questionfear

I'm a total newbie and often have a similar issue at the spots most convenient to me. What helps me (as weird as it might sound) is to keep a few small hooks and Powerbait (crappie nibbles in the chroma glow colors) around. If I'm not even getting so much as a nibble, i toss on the small hook and the powerbait and see what I catch-if nothing really emerges, I know there's zilch in the area and move on. If I get hit 3, 4, 5 times catching sunfish, I know there's fish around and I try a few other lures or move to a new angle. Now, having said that, I'm fishing highly pressured parts of NJ, so I've caught all of two decent size bass, both of which I lost while reeling them in, but I still like the Powerbait method as a way of figuring out if the fish are even hanging out where I am. Also, it takes the sting out of being skunked if I can at least snag a few sunnies. Plus it entertains my son when we can pull SOMETHING out of the water (besides weeds).

Sounds good, will definitely PM you soon!

My son caught a frog a few weeks ago. That in itself wasn't too odd, but he managed to catch it using a plastic casting plug. He was practicing casting with his little Cars fishing pole, and the frog either got mad that something foreign invaded his space, or thought he'd hit the jackpot of a nice mouth-sized fish. Either way, he bit down HARD and my poor son freaked (he thought he'd hurt the frog). I gently shook the rod and the frog hopped away. One of those times when I wished I had a camera because in hindsight it was hysterical.

Glad we didn't head there. We tried Rosedale on Monday, very pretty but we got skunked (and the the anglers near us did too, only one guy in the area caught a small bluegill-not sure if it was a bad day or just too muddy). I did talk to one guy who told me that normally there's tons of fish in Rosedale and that he's caught some good size bass and trout, and my guess is you'll have more luck heading out on the water away from the bank. Also fished Stony Brook Watershed (Research Pond)-caught a decent sized bluegill. Again, was really muddy and weedy but would probably do better on a clearer day. IIRC that place is catch and release only. I also went out on my own one night and fished Sylvan Lake at Skillman Park. It could be that it was just dark but I had a hard time getting down to the water, had to bushwack a bit. Caught 4 bluegills in about 45 minutes, and wish I could have gone back when it was lighter out to try for more fish.

I might have the chance to check it out next week, if I do I will let you know how it goes!

Awesome! We've been to Ann Van Middlesworth park, I forgot about that! Googling Hoffman park now... Do you know anything about Baldwin Wildlife Management area in Pennington?

Newbie here, we live in Somerset County so fairly central NJ. I've been taking my son (4yo) fishing at the D&R Canal and Round Valley, but I want to make sure we're changing things up a bit to keep him engaged...any tips or places would be great! Also, I feel a little sad that NJ doesn't seem to get much love...the D&R Canal is fantastic, and I've had a ton of luck catching sunnies (and one very scary looking chain pickerel that ran off with my lure), though my son is absolutely dying for me to catch a bass!

Farrington lake in North Brunswick, or anywhere along the Delaware Raritan Canal (closest to East Brunswick is probably at the start of the canal in New Brunswick, or down towards Kingston depending on where in EB you are).

My parents live in North Brunswick, while I haven't tried it I know a lot of people fish Farrington Lake. If you're ok with traveling further south towards Kingston there's always the Delaware Raritan Canal Path. You can pretty much pick any spot along the canal and start strolling to find a good casting spot. We often fish from the Bound Brook location, but the canal is 70 miles long so there's a ton of choices!