Deeper fishing

[Gregorym38]

lakes near me have dropped in depth too much, and the fish have gone too deep. I cant launch a kayak, so i am looking into new spots. Wanted to kayak on a new lake, and the deepest it gets is 90’. Im used to fishing weightless senkos, which obviously would not work in this situation. What are good ways to fish the deeper water? Dropshots? 

Just now, Gregorym38 said:

lakes near me have dropped in depth too much, and the fish have gone too deep. I cant launch a kayak, so i am looking into new spots. Wanted to kayak on a new lake, and the deepest it gets is 90’. Im used to fishing weightless senkos, which obviously would not work in this situation. What are good ways to fish the deeper water? Dropshots? 

Forgot to mention, i think there are lmb, smb, pickerel, musky, and walleye

6 minutes ago, Gregorym38 said:

lakes near me have dropped in depth too much, and the fish have gone too deep. I cant launch a kayak, so i am looking into new spots. Wanted to kayak on a new lake, and the deepest it gets is 90’. Im used to fishing weightless senkos, which obviously would not work in this situation. What are good ways to fish the deeper water? Dropshots? 

Forgot to mention, i think there are lmb, smb, pickerel, musky, and walleye

Hoe about 20-50 feet?

6 minutes ago, Gregorym38 said:

 

[DinkDreams]

If they like a wacky rig normally, a wacky rig drop shot with an 1/8oz dropshot weight would work in deeper water. Light enough to get a good fall but heavy enough you aren’t waiting all day to hit bottom.

[Fallser]

Drop shot with either and 1/8 or 1/4 oz weight or jigs in the same weight range with soft plastics.  If you don't have a depth finder on you kayak you'll be fishing blind.  And the fish may not be that deep.  I'd start off in 10-15 feet of water.  They may even be shallower than that.  Weed lines, lily pads, grass beds, should hold fish.  If you can find structure,  a drop-off, shoal or rock pile to work even better.  Sunken timber, etc. 

  I've fished South Jersey lakes and pickerel are always shallow.  Walleye would be deeper, I would guess between 15 and 25 feet.  Largemouth shallower than smallmouth.  

[WRB]

Doesn’t matter how deep the lake is, it only matters how deep the life zone is.

Tom

[Gregorym38]

1 hour ago, Fallser said:

Drop shot with either and 1/8 or 1/4 oz weight or jigs in the same weight range with soft plastics.  If you don't have a depth finder on you kayak you'll be fishing blind.  And the fish may not be that deep.  I'd start off in 10-15 feet of water.  They may even be shallower than that.  Weed lines, lily pads, grass beds, should hold fish.  If you can find structure,  a drop-off, shoal or rock pile to work even better.  Sunken timber, etc. 

  I've fished South Jersey lakes and pickerel are always shallow.  Walleye would be deeper, I would guess between 15 and 25 feet.  Largemouth shallower than smallmouth.  

What part of south jersey? 
i have a fish finder, so i should be able to identify depths and fish. 

[scaleface]

Dont fish past the thermocline . Look for classic structure , such as points , humps and ledges . They are easy to locate .Use Diving and  sinking lures .

[Jig Man]

You can go to any depth you want with a jigging spoon.  I’ve caught fishing to 70’ with them.

 

 I am getting ready for some off shore fishing at Table Rock. I will be sitting out off flats, points and roll offs in 30+ feet of water.  I just rigged up 4 setups for this: 1/2 oz jig with a spring craw trailer, 1/2 oz bladed jig with a spring craw trailer, a swim bait with a 1/2 oz head and a Zman ZinkerZ watermelon red with  3/8 oz standup head.

[Deleted account]

Extra strength Excedrin....

[Catt]

Old Ball-N-Chain ?

 

Carolina Rig

[Darth-Baiter]

I vote drop shot.

 

and you can't get your kayak down the the water from the original lakes?  one of my best fishing days was hauling my kayak down a ramp, across a dried up sun baked,cracked waste land to dump my kayak into water.  we crushed them, but had to double team the kayaks back up that hill.  it SUCKED!!  I bet we went more than half a mile.  the last bit was ankle deep mud.  

