A little after school fishing

[birdmanmike]

I am looking to take my six year old daughter fishing after school in the afternoons. I was thinking perch or crappie. May look for trout once they start stocking depending how the pressure is with the shortened season.

I have not fished for perch in years but hear they are tasty. Was thinking of Lake Hopatcong (only fished it on the ice from the state park), Greenwood Lake (in the park on Warwick Tpk), or Green Turtle Pond. I live in Lincoln Park and figured they are the closest with the best chance of her coming home with some fish.

Was thinking of using worms or small minnows or fatheads.

What do you think? Any other locations I might consider within a half hour to 45 minutes from Lincoln Park.

[briansnat]

In Lincoln park,you don't have to go far, you have the Passaic River right there. Pompton Lake is also pretty close. At 6 years old it's almost time to introduce your daughter to the Lad the dog books by Albert Payson Terhune and Sunnybank Park on 202 is where Lad lived (and is buried). It's also a scenic place to fish from shore.

You don't say if you have a boat at your disposal, but assuming you mean shore fishing, you can also consider the Silas Condict Park Lake in Kinnelon, Barbours Pond, Rockaway River around Boonton, Ramapo River in the Mahwah area and Verona Park Lake (the last few will be trout stocked except Silas Condict).

For after school fishing think closer rather than farther. The more time you can spend on the water instead of driving and sitting in traffic the better (I'm thinking of the rush hour drive to Hoptacong from Lincoln Park). There actually is some pretty good fishing in the places I mentioned so don't dismiss them just because they are close, or don't get a lot of mention here. I've seen some nice bass and crappie come out of Silas Condict lake and some big bass and catfish caught in Verona Park Lake. Barbours Pond is getting an extra helping of trout this year.

Green Turtle Pond is a nice place but a longer ride for you and not a lot of opportunities for shore fishing. Maybe because it's not being stocked this year it won't be so bad, but there are maybe 10-12 spots on Green Turtle that are easily accessible on foot and in most year they are taken during prime time during trout stocking season.

I think one of the keys to fishing with children is keeping them involved and that means catching fish, so don't forget about sunfish. We've entertained generations of kids at our family lake cabin with fast and furious sunfish action off the dock (it's how I got my start fishing). The kids don't care about species or size, they are fascinated just to catch a fish and most will get bored quickly if they are sitting there for an hour staring at a bobber.

[gwl2oneida]

Greenwood lake is full ice, probably for a few more weeks.not to mention that park is on extremely shallow water.