Wanaque back in the day

[RichS]

Don't know if they still run boats there, but was lucky to get to fish it a couple times as a kid.

http://www.njfishing.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=49&pictureid=339

[Ken Lyons]

No electronics, no trolling motor and one rod. Some of my best days ever.

[AndrewT]

Lets hear some stories about this place. Never fished it but have dreamt about fishing it hundreds of times.

[oelgnal1]

We fish there in a boat with the same guide in your picture, can't remember his name, a few times between '75 and '80. The guide liked us because he could fish with us as opposed to being a babysitter with the big shots, putting on bait and taking off their catches. If I recall correctly some of the NY Yankees fished there too and one was the "old timer' Enos Slaughter, I'm sure that not too many people here even heard of him.LOL We tried to get out when the water was up so we could fish Cooper's swamp and pre 9/11 you could fish from certain shore locations with a daily pass. Those were the days!

PS: Supposedly, the State record brown trout was caught from a restricted area down by the dam and someone else took credit for it, claiming they caught it in Greenwood Lake.

[oelgnal1]

Here's a picture of our guide and for some reason I think his name may have been Lou.

133277

[Jigman13]

My father brought me up there prior to 9/11 with daily shore passes. The fishing was surreal. We were getting monster smallies on Mepps Aglia #4 spinners on the drop. Thinking back, I didnt understand the size of those fish as much as I do now. 21" smallies that were round like footballs is not the norm lol. Shame it cant be fished anymore. Limited access would be awesome. Maybe someday.

[Chrisper4694]

My father brought me up there prior to 9/11 with daily shore passes. The fishing was surreal. We were getting monster smallies on Mepps Aglia #4 spinners on the drop. Thinking back, I didnt understand the size of those fish as much as I do now. 21" smallies that were round like footballs is not the norm lol. Shame it cant be fished anymore. Limited access would be awesome. Maybe someday.

oh it can and IS fished by plenty of kids haha

[NJSquatch]

I grew up in Ringwood in the 80's. Man if I only knew!

I know people that would sneak in but most were eventually caught.

[Ken Lyons]

Each of the five commissioners had a boat. They could use it at will with a reservoir employee as a guide. My old fishing partner somehow got in to see the chief of the reservoir police. This resulted in a case of Gallo jug wine being placed in the trunk of his car. When a boat was not scheduled for the day my buddy would get a phone call and off we would go.

[Brewlugger]

I lived in Hewitt in the mid nineties. One evening as I was driving down Greenwood lake turnpike I saw an angler walking to his car from the reservoir with an amazing stringer of fish slung over his shoulder. From what little I could see he had some trout, bass, perch, and huge crappies.

[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]

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]

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]

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.

[Chrisper4694]

$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.

yeah that being said, if everyone started putting back ALL their big fish we'd have the same size fish in public lakes too. And that's a fact! The fish size in these reservoirs proves that. it is not our latitude or environment that prevents fish growth it is the people keeping big fish constantly.

I've said it a million times, whether you like to eat fish sometimes, always, or never...the BIG ones are worth more in the water, plain and simple.

[Hookmanski]

yeah that being said, if everyone started putting back ALL their big fish we'd have the same size fish in public lakes too. And that's a fact! The fish size in these reservoirs proves that. it is not our latitude or environment that prevents fish growth it is the people keeping big fish constantly.

I've said it a million times, whether you like to eat fish sometimes, always, or never...the BIG ones are worth more in the water, plain and simple.

^^THIS! I went to franklin lakes nature preserve near William Paterson this past weekend and saw a guy with a full stringer of largemouth bass. at least 4 of them, all probably 1.5 - 3 pounds a piece. Such a shame to see, do largies even taste good? I get that everyone is entitled to their fair share but come on, let em go so they can grow.

[bulletbob]

Everyone likes to eat fresh fish, its as simple as that.. The couple of smaller lakes in my area of NY state that contain Crappies are fished so damn hard for them, its impossible to find more than 1 maybe 2 on any given day that will reach the 9 inch minimum... The instant they get to 9 inches they are taken home to eat by someone ... I have lived here for 28 years and have YET to see a Crappie close to 12 inches, yet I see pics on here of NJ guys holding up 15 inchers for the camera all the time.. Point is, its NOT only a NJ problem.. We have the same thing up here for any good eating fish, Perch Crappies, Walleyes, etc,, even Bullheads are gobbled up around here with reckless abandon..
So a lot of the local lakes have mostly small fish these days.. Rivers do somewhat better because they are simply unfishable for months at a time in upper NY state..

