looking for shore fishing spots in Northern NJ

[njitgrad]

I am looking for some guidance for a few new places in Northern NJ to take my two boys for a couple of hours of bass fishing on summer weekends. I don't have a boat so we're limited to shore fishing.

In the past few years we've shore fished Verona Lake (basically walked around the whole lake), Potash Lake (very limited shore access), Pompton Lake (again very limited shore access so only off the Lakeside Ave bridge) and the Delaware River (Karamac Access), all with limited success.

We've also fished Lake Hopatcong off the dock of a relative who lives on the water (McGregor Ave just past Lee's Marina) but all we catch are perch and sunnies.

The best luck we've had was on the Delaware where we caught a bunch of nice size smallies on Senkos.

We do not use live bait. We only use plastic baits and crankbaits.

I would rent a boat if I knew of a place where I wouldn't get harassed by powerboats on the weekend like one would on Lake Hopatcong. Any advice in this department would be appreciated. My boys are 10 and 12 so I would only feel comfortable renting a boat on a tranquil body of water.

I would also like to inquire about bass fishing down the shore, specifically near Brick Township. My in-laws own a home on the upper end of Barnegat Bay (Kettle Creek I believe it's called at that point). We fish off their dock for snapper blues but catch squat so we mostly crab. I'm basically looking for nearby fresh water ponds/lakes within 30 minute drive that have shore access.

Any advice to improve our fishing experience based on everything stated above would be much appreciated. Feel free to PM me.