[Fallser]

12 hours ago, Gregorym38 said:

What part of south jersey? 

The salt water fly fishing club I belong to is located in Ocean City.  A few of us fish the ponds and lakes in the area. Union Lake, Hammonton Lake, the Menantico Ponds are some others.  A couple of guys fish out of kayaks, but we're not dealing with lakes 90' deep.  The only time I deal with water that deep is when I go to Ontario.  There are no largemouth.  This time of year, the smallies are usually in 5 to 15 feet of water on the shoals, around boulders, fallen timber, beaver huts, points that drop off into deeper water.  There's usually a good top water bite in the evening in the shallow bays.

[WRB]

OP states his lake(s) dropped 20’ to 50’ , 30’ is a big difference!  Are you guessing by looking at the dam water line or shore receding, vertical vs horizontal?

You mention a kayak, are you still fishing from a boat?

If so, do you have a sonar unit?

All the questions help to be able to advise you and answer your questions.

I originally said determine the life zone requires a sonar unit to locate the thermocline depth and depth baitfish and bass are located. Without this knowledge it’s a go fishing blindly situation.

A good place to start is a long underwater point where the depth drops off sharply on the sides and slowly on the ridge of the point.

Your Senko’s will work by adding a nose (Neko) weight but it’s a slow process.

Catt suggested the C-rig (Ball & chain) allowing you to cover move water depths faster. Fan cast the entire point until you determine the depth you get a few strikes. Fishing deeper water without cover the isolated structure and cover at a particular depth ( the life zone) is critical. When you know the depth no reason to fish below it.

If you use spinning finesse tackle then use a finesse C-rig (slip shot rig), just as effective.

Tom 

 

[casts_by_fly]

17 hours ago, Gregorym38 said:

lakes near me have dropped in depth too much, and the fish have gone too deep. I cant launch a kayak, so i am looking into new spots. Wanted to kayak on a new lake, and the deepest it gets is 90’. Im used to fishing weightless senkos, which obviously would not work in this situation. What are good ways to fish the deeper water? Dropshots? 

Forgot to mention, i think there are lmb, smb, pickerel, musky, and walleye

Hoe about 20-50 feet?

which lakes are you talking about?  I think you mentioned Oradel in a previous post. Lost of the north nj lakes get a thermocline and oxygen depleted zone below in the 25-30’ so no use going deeper. When you say 20-50’ I think you mean that depth range, not that the lakes have dropped 30’. I don’t know any lakes here that are that low. Round valley is down about 15-20’ but it’s been that low for over a year due to dam works.

 

this time of year around here, the fish are 1-12’ deep mostly. On a couple lakes the smallies follow bait deeper but if you focus on the 5-12’ edges and weeds you’ll catch fish. 

[Gregorym38]

19 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

I vote drop shot.

 

and you can't get your kayak down the the water from the original lakes?  one of my best fishing days was hauling my kayak down a ramp, across a dried up sun baked,cracked waste land to dump my kayak into water.  we crushed them, but had to double team the kayaks back up that hill.  it SUCKED!!  I bet we went more than half a mile.  the last bit was ankle deep mud.  

The original lakes are a part of a watershed that does not allow kayaking, so unfortunately i am not allowed to go out on them. 

 

19 hours ago, Fallser said:

The salt water fly fishing club I belong to is located in Ocean City.  A few of us fish the ponds and lakes in the area. Union Lake, Hammonton Lake, the Menantico Ponds are some others.  A couple of guys fish out of kayaks, but we're not dealing with lakes 90' deep.  The only time I deal with water that deep is when I go to Ontario.  There are no largemouth.  This time of year, the smallies are usually in 5 to 15 feet of water on the shoals, around boulders, fallen timber, beaver huts, points that drop off into deeper water.  There's usually a good top water bite in the evening in the shallow bays.

Oh awesome! I am moving to glassboro in september, so i will have to try some of these spots out! 

 

18 hours ago, WRB said:

OP states his lake(s) dropped 20’ to 50’ , 30’ is a big difference!  Are you guessing by looking at the dam water line or shore receding, vertical vs horizontal?