Same thing is happening in the ocean as we know.. Too many people wanting to catch and eat too few fish= Restrictions...
A few terrorist *******s that might want to poison innocents or blow up the Earle Pier, or the Statue of Liberty= more and even bigger restrictions.. welcome to the modern world... bob

[Jigman13]

^^THIS! I went to franklin lakes nature preserve near William Paterson this past weekend and saw a guy with a full stringer of largemouth bass. at least 4 of them, all probably 1.5 - 3 pounds a piece. Such a shame to see, do largies even taste good? I get that everyone is entitled to their fair share but come on, let em go so they can grow.

Should've called fish n game. Bass are closed I think until mid June. Purposely done so they can spawn.

[Hookmanski]

Should've called fish n game. Bass are closed I think until mid June. Purposely done so they can spawn.

Damn, next time I will! I didn't even realize because I don't eat fish and therefor release everything. I'm kicking myself right now!! Gotta do a better job of learning the regs.

[Rickhem]

Call it in!

1-855-OGT-TIPS

Put that in your cell and it's an easy call.

[dakota560]

Damn, next time I will! I didn't even realize because I don't eat fish and therefor release everything. I'm kicking myself right now!! Gotta do a better job of learning the regs.

I've used 1-877-WARN-DEP with good luck and very easy to remember. Very responsive. Hook, not too late to call and tell them what you witnessed, might give them a heads up to patrol the area. I'd say there's a good chance the guy will be back again before 6/15 when it re-opens especially if he was fishing in this past weekend's weather which was miserable and had that much luck. This $@*& #@! didn't kill 4 fish, if they were females he killed probably between 25,000 to 50,000 eggs and hurt the fishery at a price everyone else will pay for.

[Hookmanski]

I've used 1-877-WARN-DEP with good luck and very easy to remember. Very responsive. Hook, not too late to call and tell them what you witnessed, might give them a heads up to patrol the area. I'd say there's a good chance the guy will be back again before 6/15 when it re-opens especially if he was fishing in this past weekend's weather which was miserable and had that much luck. This $@*& #@! didn't kill 4 fish, if they were females he killed probably between 25,000 to 50,000 eggs and hurt the fishery at a price everyone else will pay for.

Good point, I'm going to call it in after work today! Ugh if i had realized he was a poacher I probably would've flipped out on him too, I hate seeing that.

[dakota560]

Good point, I'm going to call it in after work today! Ugh if i had realized he was a poacher I probably would've flipped out on him too, I hate seeing that.

If you knew the season was closed as Jigman posted, best thing to do is to cordially bring it to the guys attention. Sometimes people honestly don't know the regulations and he might just release the fish. Usually not the case but I've had it happen. If he gives you a hard time, call the number and what I do is without him knowing take a picture of him fishing or with the stringer of fish. Picture will be date stamped. If you can, take a picture of his car with license plates and some background if possible which can be associated with the place he's fishing. Sign, house, boat launch, posted signs, information board whatever that proves he was fishing where you say he was. In this case the season is closed everywhere so location isn't important, day fished is. That will also be date stamped so no one can say it was last years picture. Call the number and text or email NJDEP the information, they'll take it from there.

Be careful going off on someone, they might return the favor. And as I said if NJDEP has the info, they have the proof they need and will follow up with the guy involved and usually call you back with an update and thank you. There's too much territory out there for these CO's to cover and they can use our help.

[Drossi]

I have a very nondescript park pond by my house that used to hold a pretty good population of LMB. It was a fun place to go with rubber worms and poppers for a change of pace. Also had saucer plate sized sunfish. Another fun fish on light gear. The catch and kill everything crowd moved in and picked it clean. Same guys would be there every weekend until the fishing crashed, now you rarely see them but every time you see them they have fish in the bucket.

[blindalfred]

I grew up in Haskell (Wanaque Borough) in the sixties and fished the reservoir thanks to a neighbor who was a reservoir guard. I remember the largest smallmouth ever. I also remember when my neighbor became a minor celebrity after a UFO sighting when he was on the nightshift. Be careful if you sneak in, you might encounter ET.

[ScowardNJ]

I grew up in Haskell (Wanaque Borough) in the sixties and fished the reservoir thanks to a neighbor who was a reservoir guard. I remember the largest smallmouth ever. I also remember when my neighbor became a minor celebrity after a UFO sighting when he was on the nightshift. Be careful if you sneak in, you might encounter ET.

Haha, i was wondering if this old Wanaque urban legend would come up.
https://weirdnj.com/stories/unexplained-phenomena/wanaque-reservoir-ufo/

[blindalfred]

Haha, i was wondering if this old Wanaque urban legend would come up.
https://weirdnj.com/stories/unexplained-phenomena/wanaque-reservoir-ufo/

Thanks for the memories. Wanaque was anything but urban then, but Ben Thompson did become legendary in our neighborhood, for a while anyway.