Question on Herring (Alewives)

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Originally Posted by Ken Lyons

If you’re fishing for trout or salmon what most guys do is look for the bait balls. That wiil tell you the depth that herring can survive and where the game fish will be. The thermocline on Waywayanda doesn’t get deeper than 30 ft if I recall correctly and then not until late in Summer.

^^^^ correct
If the alewives are holding at say 25 feet, and you are dropping down 70, all you are doing is killing a $1.00 [or more] bait fish... Most NJ lakes do not have much dissolved oxygen at those depths, outside of maybe Round Valley and a few others that have good lake trout populations.. Thats the best indicator of good oxygen content on a lake bottom, lake trout, as they require deeper colder water than Browns/Rainbows /Salmon, and simply dont survive otherwise.....
LL Salmon/Rainbows/Browns will be in or just above or below the thermocline and typically not too far from the aforementioned "bait balls".. When you find the clouds on the screen, look for V's or slashes above, off to the sides, or just below them.. Those are typically game fish.. They usually aren't too far from the alewives. The thermocline in most NJ lakes is typically around 25-30 feet , but that will vary according to month and weather conditions of course.
Remember, LL salmon, rainbows,and browns are NOT lake fish, they are designed to be stream fish.. However, in lakes they must adapt to their food source, and in lakes with alewives, they key there always, and NOT to depth or structure.. Clean any salmonid from a lake with a lot of alewives, and you will almost never find anything else in their gut.. If you do not have a good fish finder in lakes with suspended schools of alewives, you need to get one, as it gives you an idea where the bait is, and when you find the bait[alewives/herring/sawbellies/mooneyes], you will have found the salmonids... bob