Looking for panfish

[Dizzy]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to try some new lakes in NJ during the upcoming season... Columbia Lake, Delaware Lake, and Oxford/Furnace are all within 30 minutes of me and look like good candidates to hold ice early in the season. Can anyone help me out with info regarding the panfish populations on any (or all) of these lakes/ponds. My daughter and I prefer to jig for perch, crappie, and bluegill (sunfish) if that helps.

Thanks in advance!

[bayonne]

i never fished those but for pan fish its hard to find any better than hopatcong most any lake has good bluegill fishing you just have to search the area i find a small pimple with a mousie to be the best and bass nail it aswell

[Dizzy]

Absolutely... we plan on fishing Hopatcong too (although a bit further drive at about an hour give/take from Easton). Usually the larger, deeper lakes take a bit longer to freeze up. That's why we are looking at these smaller, shallower lakes closer to home for the early ice season.

The threads and pic's from Hopatcong alone earlier this year were enough to convince us to shift our focus to NJ for this coming season.