About Watchung Lake... After being dregded roughly 5 years ago, Watchung Lake has become a fairly decent manmade bass lake. One drawback to the lake is that it is "Catch and Release Only", which means nothing to the true fishing sportsmen. Because of this, fish are able to grow quite large. In time, you could expect to see some real monsters being pulled out of there. Even still, Watchung Lake contains largemouth bass that are roughly 20" and, most likely, larger. Catfish have been caught that were two feet in lenght. It is known the fish are there, but days at the lake can be "on or off". Depending on the conditions, you could catch a dozen fish or get not even one single strike. It seems after days of "being skunked", you catch that 3 or 4 pound bass and all is forgtten - That's the whole reason I fish this lake.

Fishing Observations Dusk seems to be the most productive time for Watchung Lake. Bigger bass tend to roam around more freely once the sun beings to set. Top water lures or rubber worms along the bottom can produce nice bass practically anywhere in the lake. Sunrise and mid-day can also be very effective, depending on the lure. Topwater in the early morning and low running rubber worms work great for big bass. Crawfish lures or rattling Rapalas also work during these times.

Things to Know Watchung Lake IS patrolled by a park ranger, so wear your fishing licence. Do not walk on the Damn/Spillway for very long. A policemen who notices will tell you to "walk off the damn to saftey" through a megaphone in front of everyone in the park. It can be a bit embarrassing. Heavy rain storms can effect the lake very badly; It causes severe flooding which produces massive amounts of debris. After an extremely heavy rainfall or many days of rain, it is usually best to give the lake a day or two to settle.

Most Recent Catches at Watchung Lake

November Fishing This crappy was caught on the first day of November, which was unusually warm at 70 degrees. Also caught but felt a bit camera shy was a pretty decent bass. After rubber worms only produced a single good strike in an hour, it was time to switch up to a rattling minnow. With 50 degree water temperature, fish responded better to faster moving lures.

Full Moon Catfish October 10th, 2003 - We, at the chronicles, were back at Watchung Lake armed with chicken livers, which some consider the ultimate catfish bait. Well, this may be true. Ryan hooked into 2 nice catfish on a slightly breezy full moon night. Pictured is the second catch of the night.

Full Moon Bass We lied....this was the night before the full moon, but nevertheless, Ryan caught a bass. Although an extremely dark shot of the lake in the background, this was a very bright night. Tomorrow being the actual full moon, we hope to bring you a more bountiful harvest...and pictures.

September Largemouths Trip Summary These two bass were landed on a beautiful Saturday 6th, 2003. I arrived at the lake around 3:15; these two hit around 4:30. Both were definitely larger fish for lake, especially the second largemouth. Purple rubber worms were obviously working the best, since green, black/firetail, and pink weren't getting many results. Times at the lake can vary, as far as feeding goes - For a while, dusk has been a great time to catch bass. Lately, I've noticed during the day (1-4 o'clock) has been very productive for larger bass. ************************

Dear Gary Yamamoto, I thank you for this nice bass I caught using your 4" Senko Purple Pearl/Blue Rubber Worm. I've noticed your baits honestly work better than others. Although a bit pricey, A damn fine rubber worm, my friend. Damn fine. Best Wishes, TSK

A Fight and a Half Ryan with a nice bass caught over at Watchung Lake. Big bass have been destroying rubber worms lately, which was what worked for Ryan. This fish puts Ryan in the lead for the Bass of the Month Award, which will count for the month of August.

Fun Fact - Size Comparison A great shot of a nice bass and the spinning reel that helped him to the sidewalk. This is a great way to show the size relationship when it comes to fishing and photography. Including something in the shot that size is commonly known (a dollar bill, a newpaper, or the person holding the fish) will display the true size of the fish. In this case, a medium spinning reel(5 inches) tells us this fish is roughly 12" in length. (Lengths still may vary based on fishermen's exaggeration)

Two Nice Bass On July 19th, Tom hit Watchung Lake armed with a bag of rubber worms and caught 2 nice bass right off the bat. Nothing else hit after that. It made me think how important time of day is when it comes to certain spots. If I go back tomorrow at the same time, i'll probably have luck until the sun changes position. For a while now, bigger bass have been more difficult to locate at Watchung Lake. Reasons possibly being : the late spring/summer, lots of lake scum along banks, over-fished? Either way, I think the bass have just moved out of their normal spots and it's a matter of finding them now. This pair was caught in a different area than I normal fish, which made me think.

June Catfish Watchung Lake has definitely felt the effects from all the rain with extremely high waters containing large amounts of debris. It will take a few days for the lake to settle and return to normal. Nevertheless, a cloudy day with cloudy water were signs that catfish would be biting, and luckily one did on a pink rubber worm. Believe it or not, that is not a hunk of chewed Bubble Yum.

"There's No Fish In There!" I got heckled by a little kid at the lake I usually fish at. Since my back was turned, all I heard was this little voice that informed me "There's no fish in there!". Considering it was a slow night and I didn't catch anything, I took the comment as a challenge. Five minutes later, I caught this bass as proof that there were, in fact, fish in the lake. Not knowing if the kid was in a passing car or one of the many people who walk around the lake, he was long gone by this point. It was really a matter of time before I caught something considering dusk was nearing (good fishin') and I already had some good hits. Either way, I was still staying until I caught one. Good thing sooner than later. You know, I should really start tagging some of these fish. This one looks very much like the "Nice May Bass" I caught about a week ago. I know fish generally look the same as far a species/size, but that would be an interesting test. The tag would simply be the URL address of this page - a neat idea that I probably won't do.

Rubber Worms DO Work I guess a good time to try a new is lure when your regular tackle isn't doing the job. I've had rubber worms in my tackle box for some time now and I never bothered to really fish them for very long, even though it's probably one of the easier ways to fish and can be pretty effective. The bass below was caught on a rubber worm using a Texas rig. Caught at 8:36PM would explain the dark picture. Although I'm horrible at estimating the weight of a fish, I can easily say that all these bass are over a foot long. Not necessarily monsters, but they do put a decent bend in the pole.

Bass and Catfish Tom and Kregler hit Watchung Lake with great results. Due to people fishing their regular spots, they decided to hit the opposite end of the lake, which turned out to be a smart move. Not only did it produce several bass, it also produced a nice catfish on a jig, no less. The outing also gave Kregler a chance to test a new sink-tip flyline, which worked out well for him that night.

Caught May 3rd, 2003 - 7:43PM Caught May 3rd, 2003 - 7:52PM Nice May Bass Caught May 2nd, 2003 - 8:08PM The Shad and the Crappie April 29th, 2003 Although Shad and Crappies are common to New Jersey waters, they're not so common in the Watchung Lake. You are much more likely to pull out a bass, catfish, or of course a sunfish. It is believed that someone had introduced crappies to the lake within the past several years, but catching one now is no surprise. The shad, on the other hand, existing during the end of April is more interesting than why the fish was in the lake to begin with. Kregler explains, "Rare because they're dying off, dead by this point so they don't really "feed". Unless it was foul hooked, that would explain the blood on its head plus the fact that they should be dying off; it all fits together". Credit for these two fish goes to Ryan. Caught April 29th, 2003 - 7:51PM Caught April 29th, 2003 - 7:53PM First Big Bass of 2003 On April 20th, 7:37PM of this year, Tom pulls out a nice bass from Watchung Lake. "It's really great to see bigger bass hitting this time of the year, before the spawn". He continues to babble and says "Having a digital camera is nice; you know exactly when a fish is caught...down to the minute".