Indian Lake Little Ferry Report 5/19/19

[BergenBassin]

Originally Posted by BergenBassin

Is the lake getting better at all? I haven't been there at all during the season this year but I heard people are catching tiny bass and panfish.

Apparently the lake is starting to have good improvements again, I went for a quick qalk to the dock section and there was plenty of bluegill schools feeding bread people were throwing. The vegitation by the dock seems to have dissapeared but there's still algae near the shoreline, this summertime algae has been there forever though. I seen pictures of people starting to catch Largemouth and catfish again above a lb. Maybe another year or two and this place will be a great fishery again!

[steve392]

Originally Posted by BergenBassin

Apparently the lake is starting to have good improvements again, I went for a quick qalk to the dock section and there was plenty of bluegill schools feeding bread people were throwing. The vegitation by the dock seems to have dissapeared but there's still algae near the shoreline, this summertime algae has been there forever though. I seen pictures of people starting to catch Largemouth and catfish again above a lb. Maybe another year or two and this place will be a great fishery again!

Lake is getting bad in terms of plant growth. The whole eastern bank along bergen turnpike is completely blocked with those reeds/pussy willow you see in the meadowlands. Completely choked out. The south bank is getting choked out and will probably be blocked by next spring. The western bank is mostly open except for the southwestern corner. The small northern bank is nearly choked out minus a small little area.

Fishing off the dock is difficult unless you just want bluegills right below the water. It looks like an underwater amazon forest of growth all around the dock about a foot below the surface. Algae near the docks is always a thing and has been since i was a kid fishing here.


I've emailed the town DPW and borough hall explaining what is happening. Nobody has responded. I don't even know who to contact at this point. The way the reeds are growing along the banks and in the shallows the lake will be fully engulfed and unfishable within a year and half if not less.

[Mark B.]

All ponds and lakes ultimately become uplands. It is called Succession.

Succession in small Urban lakes, like Indian Lake, is accelerated due to the large amounts silt and nutrients in runoff from fertilized lawns, resident waterfowl. It may take only a couple of decades to become uplands. If the municipality has the funds, dredging and application of aquatic herbicides can delay succession, but it is very costly. Why back when, the State had The Clean Lakes Program which provided funds to municipalities.

Large, deep lakes like Round Valley Res., will take centuries, or more, to become uplands. But ultimately, it will happen.

This short video explains it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYC5v5d0-jA

[bigfishy]

Gr8 video mark!! Never knew the terminology

[steve392]

Originally Posted by Mark B.

All ponds and lakes ultimately become uplands. It is called Succession.

Succession in small Urban lakes, like Indian Lake, is accelerated due to the large amounts silt and nutrients in runoff from fertilized lawns, resident waterfowl. It may take only a couple of decades to become uplands. If the municipality has the funds, dredging and application of aquatic herbicides can delay succession, but it is very costly. Why back when, the State had The Clean Lakes Program which provided funds to municipalities.

Large, deep lakes like Round Valley Res., will take centuries, or more, to become uplands. But ultimately, it will happen.

This short video explains it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYC5v5d0-jA

Really sucks. Lake used to be so beautiful and clear.

[Mark B.]

A while ago, there was a small urban pond that NJDF&W regularly stocked with trout in the spring. I think it was Clark's Pond, Bloomfield. It became so silted in, and affected by goose droppings, that the Division ceased trout stocking. The municipality dredged / rehabbed it and trout stocking resumed. In a matter of a few years, it completely silted in again. Currently, trout are no longer stocked, nor I believe, any other fish (bass, sunfish, catfish) by the Division.

[steve392]

Guess nobody in the town cares as all my emails have gone unanswered.

[Chrisper4694]

Originally Posted by Mark B.

All ponds and lakes ultimately become uplands. It is called Succession.

Succession in small Urban lakes, like Indian Lake, is accelerated due to the large amounts silt and nutrients in runoff from fertilized lawns, resident waterfowl. It may take only a couple of decades to become uplands. If the municipality has the funds, dredging and application of aquatic herbicides can delay succession, but it is very costly. Why back when, the State had The Clean Lakes Program which provided funds to municipalities.

Large, deep lakes like Round Valley Res., will take centuries, or more, to become uplands. But ultimately, it will happen.

This short video explains it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYC5v5d0-jA

this same thing happens and is accelerated greatly by killing weeds with herbicides... many private lake communities ignorantly ignore this and literally shorten the life cycle of their lake and it's pretty sad and pathetic.

I have also hear that public lakes, like pompton have residents or local municipalities (not sure which or in what combination) killing weeds in this method and the negative effects are already being seen in just a few years.

[BergenBassin]

Originally Posted by steve392

Lake is getting bad in terms of plant growth. The whole eastern bank along bergen turnpike is completely blocked with those reeds/pussy willow you see in the meadowlands. Completely choked out. The south bank is getting choked out and will probably be blocked by next spring. The western bank is mostly open except for the southwestern corner. The small northern bank is nearly choked out minus a small little area.

Fishing off the dock is difficult unless you just want bluegills right below the water. It looks like an underwater amazon forest of growth all around the dock about a foot below the surface. Algae near the docks is always a thing and has been since i was a kid fishing here.


I've emailed the town DPW and borough hall explaining what is happening. Nobody has responded. I don't even know who to contact at this point. The way the reeds are growing along the banks and in the shallows the lake will be fully engulfed and unfishable within a year and half if not less.

Hey steve, I know it's a few months late to the reply but during the summer the township came in and chopped down some of the reeds along the turnpike bank section for better fishing access, we also had two surface aerators break which were immediately fixed a day or 2 later, if the town can fix that they probably can control the aquatic vegetation, I'm in the same boat as you as I have no clue who to contact. Over this pass season though I have learned the fish absolutely love the grass, specifically the largemouths. It's called hydrilla and it's bass candy, I've fished some other lakes around the upper new jersey/new york area that has it and I use punching gear to get down past the mats. In Indian Lake so far I've caught nice size bass and catfish. The grass isn't everywhere though. It's only really along the immediate bank and the shallower side. I've caught fish in deeper water free of that stuff, along the side with the black fence and turnpike side.

I've also learned the lake used to be a brick pit, it also has an average depth of 10ft with a 20ft hole in the middle near the main fountain. It is free of grass down there.

[steve392]

Originally Posted by BergenBassin

Hey steve, I know it's a few months late to the reply but during the summer the township came in and chopped down some of the reeds along the turnpike bank section for better fishing access, we also had two surface aerators break which were immediately fixed a day or 2 later, if the town can fix that they probably can control the aquatic vegetation, I'm in the same boat as you as I have no clue who to contact. Over this pass season though I have learned the fish absolutely love the grass, specifically the largemouths. It's called hydrilla and it's bass candy, I've fished some other lakes around the upper new jersey/new york area that has it and I use punching gear to get down past the mats. In Indian Lake so far I've caught nice size bass and catfish. The grass isn't everywhere though. It's only really along the immediate bank and the shallower side. I've caught fish in deeper water free of that stuff, along the side with the black fence and turnpike side.

I've also learned the lake used to be a brick pit, it also has an average depth of 10ft with a 20ft hole in the middle near the main fountain. It is free of grass down there.

The town's dpw has cut down area's along the banks but this stuff just spawns new offshoots and grows back again. The area around the dock is now becoming infested with this stuff a good 20 feet out from shore.

The whole area were brick pits. The old valley fair which is now H mart was one and filled in with trash. Alll the apartments along the area were small pits too.