Looking for bass North nj
 

I'm new to fishing and my kids like it too. My 8year old and I are on a mission to catch a large mouth but I'm not that good at this. I see all these YouTube videos and read all these blogs trying to get ideas on how to land one, but no luck. I've bought spinner baits, frogs, senkos trying to rig them up how I see them online but its getting kinda of expensive. I live in haledon nj, tried fishing oldham pond, gofflebrook pond, franklin lakes reserve. Also went to ramapo lake and had no luck.

I fished lake aeroflux and we caught tons of sunnies but no bass. I want find maybe a better location to fish for bass without going too far out. Looking for a 20 min drive or so. Do anyone know of a spot that would give me a greater chance of catching one. Also I shoreline fish, don't own a boat or kayak.

Any help or tips is much appreciated.

Re: Looking for bass North nj
 

Hey,

Did not see Passaic River on those places you have mentioned.

Passaic River and worms. Never will go wrong with worms.

Also can try using live bait as well.

Just my 2 cents

Re: Looking for bass North nj
 

Hey, I live just down the road from you. I'll PM you. Best of luck fishing!

Re: Looking for bass North nj
 

I was going to go to the Passaic river next. Maybe will hit Pennington park

Re: Looking for bass North nj
 

Bass will be tucked into structure most of the time in a lot of places. Specially as the sun is up high. They will come out and nab a lure or bait if they're in the mood but you can up your chances by putting casts directly on/next to surface weeds, lily pads, big over hanging trees etc. if you go to Passaic be careful as you might have to deal with an angry thrashing pike.

Re: Looking for bass North nj
 

Welcome to the site! Seems like you've hit some great spots already, but adapting to different places all at once is tricky. They prefer different things on different trips for me.
Check your private messages, hope it helps.

Re: Looking for bass North nj
 

Welcome to the site..PM sent

Re: Looking for bass North nj
 

.


Molder's Fishing Preserve in Old Bridge.
It's a pay lake that is stocked with bass and huge catfish. Trout in the cooler months, too.


https://www.facebook.com/moldersfishing


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Re: Looking for bass North nj
 

Better off trying small local ponds for easy shoreline bass fishing. The big lakes can be tough without a boat. Go to a small pond by your house that you never see anybody fish in. They usually hold the most bass, decent sized ones too. Don't waste your money buying all of these fancy lures. You need two things for largemouth fishing: a pack of fake worms (senko, dinger, trickworms, etc.) in a natural brown/green color, and a bright popper - that's it. You'll be able to catch fish on the bottom or topwater. Use fake worms 99% of the time though. You're not missing out on much when it comes to largemouth fishing. They are easy to catch and barely fight. If you're in north jersey, you should be going for smallmouth bass. Now that's a powerful and fun fish to catch. Definitely my favorite freshwater fish to catch by far. The only freshwater fish i'll even bother fishing for are smallmouth and trout. Otherwise, i am addicted to saltwater fishing. You should try it out if you get a chance. Much more fun compared to freshwater.

Re: Looking for bass North nj
 

there is a nice pond on top of skyline drive, it's a little bit of a walk but I used to get some real nice bass there years ago when I lived in the area.

Re: Looking for bass North nj
 

Try out Darlington Park pond. There is free admission after 6pm (it's summer so they charge during the day until Labor Day, then it's free).
Bring your senko plastic worms and rig them texas rig style. In that pond bass usually hang out under all the weeds where a little stream empties into the pond. But you can also find them all along the right hand side shore of the pond. Just cast the senko worm twitch it slightly, wait a few seconds, twitch it slightly again and feel for a take. once you think a fish took it, set the hook!
The dark green senkos work real well there (and everywhere else).

Re: Looking for bass North nj
 

How do you target smallie specifically without catching the LM? I am wondering which lures only Smallies bite but LM doesn't.

I am not sure catching LM is easy. Maybe you can tell KVD who caught 3.6 lbs in 2 days during 2014 BassMaster Delaware River Classics or Jonathan Van Dam who caught 0 lbs in 2 days.

Tricky set up is deadly during spawning season and especially for cruising bass. This time of the year, I would recommend 5" Senko / Yum Dinger Green Pumpkin.

Use Yum Dinger which is less than 1/2 the cost of Yamamoto Senko. You can't go wrong with Green Pumpkin color 5".

And this time of the year, LM go after top water during dawn and sun-set and they suspend most of the time though some are at the bottom.

Re: Looking for bass North nj
 

No big secret to bass fishing. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to catch one. Heck, if it did there would be a lot less guys on the lakes, unlike the hordes we see in NJ. Either they are biting or their not. You gotta go and you gotta throw(just keep throwing lure in likely spots and eventually you will catch em). Agree with the idea of concentrating on small ponds and only a couple lures. For years the only two lures I fished with were a rubber worm and a jointed rapala. If I didn't catch one within an hour then they just weren't biting.

Re: Looking for bass North nj
 

I'm not saying that they hit different lures, I'm saying that in rivers you'll get a lot more smallmouth than largemouth. So you'd have to target areas (such as rivers) that have more of a smallmouth population.

Not sure what your problem is. Was just saying that catching largemouth bass is relatively easy compared to most game fish considering they're all over the place and you can catch them on basically a million different lures. I was just trying to give some friendly advice. I was just saying how the smallmouth fishing up north is very good and he should give it a try. BTW, KVD has a lot more days where he kills the bass compared to the very few days where he catches none. So i'm not sure the point you were trying to make.

Re: Looking for bass North nj
 

Never fished there myself, but I've seen some good size bass come out of Sally's Pond in front of Ringwood Manor in Ringwood SP.

It's hard to beat that Senko. Fish it slow. Bass will hit it most frequently on the drop. So cast and let it drop, dead stick it on the bottom for a few moments, lift your rod to bring it off the bottom, reel in the slack, then let it drop again - repeat. You also need to get a feel for a hit. Sometimes the bass slam them and there is no doubt about it, but, sometimes they lightly pick them up and the bite is barely perceptible. Watch your line closely as it lies on the top of the water (assuming you are using mono). If you see it twitch or move, set that hook. Dark colors work well for me, black, green pumpkin, watermelon, junebug. I prefer to fish Senkos unweighted, hooked through the nose T rig style with an EWG worm hook. It's pretty much weedless that way. A lot of people like to fish them wacky (hooked through the side), but I find that picks up too many weeds. I'll use wacky in waters without a lot of weeds.

You don't need a huge assortment of lures. In addition to Senkos, add another worm or two. Rage Tail Thumper, Zoom Trick, Zoom Speedworm etc. Try those weighted Texas rigged or Carolina rigged. A few jigs and/or tube baits will come in handy. Since you are fishing from shore, I wouldn't worry about deep diving crankbaits, they will just get hung up a lot, but a few Rapalas, jointed and/or original will catch bass. Add a few topwater baits such as Jitterbug, Devil Horse, Heddon Torpedo, plastic frogs and buzzbaits. Add a few spinnerbaits and inline spinners and you are set.