Lake Aeroflex & Swartswood

[projoe]

hey does anyone have any advice about open water trout in aeroflex i no its a bit off topic but it is right around the corner

[Howyahittinem1]

Live bait seems to work best, if you can get herring I strongly suggest using them.  Alot of guys use artificials when trolling, spoons or rapalas work best.  If you are using bait you can troll, drift, or even anchor and catch trout here.  It is really your preference on how you want to fish.  Early spring you usually can find the trout from 0 feet to 20 feet, the will gradually work there way deeper as warmer weather comes, but the deepest I have fished here is 30-40 feet they say there is no oxygen in the depths of this lake so the fish do not go there.  Try it out if you like it you may want to join the trout club here.  YOJ Sports on 206 across from Andover Diner is a great place to get info about this lake and he usually has a good selection of bait and tackle for fishing here.  Good luck.

[projoe]

thanks havnt fishd here but hear it is good goingto try it out this spring

[radzicto]

What do you mean by the 3 heaviest fish? Bass, perch and pickerel? Or just the 3 heaviest no matter what species? How late is the resterant open for sign-up? Details, details, details? How about a read on ice conditions to keep people from venturing into bad areas. If any? I plan on attending.

[AJ Flag]

What time does the tournament start, like what time are you allowed to start fishing???

[projoe]

''The Lake Aeroflex Trout Club stocks aprox. 600 16-17 inch fish every spring and are looking for more members or even donations to help fund our stocking''   do they do this before opening day or is during the season

[kuz]

Fished Swartswood today from about 7-11am. lots and lots of dink perch, and 2 nice cappie. one of those slabs was just about 2lbs. where the hell are these walleyers? I had one hit that was awful walleye-like, fought like one, but spit the hook before I could get a look. I swear to god I'm going to figure this lake out before she opens up. lots of ice, but surface is softening.

[Howyahittinem1]

All right I will now attempt to answer all your questions for the tournament at swartswood and little swartswood.  I am not sure what hours the Boathouse keeps but it is a restaurant so I would say the are open for lunch and dinner, anymore than that you would have to call them and I assume it is a listed number in the town of Swartswood.  The prizes are for the three heavist fish does not matter what specie, of course it has to be something that is in the lake.   As far as a start time the are not designating one, so I guess you start when you want.  Weigh-ins start at 12:15 at the Boathouse and end at 5:15( supposed to quit fishing by 5:00).  As far as the ice conditions most of Big Swartswood has good ice, watch the area by Dove Island it was the last to freeze so probably not much ice there, and Little Swartswood has had good ice since the beggining of Febuary so it is probably safe all over just stay out of Bald Eagle area designated by the bouys.  Of course with the warm weather you may want a plank for the edges will probably be soft.  Hope to see you all there.

The Lake Aeroflex Trout Club does two seperate stockings, one at the beggining of the season(usually second week of season) and another at the end(usually the second to last or last week of the season.  We float stock all of our fish and also help the state by float stocking when a member is available to do so.  If you are interested I do all the paper work for the club and I am working on this years newsletter and membership application now and hope to have them out in the stores by the second week of March( when I say stores I am refering to YOJ Sports and Simon Peter Sport both on rte 206 in Andover Twp.).

I fished Aeroflex again today, took a trek down to the big part of the lake with a friend.  Fishing was spotty but good, jigging was the way to go today.  We ended up with 7 lrg mouths, 4 perch( slobs, one weighed1.5lbs), 2 pickerel.  Caught 5 bass and perch jigging silver spoon with either fathead or some spikes.

Kuz, I grew up in Stillwater and have fished Swartswood since I was a teenager and I still have yet to catch a walleye in that lake, so good luck with that.  I know a lot of guys who fish there and they are very hard to catch, but if you get one there are some beauties in there.  I spoke with a guy Tuesday night who jigs there and he said he hasn't caught anything but dinks when it comes to the perch.  I am just crossing my fingers that I get lucky enough to get a fat pickerel and win on Sunday.

