Merrill Creek - NJFishing.com Your Best Online Source for Fishing Information in New Jersey

go_fish · #1 10-13-2021, 02:35 PM

I would like to go fishing at Merrill Creek this weekend. I am not familiar with the reservoir. Where is the closest bait store where I could buy alewives/herring? Are herring still available now?

How big is the launch ramp, I think there is only one. How deep does the launch ramp get, I have a float off boat trailer. How crowded is the launch ramp with people launching and retrieving their boats?

thmyorke1 · #2 10-13-2021, 04:31 PM

idk about the closest bait shop. Boat launch is double lane, two floating docks. Then a kayak launch just to the side. But on a nice day there will be a lot of kayakers launching out, either using the boat launch or at least crowding the area if using the nearby kayak launch. Pick a shitty day lol and you'll not have to worry about waiting around. Mind that the launch closes early now with sunset earlier during this time of year

bigfishy · #3 10-13-2021, 05:52 PM

Hi-way bait shop is only a few miles away on rt 31..
https://g.co/kgs/P9EVaZ

AndyS · #4 10-13-2021, 06:22 PM

Just like Round Valley you have to watch the wind, and MC sits atop of a mountain so it's ALWAYS windy there, supposed to get real windy on Sunday with that cold front coming through. It's worth just driving up there to check out the visitors center. With enough water and cooler weather you could transport herring from Dow's at LH, I have done it.

thmyorke1 · #5 10-13-2021, 08:41 PM

yea dress as if it's going to be 15 degrees cooler, it is its own climate up there lol

phil · #6 10-13-2021, 09:42 PM

I fished merrill yesterday got there in the dark and was the 2nd one on the water. Caught 1 smallie it sucked. Weather was nice tho. Was marking most of the open water species @ 30'.

go_fish · #7 10-14-2021, 09:44 PM

I wonder if the lake is turning over now. Last week at Aeroflex I could tell the lake was turning over. I did not even mark very many fish on sonar.

phil · #8 10-15-2021, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by go_fish

I wonder if the lake is turning over now. Last week at Aeroflex I could tell the lake was turning over. I did not even mark very many fish on sonar.

i dont think so, but id love to be able to use that as an excuse for why i wasnt catching anything. on the plus side everyone i talked to otw was complaining about the lack of fish also.

Ken Lyons · #9 10-15-2021, 08:59 PM

Turnover is widely misunderstood. Lakes don’t really turn over. When the surface temperature gets down to around 55 th e thermocline starts to disappear. This eliminates the barrier between the upper and lower water layers and allows them to mix. That doesn’t mean that that the water the water at the bottom will suddenly displace that at the top but wind will mix it all up.
The best two days of Bass fishing I ever had was right about now with water temperatures at 55 degrees. There is almost never an effect with a single cause.

go_fish · #10 10-16-2021, 12:16 AM

In Aeroflex last week I used my AquaVu camera for the first time The water looked really dirty like a lot of sediment was suspended in it on the camera view. But when I dropped the camera over 30 feet deep the water looked clear. I did not mark many fish on sonar so the camera did not do me much good this time. I really fo not understand lake turnover and thanks for the explanation. Sometimes the fish do not play fair.