Sunday funday Lakers/bows - NJFishing.com Your Best Online Source for Fishing Information in New Jersey

Mikey topaz · #1 03-11-2018, 07:35 PM

Finally after the past three attempts today I was able to get the black mamba back in action for a 3/4 day party boat special! Hit the big ole windy valley and made quick work with a few Lakers on the jig. Set up the spread and got to work and started plucking away at the bows... Me and Rocco caught fish on just about every lure and every rod downrigger,flat line, bottom bouncer , lead core, u name it......threw back a bunch and kept some for the new smoker. Water temp was 37. Looking forward to the big breeders coming soon.

Mikey topaz · #2 03-11-2018, 07:37 PM

Castaway · #3 03-11-2018, 08:04 PM

Looks like an awesome day. I guess the 37 degree water explains why the shoreline fishing has been terrible lately.

FASTEDDIE29 · #4 03-11-2018, 08:30 PM

Team Topaz!!! Black Mamba!!! Always on the meat!!! Can’t wait to see what the boys do at certain contests coming this year. Get em!!! Couple of those bigger Lakers been eating good, damn they’re nice and fat!!!

AndyS · #5 03-11-2018, 09:57 PM

Nice haul boys !!

thmyorke1 · #6 03-11-2018, 11:58 PM

Terrific. I'm glad the wind was manageable for once.

Mikey topaz · #7 03-12-2018, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Castaway

Looks like an awesome day. I guess the 37 degree water explains why the shoreline fishing has been terrible lately.

Yes they were along the shores good but most fish are being caught in 40_75 feet water....
There's still guys in the boat thinking the same thing trolling the shorelines.....

Billfish715 · #8 03-13-2018, 09:21 PM

After seeing your picture of some very "healthy" trout, I was wondering about their diet. What were they eating.......besides your lures? There has been talk about the decline of forage fish (herring) in the Valley over a number of years and the amount of aquatic insect life that are or did make up a substantial amount of the trouts' diets. It was theorized that the decline in the population of big brown trout was a direct result of their voracious appetites for herring. They simply ate more baitfish than could be annually spawned. What is your take on the variety and amount of bait in the Valley?

Jigman13 · #9 03-13-2018, 10:59 PM

Scuds and shiners.

Lakers ate all the herring and the water doesn't have substantial phytoplankton for herring to feed on to prosper.

Billfish715 · #10 03-14-2018, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jigman13

Scuds and shiners.

Lakers ate all the herring and the water doesn't have substantial phytoplankton for herring to feed on to prosper.

So, in your opinion, was the introduction of lake trout into RV a good thing? Something obviously disturbed the food chain and thereby the ability of The Valley to maintain any semblance of its being a trophy trout impoundment. Without food for the herring, their numbers have dwindled. Without the abundance of herring, the growth of the trout is limited. A long time ago, the Valley was loaded with herring and the brown trout fishing was doing fine. The trout were large and could often be caught throughout the water column.

To what extent are the biologists responsible for the disruption in the food chain? Is anything being done to improve the situation? A laker or rainbow has to eat a lot of scuds to grow to a trophy compared to their growth potential when they feast on herring.