[Howyahittinem1]

Projoe,  I was incorrect in my number of trout stocked, we stock 300-400 fish every spring and if our budget allows for it we try to stock what ever we can afford in the fall.  This year we were pretty broke so we had no fall stocking.  We do not have a cap on our membership because all dues got to stocking of fish( minus few incedental costs for operation), so the more people that join or donate money the more fish we can stock!  So sign-up and get your friends to sign-up, it is worth the $25/$50 per year if you fish here.  I have grown up fishing this lake my family has owned the house I live in for +/-50 years and the trout fishing here has never been so good!

[projoe]

well i live far away and am only 15 my father and brother were thinking about fishing it in open water season i wouldnt mind donating becasue at least am pretty sure its going to the fish

[projoe]

has anyone ever fished the smaller lakes in the same state park a aeroflex        there pretty small but small lakes do sometimes hold decent fish

[Howyahittinem1]

I fish the other lakes through the ice but not so much open water.  Gardners Pond, which is next to airport, has bass, pickerel, perch, crappie, and you here of the occasional trout(the must get over the dam at Aeroflex and swim down stream to the pond), over the summer there were two guys panfishing the pond and they caught to beautiful rainbows.  White's Pond, located on Rt 206 across from hotel, has the same species, except I can't say I ever heard of a trout being caught there.  I have though caught some really nice largemouths in this pond through the ice(4-5lbs).  And finally Twin Pond, located off Gooddale Road, is a hotbed for pickerel and panfish, occasionally you can catch a bass also.  The problem with fishing these lakes is access, only Twin Pond has a boat launch, White's everybody parks on 206 and walks through brush to get on the ice(suppose you could do the same with a small boat), and Gardner's you have to park at the lot for Aeroflex boat launch and walk down along the airport(not a bad walk carrying just your gear but a little long if carrying a boat).  I heard a rumor the state is trying to acquire the old railroad bed and make an access road to Gardners from 206(not sure how true it is though).  Bottem line is all the lakes in Kittatinny State Park produce nice fish, you just have to have the ambition to fish them.  Good luck!

[Icephishnphreek]

thanks for all the info on those lakes! My inlaws live in andover and my father in law and I have been looking for some quick spots to try near his house. I will be out there now with his canoe and the 6wt with a sinking line come this spring!

[KingKool]

There is a tourny at Swartswood Sunday?  can anyone give me details?? thanks!

[Howyahittinem1]

I left details on this tourney yesterday in this forum.  Look back at my posts from yesterday and couple days ago!  I also found out yesterday that supposebly there will be someone at the Boathouse Restaurant Sunday around 6 am( I was originally told we had to sign up by Saturday).  I also found a phone # for the Boat House it is 973-300-0016.  I suppose if I didn't answer all the questions you could call them.  They are open for dinner every evening, I believe.

[radzicto]

OK, so somebody will be signing up people for the contest Sunday morning at 6 AM at the Boathouse restaurant? They don't need 37 phone calls, someone should dig up the details and post them.

[Howyahittinem1]

I just had someone email me the info sheet on the Swartswood tourny.  You should call Ken @ 862-268-5533 if you need more info, according to what this sheet says.

[KingKool]

Thanks for the info!

[Howyahittinem1]

I have posted all the details I can on this tournament.  I fyou look back at my posts you can piece it all together.  Sorry it was piece by piece, this is the first tourny these people have run and info was slow coming!  I think you can sign up Sunday, but not 100% sure so you may want to call on of the numbers I posted And find out!  Myself , I am going to sign-up ahead of time so not to waste time on Sunday morning.

[Howyahittinem1]

Hey, if any of you guys call or sign-up for Swartswood tourny ask whoever you talk to what the are using besides weight in case of a tie.  I asked the other day when I spoke to the owner of the Boat House And he didn't think it was neccesary!  Anyone that has fished in a tournament knows that there is always that chance of a tie!  Like I said it is there first time doing this they just opened the restaurant this year.  Guess we will be flipping a coin if there is a tie!  Hope they work the bugs out because they seem to want to do this every year(buying trophy for twenty names).  Hope to see you all there!

