeland security" issues. So what are we protecting from the terrorists up there???
I used to fish Wanaque Reservoir from shore back in the day too, and while passes were not easy to get, they were available, and there were always cars and trucks parked in the most popular access points. Now everyone thinks that someone can poison the water, so access verboten. Do the math on that sometime, and you'll realize that it would take a railroad car or two of something like Sodium Cyanide to produce an even minutely detectable level in the more than 25 billion gallons of water in there. Just another example of there being stories told and re-told without anyone ever really thinking about the reality of it all.

Don't mean to rant, but I'm tired of having restrictions put on so many varied aspects of our lives, and being told that it is "for our own good".

Amen brother..The restrictions in this state compared to our neighboring states blow!

[Jigman13]

Originally Posted by NJSquatch

What would you be willing to pay for a day trip?

$300...maybe $500 if splitting w/ another angler. I can catch fish elsewhere but that place has got to have monster everything in it considering the lack of pressure most other public places in NJ receives.