You mention a kayak, are you still fishing from a boat?

If so, do you have a sonar unit?

All the questions help to be able to advise you and answer your questions.

I originally said determine the life zone requires a sonar unit to locate the thermocline depth and depth baitfish and bass are located. Without this knowledge it’s a go fishing blindly situation.

A good place to start is a long underwater point where the depth drops off sharply on the sides and slowly on the ridge of the point.

Your Senko’s will work by adding a nose (Neko) weight but it’s a slow process.

Catt suggested the C-rig (Ball & chain) allowing you to cover move water depths faster. Fan cast the entire point until you determine the depth you get a few strikes. Fishing deeper water without cover the isolated structure and cover at a particular depth ( the life zone) is critical. When you know the depth no reason to fish below it.

If you use spinning finesse tackle then use a finesse C-rig (slip shot rig), just as effective.

Tom 

 

Ok, so the lake that is in question right now i have not seen in person yet, however i have looked at the navionics map and the deepest it gets is 90’. I probably wouldnt even go near this part as that is very deep. And luckily i do have a sonar, so i wouldnt be going totally blind. What is thermocline? 

 

17 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

which lakes are you talking about?  I think you mentioned Oradel in a previous post. Lost of the north nj lakes get a thermocline and oxygen depleted zone below in the 25-30’ so no use going deeper. When you say 20-50’ I think you mean that depth range, not that the lakes have dropped 30’. I don’t know any lakes here that are that low. Round valley is down about 15-20’ but it’s been that low for over a year due to dam works.

 

this time of year around here, the fish are 1-12’ deep mostly. On a couple lakes the smallies follow bait deeper but if you focus on the 5-12’ edges and weeds you’ll catch fish. 

Oradell is close to me, but they have been treating it for algae and the water has dropped, so i have not noticed many fish within reach of the shore. I am looking into new lakes to fish, around the west milford area. I only have 1.5 months left to fish here, so i am trying to cram in as much as i can lol

[casts_by_fly]

21 minutes ago, Gregorym38 said:

The original lakes are a part of a watershed that does not allow kayaking, so unfortunately i am not allowed to go out on them. 

 

Oh awesome! I am moving to glassboro in september, so i will have to try some of these spots out! 

 

Ok, so the lake that is in question right now i have not seen in person yet, however i have looked at the navionics map and the deepest it gets is 90’. I probably wouldnt even go near this part as that is very deep. And luckily i do have a sonar, so i wouldnt be going totally blind. What is thermocline? 

 

Oradell is close to me, but they have been treating it for algae and the water has dropped, so i have not noticed many fish within reach of the shore. I am looking into new lakes to fish, around the west milford area. I only have 1.5 months left to fish here, so i am trying to cram in as much as i can lol

which one are you looking at going to?  In your area there are a bunch to explore but some are better than others. If you only have a month and a half, might as well just hit the good ones.  I’m going to be up your way tomorrow morning at Monksville. 

 

rick

[Gregorym38]

8 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

which one are you looking at going to?  In your area there are a bunch to explore but some are better than others. If you only have a month and a half, might as well just hit the good ones.  I’m going to be up your way tomorrow morning at Monksville. 

 

rick

Heard monskville was nicknamed skunksville… i was thinking of going to the clinton res, but i can go anywhere. What do you recommend?

[casts_by_fly]

Clinton is part of the Newark water permit system and they don’t allow kayaks so I don’t know it. If you were planning to kayak fish there you can’t. Same for echo, canistear, and oak ridge. Boats are allowed and I think shore fishing is allowed (though the terrain is tough) but not kayaks. Check the Newark water website for details. 
 

https://www.newarknj.gov/card/boating-fishing

 

monksville is called skunksville and I can see why. It’s steep off shore in a lot of places and there is a lot of the lake that has no type of shore cover for fish to relate to. It doesn’t mean the fish aren’t there, just means it can be a tough lake.

