Landlocks

[dakota560]

Few of the landlocks landed after ice out. Still trying to figure out the pattern of these fish. Great fight, hope as I mentioned before F&G continues the program and increases the size limits. All fish released safely. The one on ice was only there for a few seconds to take the pic, swam away like a trooper. Sorry pics aren't better, don't like handling them if I can avoid it or taking them out of the water. Still trying to develop Chris and Justin's photography skills!

[FASTEDDIE29]

Great looking Salmon buddy. Fun to catch from the shoreline without a doubt. Little drag rippers are all heart. Yea man!!!:D

[Chrisper4694]

if you invite me i'll take your picture for you then you won't have to worry about it!!! haha

[thmyorke1]

Sweet. Pics are good, with some action involved.

[NJSquatch]

dakota you are giving away your secret weapons!

good stuff..

[Hookmanski]

Awesome stuff man! Both of my attempts to catch a salmon were failures, glad to see you got some good action!

[Godrew1972]

Never caught one, are you getting from shore or boat?
I thought they where deep like lakers?
Nice to get salmon in NJ either way

[dakota560]

if you invite me i'll take your picture for you then you won't have to worry about it!!! haha

You know you have a standing invitation.

[dakota560]

dakota you are giving away your secret weapons!

good stuff..

Duane locations I'll never post for obvious reasons even though most probably know this place. Not many to chose between! As far as lures, I've caught them on five different lures with a phoebe being the gold standard. Like most fisheries, devil is in the detail with these guys meaning conditions, timing, location, speed and depth of retrieve etc.. They turn on and off quickly so fishing from shore makes timing even more critical a factor. Figuring out those details is what makes it a lot of fun. Read up, there's a lot out there about their habits which helped shorten the learning curve. There a fun fish to catch and put up a scrappy fight.

[dakota560]

Never caught one, are you getting from shore or boat?
I thought they where deep like lakers?
Nice to get salmon in NJ either way

All from shore.

[bulletbob]

Never caught one, are you getting from shore or boat?
I thought they where deep like lakers?
Nice to get salmon in NJ either way

Not deep like lakers at all.. they are very tolerant of cold water as you can see.
They bite all winter, and you can catch them in the teeth of a blizzard from shore if you can take it, and if the water is open.. When the water gets warm they will head to the thermocline, but will never be too far from bait which is usually alewives in most lakes.. they need a high fat/oil food source to get good size.. we have them here in lakes without alewives, but they neve grow near as big as those in lakes with alewives..

Want to get a few??. Go NOW, and hit it hard through April, early mornings are best, but I have caught them at noon as well.. Big ones!. Go to a lake or lakes that is known to have them, use good size roostertails, white marabou bucktails with some mylar flash, Little cleos, or similar.. You want lures that will cast far but have good action, and the lightest line you can deal with.. also a longish flexible rod.. you want the lure to travel a long way, and the lure to cover a lot of water,,, Contrary to what most anglers think, they are NOT shy about hitting, and are pretty aggressive.. At times they are even pretty dumb.. You just have to target them, go at the right time. and fish hard.. they really aren't that hard to catch if they are around in decent numbers... It can't get too cold for them in NJ waters, and its hard to move a lure so fast they can't catch it... white bucktails swept through the water quickly is a killer lure, but find ones with mylar flash.. they hit those like crazy.. I also like big rooster tail spinners in flashy colors with a quick retrieve.. I don't think i have ever caught a LL in more than about 20-25 FOW, and probably 90% of mine have come from the surface down to 10 feet.. get out there, fish hard and you'll hook some... bob

[AndyS]

Nice fish, I hope they put them in Round Valley some day.

[dakota560]

Nice fish, I hope they put them in Round Valley some day.

Andy I think Round Valley is having so many issues with the predator / forage balance from what I've read with the existing Lake Trout population that LLS won't be introduced until that balance is restored. Lake is deep and cold enough to hold them but since F&G learned natural reproduction was taking place with lakers the food chain has been thrown out of balance. Adding LLS will only add pressure to that imbalance and as much as I'd like to see it, I don't think we will until that situation is brought under control. Chris and Mikey Topaz, you fish that area and know a lot more about that fishery than me, what are your thoughts?

[AndyS]

Stock less Rainblows in Round Valley and replace them with LL's. This benefit would be two fold as then the State would have more stocked trout for the urban ponds and Round Valley will get the boost it needs.

[dakota560]

Stock less Rainblows in Round Valley and replace them with LL's. This benefit would be two fold as then the State would have more stocked trout for the urban ponds and Round Valley will get the boost it needs.

I don't know but thought I read posts here that said rainbows are already experiencing a decline for the very same reason so swapping out LLS for trout probably wouldn't solve the predator / forage imbalance RVR is currently having. I'm all for expanding the program, but if it creates more problems it should be well thought out beforehand. Think there's a lot of people who want to see the rainbow trout population flourish there so that's a factor as well. Would rather the few LL's we receive from Ma. be stocked in the four current impoundments and flourish then add another impoundment compounding an already existing problem. Remember the number of fish currently received from Ma. is only about 3,000 fish a year, not a significant amount to go around. I'm all for stocking them in RVR but conditions and public interest has to warrant that stocking if it's at the expense of existing fisheries.

[JDTuna]

Very cool, especially from shore!!!