New to New Jersey/U.S

[sleddicted]

Hi guys and gals,

Family and I moved to New Jersey (Elmwood park area) due to work. (company transfer)

Born and raised in British Columbia Canada, and have been fishing (mainly fly-fishing) all my life.

Was wondering if you guys could point me in the right direction.

I have access to belly boat, and 8ft zodiac inflatable. Want to fish both rivers and lakes.

Some people have told me to try the Delaware. My in-laws moved down as well and they are in Mendham, so perhaps water bodies near there too.

Any help would be great.

Thank you

[birddog]

The Passaic River in you area has good pike fishing, The pauliskill, Pequest and Muscanetcong and Flatbrook are good trout waters. They will all be a little slow now with the heat. The pequest is probably your best bet right now, right outside of the hatchery since the water will be cooler there. NJ fish and wildlife has a guide, Places To Fish in NJ would give you a location and the species that are in each body of water.

[23cardinal]

Welcome!
As bird dog mentioned -
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/fishing_fresh.htm?prompt=0

I don't summer fish for trout- some guys do- if you do- invest in a thermometer
The state stocks lightly in fall http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/flstk.htm?prompt=0

The Wanaque, Ramapo and rockaway river are all about 25mins from Elmwood park- all are lovely rivers- lightly stocked- the musconetcong and paulinskill are much larger- and better stocked- prob 45 min and 1 hour respectively. I'm partial to the paulinskill in coulmbia- by station road-
The black and rockaway rivers aren't too far from mendham but I haven't fished much there.

The deleware is lovely- massive- I don't fish it- many guys do-they recently met up and went after flatheads. A friend (non nj fishing ) did well on smallies in the upper region above walpack.

For warm water, the Passaic river upstream from you has a large variety of fish- guys here hit lmb smallies and some pike way up- there are some cats in the two bridges section of Lincoln park(15-20 min)
Small bodies of water can be very productive- as big bodies (monksville res. Greenwood lake) just be cautious of private property-
As for by mendham- cranberry lake and lake aeroflex in Andover are nice on the boat- lake hopatcong is too- but has heavy pleasure traffic over the weekend-lh does have hybrid bass

Feel free to pm with questions- tight lines- and let us know how you do
-chris

[Skunk City]

What species are you looking to target?

[sleddicted]

Really anything. I mostly flyfish, but enjoy a good day of gear chucking too!

I'm just looking to get outdoors. This type of living is different to me!

Back home, I targeted mostly rainbows, as we may have only about 3 lakes that have bass.

Thanks

[Ken Lyons]

The Passaic right where you are has some huge carp which can be caught on flies. They're not easy to catch on a fly but can give you a terrific battle. There are books and forums devoted to this. The question is wether the biggest fish there is a Carp or a Pike. I'd vote for a Carp. 30 pounds ?

[bigboy5522]

The Ken Lockwood Gorge has trout in it, mostly rainbows. Its catch and release so there's always fish in it. Its a really popular spot but it has big fish and the place itself is nice also.