 

Not sure how far you want to travel.  Split rock is a beautiful lake and a lot of people catch good fish from it. I fished it once in April and the launch is down over a hill that makes launching my kayak prohibitive. Musconetcong is a 200 acre shallow lake with a lot of good bass 15-20”. The gras was sprayed 6 weeks ago so the fish should be in their summer patterns now with whatever is left. Probably lily pads and pond weed.  Most of the lake is 5’ deep with a little bit shallower. Budd lake is right nearby and at 375 acres isn’t too huge. Fish the west woods bank and it’s 2-7’ and hold bass, pickerel, and pike. Tons of cover to cast to, free kayak launch. Pompton lake is still on my ‘to explore’ list but based on what I’ve read and seen, I’m pretty confident in catching bass there. If you want to stay north then green turtle pond/lake between monksville and greenwood would do you well. 

 

[Gregorym38]

10 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

Clinton is part of the Newark water permit system and they don’t allow kayaks so I don’t know it. If you were planning to kayak fish there you can’t. Same for echo, canistear, and oak ridge. Boats are allowed and I think shore fishing is allowed (though the terrain is tough) but not kayaks. Check the Newark water website for details. 
 

https://www.newarknj.gov/card/boating-fishing

 

monksville is called skunksville and I can see why. It’s steep off shore in a lot of places and there is a lot of the lake that has no type of shore cover for fish to relate to. It doesn’t mean the fish aren’t there, just means it can be a tough lake.

 

Not sure how far you want to travel.  Split rock is a beautiful lake and a lot of people catch good fish from it. I fished it once in April and the launch is down over a hill that makes launching my kayak prohibitive. Musconetcong is a 200 acre shallow lake with a lot of good bass 15-20”. The gras was sprayed 6 weeks ago so the fish should be in their summer patterns now with whatever is left. Probably lily pads and pond weed.  Most of the lake is 5’ deep with a little bit shallower. Budd lake is right nearby and at 375 acres isn’t too huge. Fish the west woods bank and it’s 2-7’ and hold bass, pickerel, and pike. Tons of cover to cast to, free kayak launch. Pompton lake is still on my ‘to explore’ list but based on what I’ve read and seen, I’m pretty confident in catching bass there. If you want to stay north then green turtle pond/lake between monksville and greenwood would do you well. 

 

Awesome!! There is so much water over that way it can be difficult to just choose a handful when looking at it from google maps. I will look into these in the coming weeks, thanks

[WRB]

Thermocline is the 1st water temperature break that changes quickly about 4 degrees with a few feet. Good sonar can display a thermocline as a dark line due to the difference in water density. Colder water is more dense then warmer water.

The importance is higher dissolved oxygen is located around the thermocline, lower DO levels under it. Bass prefer 75 degree water if available with good DO levels.  I call this depth the life zone.

Lakes that have green weed mats provide shade, cooler water via the shade and good DO levels via photosynthesis, green plants produce DO during daylight.

Tom

[Gregorym38]

25 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

Clinton is part of the Newark water permit system and they don’t allow kayaks so I don’t know it. If you were planning to kayak fish there you can’t. Same for echo, canistear, and oak ridge. Boats are allowed and I think shore fishing is allowed (though the terrain is tough) but not kayaks. Check the Newark water website for details. 
 

https://www.newarknj.gov/card/boating-fishing

 

monksville is called skunksville and I can see why. It’s steep off shore in a lot of places and there is a lot of the lake that has no type of shore cover for fish to relate to. It doesn’t mean the fish aren’t there, just means it can be a tough lake.

 

Not sure how far you want to travel.  Split rock is a beautiful lake and a lot of people catch good fish from it. I fished it once in April and the launch is down over a hill that makes launching my kayak prohibitive. Musconetcong is a 200 acre shallow lake with a lot of good bass 15-20”. The gras was sprayed 6 weeks ago so the fish should be in their summer patterns now with whatever is left. Probably lily pads and pond weed.  Most of the lake is 5’ deep with a little bit shallower. Budd lake is right nearby and at 375 acres isn’t too huge. Fish the west woods bank and it’s 2-7’ and hold bass, pickerel, and pike. Tons of cover to cast to, free kayak launch. Pompton lake is still on my ‘to explore’ list but based on what I’ve read and seen, I’m pretty confident in catching bass there. If you want to stay north then green turtle pond/lake between monksville and greenwood would do you well. 

