Lake contour maps:

[AndyS]

There are a few listed:

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/lakemaps.htm

[HerringKing]

Those maps are never right.

[kcritch]

They may not be the best maps but they at least give you an idea of where to start. I've never been able to find any other maps of some of those lakes and have used these as a general guide and they have been close enough to get me onto what I was looking for. I've found the ones for Manasquan Reservoir, Spruce Run, Lake Musconetcong, Merrill Creek, and Cranberry to be useful. Heading to Swartswood tomorrow (hopefully) so I'll let you know how that one works as well. Take them fro what they are worth and leave room for "judgement" and I think you can use them if you have never been to a place before.

[Jerseydix]

I know that Squan map is VERY accurate.. too bad one of the best area's in that lake (north western corner) is marked off limits for the last 5 or so years because of a actively breeding pair of Bald Eagles.

[acabtp]

"New Jersey Lake Survey Fishing Maps Guide: A Fishing Guide for All Seasons" by Steve Perrone has been out of print for twenty years, but has some great info in it. i've been trying to find a copy for the past two years. someone with a copy of should scan it and put it online since i doubt that there will be a reprint or updated edition any time soon. if anybody has a copy they would loan me, i have a scanner...

[surfrod]

I have that book and a scanner... perhaps I can get to that project over the summer.

[Mark B.]

Originally Posted by acabtp

"New Jersey Lake Survey Fishing Maps Guide: A Fishing Guide for All Seasons" by Steve Perrone has been out of print for twenty years, but has some great info in it. i've been trying to find a copy for the past two years. someone with a copy of should scan it and put it online since i doubt that there will be a reprint or updated edition any time soon. if anybody has a copy they would loan me, i have a scanner...

That author worked for the State, as the editor of the now defunct "NJ Outdoors" magazine. After he retired, he came to the Lab & copied all of the lake contour maps from our Lake Inventory Reports & put them in his book.

The same exact ones that are @ the above link on our website, & others. Though, the detailed Mansqn. Res. one is not in his book.

In the future, we are going to add more lake contour maps to our website.

[Mark B.]

Originally Posted by Jerseydix

I know that Squan map is VERY accurate.. too bad one of the best area's in that lake (north western corner) is marked off limits for the last 5 or so years because of a actively breeding pair of Bald Eagles.

Yes, we prepared that map from the preconstruction blueprints & aerial photographs before the res. was filled.

It is quite detailed, showing the bottom contours, shoreline standing timber, underwater tree stump fields, & fish habitat structures.

In the northwestern corner, we also had them spread pea sized gravel in the shallows, for spawning beds. Guess the eagles think that same corner is good for reproducing, too!

[kcritch]

Hit Big Swartswood for the first time yesterday and again found the map to be very "directionally correct". Obviously these are not to scale and all but.....There were rocks where it said, drop offs where they were supposed to be, inlets marked correctly, depths seemed close enough, etc.

Now if they had just put the location of the fish I rell could have used that.

[captanabolic]

Originally Posted by Mark B.

Yes, we prepared that map from the preconstruction blueprints & aerial photographs before the res. was filled.

It is quite detailed, showing the bottom contours, shoreline standing timber, underwater tree stump fields, & fish habitat structures.

In the northwestern corner, we also had them spread pea sized gravel in the shallows, for spawning beds. Guess the eagles think that same corner is good for reproducing, too!

easier to pick off baby bass!!! the don't have to travel far