Landlocked Salmon - Tilton, Waywayanda & Aeroflex Lake Question

[Jigman13]

Prob wrong time of year for that. Winter maybe before the freeze and right after ice out.

[Capspath83]

Originally Posted by Jigman13

Prob wrong time of year for that. Winter maybe before the freeze and right after ice out.

Thanks Jigman, timing of year is one thing, but I was more interested to know if it were possible to hook up with them from land or docks without having a vessel to get me out to the middle.

[ALS Mako]

tilcon is probably the only lake with good access to deep water from shore but it is still fairly wild and you will probably be doing some bush wacking. waywayanda does have a boat rental and i have heard of guys catching even in summer in the deep water. i don't have much experience with aeroflex but what i do know is that it is very weedy along the edges so shore fishing may be tough. but like jigman said, better luck in spring, fall and winter.

[NJSquatch]

you can rent kayaks and boats at aeroflex. they even have bait...prices seemed reasonable to me.

you are going to have a tough time from shore...there are a few spots but it requires a long hike and very narrow casting lanes

[briansnat]

This time of the year catching them from shore is not likely. You'd probably need a boat with lead core or a downrigger for a realistic chance. Wawayanda rents boats, but getting the bait down deep enough without a DR or lead core will still be an issue. You can try a heavy weight (2 - 4 oz) on a three way swivel with a herring or spoon on it from a boat. That will get you down deep.

But who knows, find a spot from shore with a deep drop off and fish a Power Bait or herring on the bottom and maybe you'll be surprised.

[Capspath83]

Thanks for all of the input everyone! I did see that Waywayanda offers boat rentals, so I am thinking that would be a definite possibility. I am assuming it would be a slow troll since only electric motors are allowed...No problem getting the line down, I have plenty of heavy planers from salt water fishing I could use. It sounds like it would be a blast!

What # test do you think I should set up for them?

[jimmythegreek]

ive caught plenty of them in aeroflex in the past years, I only fish it once or twice a year anyway. My preferred method in summer is to liveline herring near steep dropoffs where bait is present. Ive caught them in 25-30ft close to shore this way, and in the middle of open water, they follow the bait and thats what they mainly relate to. In other bodies of water that have a stocked trout population, you will have to pick thru the stockies to get to the landlocks. I saw u mention "keeper" size, they dont come easy and I throw everything back anyway

[UglyStick]

Originally Posted by NJSquatch

you can rent kayaks and boats at aeroflex. they even have bait...

I thought this was a typo but I was by there yesterday for a hike with the wife and Andover Hunt & Fish has set up a shed at the launch and are renting kayaks and paddle boats there now... UGH... there goes the neighborhood... how long until we see this at Split Rock too... and let's not forget the paddleboard pilates at Monksville... this is getting ridiculous...

[MudCat08]

I went to Wawayanda for the first time with a friend who owns a boat and we expected to catch nothing since his fishfinder couldn't pick up any fish, but we did ok with a few landlocked salmon, a pickerel, a stocked rainbow trout, and a solid 18.5" largemouth bass. (we went in mid-June this year.)

I didn't catch anything because i suck at fishing from boats (I'm mostly a shore angler since i don't own even a kayak yet), but my friend did well trolling around a rapala and some live herring. I missed all the bites i got but i think mine were all small fish like perch or crappies. I had all my bites while i was drifting super slow near shore.

The pickerel, bass and rainbow trout all bit near weeds, but the landlocked salmon were found on both deep portions of the lake, near dropoffs. They were likely anywhere from 10ft-20ft down in about 40ft of water. So I guess they tend to stay higher up in the water column.

I'd say you definitely need some sort of water craft to get to them and just troll around at 0.5-1.5 miles per hour around dropoffs and you'll eventually get them. I cant wait to go back on my own once i get a kayak! (with a fishfinder that isn't 30 years old haha)
One of the reasons I have waited to fish lakes like Wawayanda, etc. is because i feel like it would be a waste of time unless i have at least a kayak and a fishfinder.

[Capspath83]

Originally Posted by MudCat08

I went to Wawayanda for the first time with a friend who owns a boat and we expected to catch nothing since his fishfinder couldn't pick up any fish, but we did ok with a few landlocked salmon, a pickerel, a stocked rainbow trout, and a solid 18.5" largemouth bass. (we went in mid-June this year.)

I didn't catch anything because i suck at fishing from boats (I'm mostly a shore angler since i don't own even a kayak yet), but my friend did well trolling around a rapala and some live herring. I missed all the bites i got but i think mine were all small fish like perch or crappies. I had all my bites while i was drifting super slow near shore.

The pickerel, bass and rainbow trout all bit near weeds, but the landlocked salmon were found on both deep portions of the lake, near dropoffs. They were likely anywhere from 10ft-20ft down in about 40ft of water. So I guess they tend to stay higher up in the water column.

I'd say you definitely need some sort of water craft to get to them and just troll around at 0.5-1.5 miles per hour around dropoffs and you'll eventually get them. I cant wait to go back on my own once i get a kayak! (with a fishfinder that isn't 30 years old haha)
One of the reasons I have waited to fish lakes like Wawayanda, etc. is because i feel like it would be a waste of time unless i have at least a kayak and a fishfinder.

Great to hear Mudcat, glad to see your going to go back. I see they rent boats so I am going to go and test my luck in the next few weeks.