Indian Lake Little Ferry Report 5/19/19

[steve392]

The lake was disconnected from the river a long time ago. People called me crazy when i said the lake was basically a tidal lake lol. It rose a little and dropped a little with the tides. It had blue claw crabs in it and whatever else lived in the river. Was great fishing.

The DPW hasn't done any more to the lake since i last updated. Still plenty of large area's of those reeds or whatever the hell they're called. Woulda been pretty cool if they lowered that lake.

[steve392]

Originally Posted by BergenBassin

I spoke to the regional biologist about what they were and apparently they're those meadowland weeds. I forgot the exact name but it begins with a P. Also asked him about the possibility of the DPW stocking grass carp to control the hydrilla but apparently the carp wouldn't be good for the pond because they would only eat the plants and the algea blooms would be really bad. I think they're probably gonna use aquatic herbicides or something along those lines. What they really need to do is just rip all those weeds put by the roots or draw down the pond in the winter so it dies off naturally from the cold.

Are grass carp what are in the hackensack river? Those carp never caused an issue with algae blooming more.

[oelgnal1]

No, as to the carp in the river. The grass carp are supposed to be sterile so that they can't reproduce, but it's not 100% and they will eat anything green as the food source dwindles. I've seen them eat grass clippings off the surface of a pond, grass from the banks, debris that falls from trees into a lake in the Spring. They don't distinguish between oxygen producing weeds, indigenous and other types. I saw a 100 acre lake go from a great bass fishery to one I don't fish any more in 15 years, in fact my avatar is from there with a 5lb. SM. With no cover for the fry and with the influx of cormorants, it's not surprising the lake has really gone down hill.



Some grass carp pictures, 1st May 2014 on a Rapala: 2nd late Dec. 2015; 3rd in the Spring of 2011, these are the only ones that I have pics of. Besides catching them on different lures they were accidently snagged either early or late in the season.

[BergenBassin]

Originally Posted by steve392

The lake was disconnected from the river a long time ago. People called me crazy when i said the lake was basically a tidal lake lol. It rose a little and dropped a little with the tides. It had blue claw crabs in it and whatever else lived in the river. Was great fishing.

The DPW hasn't done any more to the lake since i last updated. Still plenty of large area's of those reeds or whatever the hell they're called. Woulda been pretty cool if they lowered that lake.

Stopped by the lake again this weekend and made a couple of casts, no bites but I walked around and enjoyed the nice weather, it seems that the little ferry DPW just left all the ripped reeds in the water after they removed them in some spots, and there's some tire marks from the backhoe or other equipment they used along the walking trail with some dirt holes. DPW needs to come back and clean up their mess haha. Also bunch of green algae where the grass used to be next to the dock, besides that the lake looks good, water is nice and clear and I saw some sunnies near the dock.

Hopefully it's a good season! Can't wait for opening day of trout!

[steve392]

Originally Posted by BergenBassin

Stopped by the lake again this weekend and made a couple of casts, no bites but I walked around and enjoyed the nice weather, it seems that the little ferry DPW just left all the ripped reeds in the water after they removed them in some spots, and there's some tire marks from the backhoe or other equipment they used along the walking trail with some dirt holes. DPW needs to come back and clean up their mess haha. Also bunch of green algae where the grass used to be next to the dock, besides that the lake looks good, water is nice and clear and I saw some sunnies near the dock.

Hopefully it's a good season! Can't wait for opening day of trout!

There was lots of debris floating when they were doing the work. The geese and ducks were having a field day with it. The algae around the dock is just downright ridiculous.

[steve392]

Living right up the road from the lake this season is the most i've seen people fishing it in a very long time. Some of the reeds or whatever they are are starting to grow back in areas that im guessing weren't dug deep enough for removal. It's also the earliest i've seen this much floating algae forming too.

[BergenBassin]

Originally Posted by steve392

Living right up the road from the lake this season is the most i've seen people fishing it in a very long time. Some of the reeds or whatever they are are starting to grow back in areas that im guessing weren't dug deep enough for removal. It's also the earliest i've seen this much floating algae forming too.

Drove by the pond this weekend and walked around, wasn't able to fish but it looks great! All 4 fountains running and open water clear of algae and weeds, there's a sign on the dock that says "pesticide treated water" by black lagoon pond management. Water clarity has been redcued a bit but that usually happpens during weed treatments. So happy though the pond is back to normal.

[steve392]

Originally Posted by BergenBassin

Drove by the pond this weekend and walked around, wasn't able to fish but it looks great! All 4 fountains running and open water clear of algae and weeds, there's a sign on the dock that says "pesticide treated water" by black lagoon pond management. Water clarity has been redcued a bit but that usually happpens during weed treatments. So happy though the pond is back to normal.

Thats great to hear. Haven't walked around the park this season. But those reeds or whatever they are along the shore are starting to grow back quickly. You can see all the new off shoots and groupings popping out of the water.

[steve392]

Has anyone gone fishing lately? What's the fishing been like since the algae treatment?

[BergenBassin]

Originally Posted by steve392

Has anyone gone fishing lately? What's the fishing been like since the algae treatment?

I've went there recently and it was recently treated again with flumigard by a company called Black Lagoon Pond Management, if you ever take a walk around the lake there will be a sign posted on the far shallow side near the baseball diamonds, it was posted on 6/20/23

The fishing has definitely been tougher since the pond was treated, I typically don't like weed treatments but I feel like it was something that needed to be done for this lake. Also there's been about 4 to 3 cormorants still there lately and they're going to town on catfish, the state needs to get rid of them since they're constantly scaring/spooking the fish near you. I have one that follows me around the lake and it's annoying I wish I could hunt them or something! NJ really needs to control the cormorant problem because they're destroying local ponds/lakes like Indian Lake in Large Numbers.