Can you guy's maybe help me out on where to go in NJ this weekend for smallies???

[Jigman13]

Troll, down line with herring/shiners, or chicken livers.

The hard part is finding them.

[briansnat]

What about Merrill Creek Reservoir? You can't use the gas motor there, but the electric should move you around well enough.

[yumasdad]

want to fight the best fresh water fighter...the next time you go swimming with your woman tell her that her ass got really big over the winter!!!

[TheDreamCatchers]

PB Smallmouth: 21 inches - Passaic River, Little Falls Mill

The Passaic River is a fantastic place for big smallmouth especially at the Mill in Little Falls. The SBR also has some river smallmouth. But if you want to use your boat on bigger waters I would go for Union Lake, RVR, Ryker or Lake Audrey. But I kid you not every single big reservoir up in the north part has smallmouth. I dont think a single reservoir in Sussex or Passaic county doesn't have smallies. The reservoirs that you need to get a permit from (Canistear, Oak Ridge, Wanaque, Point View, Splitrock, Echo, Clinton) are the best smallie lakes because they are the least fished. Audrey and Ryker are release only lakes so they probably have a bunch as well.

[Rich196]

Originally Posted by TheDreamCatchers

PB Smallmouth: 21 inches - Passaic River, Little Falls Mill

The Passaic River is a fantastic place for big smallmouth especially at the Mill in Little Falls. The SBR also has some river smallmouth. But if you want to use your boat on bigger waters I would go for Union Lake, RVR, Ryker or Lake Audrey. But I kid you not every single big reservoir up in the north part has smallmouth. I dont think a single reservoir in Sussex or Passaic county doesn't have smallies. The reservoirs that you need to get a permit from (Canistear, Oak Ridge, Wanaque, Point View, Splitrock, Echo, Clinton) are the best smallie lakes because they are the least fished. Audrey and Ryker are release only lakes so they probably have a bunch as well.

Thank you for the info, Union lake was also another option, I hear they do well there. I was looking in to Lake Audrey last week, and the update on thier page doesnt look to good, it looks like the PH levels were coming back up, and fishing was down, and the fact that they also said, the locals were catching the bass and putting them in another lake... Nice right?

[huntcountypussbuck]

Spruce run has lots of bait and plenty of small mouths. Really low water though so launch I can't comment on. 9.9 only limited horsepower

[Jigman13]

I think spruce is lower now then it was this time last yr...it's crazy. I was shore fishing it last weekend late nite and I was easily standing in a spot I couldn't reach casting plugs during the spring/early summer. Realistically, I was prob standing where 25-30' of water once existed.

I'm curious to know if the major draw downs stress the fish. It was also crazy seeing bait getting demolished all night long on the surface this late in the yr. Herring all over the place! Such a rich population of forage in there.

[Bruce Litton]

Lake Audrey, South Jersey across & down from Jackson. You might have to fish 20-25 feet deep, but I've caught nice smallmouths in the shallows, Lake Hopatcong this year, but at the tops of steep, rocky drop-offs. Try Lake Audrey shallow & deep, and while I doubt it has much stone structure, it has to have sand or gravel at the least for them to spawn, and if it is as free of structure as I think it may be, then whatever structure you do find is where to try.

[Bruce Litton]

Audrey is small at 120 acres, but not for the electric: http://www.sjbca.org/audreyinfo.htm

Lake Hopatcong is fine for all your power, but a long, long drive from Jackson. If I were in your shoes, between LH and Manasquan, I'd just concentrate on finding them at Manasquan.

[xDirty]

Great advice in this thread