Indian Lake Little Ferry Report 5/19/19

[icebadger]

welcome to the madness this is a great cite with a bunch of cool peps. if the FGAW were aware of the fish kill they might have to check the water to see what might have caused the fish kill before they re-stock the place.

[BergenBassin]

Originally Posted by icebadger

welcome to the madness this is a great cite with a bunch of cool peps. if the FGAW were aware of the fish kill they might have to check the water to see what might have caused the fish kill before they re-stock the place.

Fish and Wildlife know about the fish kill apparently as it was noted in one of the field reports of 2018. Low Oxygen apparently was the culprit and over 200 dead fish were accounted for, biologists were on the scene taking samples.

[logs22]

That fish kill last fall completely wiped out that pond/lake. I work nearby and would fish there during my lunch break. Last spring during spawn you could see tons of good size bass on the beds and I caught a number of fish in the 2.5-3.5 lb range. Then one day all the fish were gone. I was actually shocked to learn that they stocked the pond this year. I was just there a few days ago and the pond is still devoid of vegetation and baitfish. The only signs of life I saw were a few snapping turtles. Pretty sad, I believe just last summer I posted on this board about the robust fishery at Indian lake. Will now take years for it to be worth fishing. Hopefully once they determine the water can sustain bass they will stock it with some warm water fish.

[BergenBassin]

Originally Posted by logs22

That fish kill last fall completely wiped out that pond/lake. I work nearby and would fish there during my lunch break. Last spring during spawn you could see tons of good size bass on the beds and I caught a number of fish in the 2.5-3.5 lb range. Then one day all the fish were gone. I was actually shocked to learn that they stocked the pond this year. I was just there a few days ago and the pond is still devoid of vegetation and baitfish. The only signs of life I saw were a few snapping turtles. Pretty sad, I believe just last summer I posted on this board about the robust fishery at Indian lake. Will now take years for it to be worth fishing. Hopefully once they determine the water can sustain bass they will stock it with some warm water fish.

It's a damn shame, but the Trout bite wasn't bad this year, once they turned on the fountains and the water cleared up stuff like power bait and spinners worked well, caught a nice rainbow there earlier this month on a white roostertail near the dock, also those darn cormorants got a lot of em. In the annual freshwater report they (Fish and Wildlife) concluded the pond fish kill was the result of lake turnover and low oxygen. But what amazes me is that trout were stocked and caught. Indian Lake wasn't actually a bad pond for bass, you would be able to get a few with some texas rigs and senkos. If I had the Big Bucks I'd hire a company to stock that place with all the old fish species again.

No river dwellers though like Carp and Eels just straight up bass and panfish. The Fishing would be amazing again ya know?

[steve392]

Didn't realize there was a kill off. I remember that week in the fall, it just stunk like dead fish. Never realized it was the entire lake.
Is there anything that can be done to try and repopulate the lake with carp, catfish, eels? I've been at the lake several times this year with my son and there is nothing swimming. The seaweed is the worse its been in years. The bottom around the dock has what looks almost like pine tree's growing from the ground under the water.

[AndyS]

Try to hit up the county Federated Sportmans meeting and e mail F&G. This is the chain of command we need to use to get things done, even if it is slow to happen.

https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/contactform.htm

[steve392]

Email sent. It's getting so much worse, the planlife in the water that is. I've never seen so much whatever it is growing from the lake bottom all around the dock. You used to be able to see all the sunny/blue gill fish nests along the waters edge. Now it's just green sludge and plant growth. Hell even the lilly pads that used to be along the shoreline are all gone.