 

Do you know any spots with good shore access? I would be able to do that more than with the kayak, but its good to know both

1 minute ago, WRB said:

Thermocline is the 1st water temperature break that changes quickly about 4 degrees with a few feet. Good sonar can display a thermocline as a dark line due to the difference in water density. Colder water is more dense then warmer water.

The importance is higher dissolved oxygen is located around the thermocline, lower DO levels under it. Bass prefer 70-75 degree water if available with good DO levels.  I call this depth the life zone.

Lakes that have green weed mats provide shade, cooler water via the shade and good DO levels via photosynthesis, green plants produce DO during daylight.

Tom

Ahhh ok, that makes sense but unfortunately i dont believe that my sonar does this. My sonar is the garmin castable, which was relatively cheap, but it tells me the depth, any movement, surface water temp, and thats about it, i think. I got it recently, so it might have features i am unaware of. 

[casts_by_fly]

14 hours ago, Gregorym38 said:

Do you know any spots with good shore access? I would be able to do that more than with the kayak, but its good to know both

Ahhh ok, that makes sense but unfortunately i dont believe that my sonar does this. My sonar is the garmin castable, which was relatively cheap, but it tells me the depth, any movement, surface water temp, and thats about it, i think. I got it recently, so it might have features i am unaware of. 

afraid not. I was shorebound for the first half season when we moved here. It’s tough here for that. Spruce run is a good bet but it’s a bit of a haul for you. 

[Gregorym38]

On 7/18/2022 at 12:58 PM, casts_by_fly said:

afraid not. I was shorebound for the first half season when we moved here. It’s tough here for that. Spruce run is a good bet but it’s a bit of a haul for you. 

Yeah thats an hour fifteen away, but if i get bored i might try it. With gas prices now though its tough

[Gregorym38]

On 7/17/2022 at 9:53 PM, casts_by_fly said:

Clinton is part of the Newark water permit system and they don’t allow kayaks so I don’t know it. If you were planning to kayak fish there you can’t. Same for echo, canistear, and oak ridge. Boats are allowed and I think shore fishing is allowed (though the terrain is tough) but not kayaks. Check the Newark water website for details. 
 

https://www.newarknj.gov/card/boating-fishing

 

monksville is called skunksville and I can see why. It’s steep off shore in a lot of places and there is a lot of the lake that has no type of shore cover for fish to relate to. It doesn’t mean the fish aren’t there, just means it can be a tough lake.

 

Not sure how far you want to travel.  Split rock is a beautiful lake and a lot of people catch good fish from it. I fished it once in April and the launch is down over a hill that makes launching my kayak prohibitive. Musconetcong is a 200 acre shallow lake with a lot of good bass 15-20”. The gras was sprayed 6 weeks ago so the fish should be in their summer patterns now with whatever is left. Probably lily pads and pond weed.  Most of the lake is 5’ deep with a little bit shallower. Budd lake is right nearby and at 375 acres isn’t too huge. Fish the west woods bank and it’s 2-7’ and hold bass, pickerel, and pike. Tons of cover to cast to, free kayak launch. Pompton lake is still on my ‘to explore’ list but based on what I’ve read and seen, I’m pretty confident in catching bass there. If you want to stay north then green turtle pond/lake between monksville and greenwood would do you well. 

 

Just looking on the dep website, and the state record musky was caught in skunksville. 42 pounds in 1997

[casts_by_fly]

2 hours ago, Gregorym38 said:

Just looking on the dep website, and the state record musky was caught in skunksville. 42 pounds in 1997

 

yep.  The lake is big and has a lot of baitfish.  It also is pretty deep quickly off shore and doesn't have a ton of cover.  So the populations are a bit sparse but the ones that survive grow large.  Smallies to 5 lb are caught annually, good sized walleye, and of course muskies.  We didn't get skunked, but I've had better days of fishing.

[VirginiaKayakBasser]

I never really fish water deeper than about 12 ft, but for 20 plus ft I would use a Carolina rig.