[chuck172]

Was out at Aeroflex today. Nothing. Three guys, 15 traps, nothing but wind-burn.

[Howyahittinem1]

I spoke to a couple of guys fishing Aeroflex Yesterday and they also said it had died out from the previous days.  The one gentleman fished my same holes from Thursday(were I did pretty good) and only caught two fish.
I fished just up the road at Lake Iliff today and did alright but had pretty much died out by 11am.  We got some nice crappies, one big lrg mouth, and some 2-3lb pickerel.  Left at 12, wind was to much to endure when your not catching anything.
I signed up for the Swartswood tourny(see my previous posts for more info), the owner of the Boat House told me they are way above what they expected.  He said the already had 40-50 guys signed up and were expecting to hit 70 before sign ups are closed.  He did say someone would be at the restaurant in the morning around 6.  If that is the case we are talking some pretty large prizes!  Hope the fishing picks up, maybe this storm coming will help us tomorrow.

[LoneWolf]

Aeroflex is loaded with herring,  but the big question is how many of the 400 original fish survived not being food themselves?  Even though they grow fast they first need to be big enough to eat herring, which I was informed would take aprox. 8 months, and at that age they would be a 10-12 inch fish.  I was also informed that it would be several years for them to reach the 3-4 lb range, most holdover state stocked browns reach that size in a couple years.  I just think the state has a proven trout program on this lake and should stick to what works, not make the lake a big experiment at the cost of NJ outdoorsmen.
Just picked up for the day, had a small run on the pickerel this afternoon around 2 the flags started going up, ended up with 7 pickerel, 2 over 3lbs.  My friend came by and did some jigging only caught some sunnies and one small perch.
By the way DaveM, Terry from YOJ actually was the one to turn me on to this website. 

I don't believe there was a cost to the NJ sportsman. From what I understood another state had supplied the salmon at no cost to "repay" NJ for supplying them with a stocking a few years back.

 

[projoe]

they were surplus from a masschauttes hatchery

[Howyahittinem1]

First off, The cost of the Nj fishermen I am referring to is the State shorting the stocking numbers of trout for Lake Aeroflex.  When they stocked these salmon we were supposed to be getting the last spring stocking of brown trout from the state.  Pat Hamilton, Div. fish and game biologist, told me they made this decision because they did not want to overload the lake with fish that she felt there was not enough forage to support all the fish( bunch of crap if you ask me!).  This last stocking every spring is the best chance of having holdover trout for the following years because fishing pressure for the trout drops of after the season is over and the limit drops, it also means that the yahoo's who have to keep every trout they catch, no matter what size, can only keep 2 trout instead of four increasing the survival rate.  At the beggining of each year the state has a meeting and at this meeting they decide on and release what the stocking quantities and dates are for all lakes, ponds, and steams.  Lake Aeroflex was robbed of its third stocking of aprox. 400-500 trout because the state wants to experiment with these salmon.  I am not totally against the salmon being here but they should not damage an already proven fisheries success to stock a breed they are not even sure will survive!  Yes, the state record came from this lake years ago in the 50's, but the lakes oxygen levels have changed dramatically since then and the slamon will probably not be able to live at the depths needed to sustain them.  The other problem with this program is to study fish this state believes in gill netting, must fishermen know that most fish, especially the delicate trout species, will not survive being caught in a net, then being handled, and trying to release them.  The state came here in Sept. and tried netting the salmon(god only knows why because they are not big enough to get caught in the nets they used) and only netted four of the LATC tagged fish(killing all four) and one holdover about 4-5lbs which they say survived.  And finally if you think those salmon didn't cost us anything you are wrong, because we paid for the raising of the fish which were traded for the salmon with the ever rising costs of our required licenses and stamps.

Alright, enough of that.  I went to Swartswood for the tourney yesterday, what a turn out!  They had over 70 entries, people were signing up till 9:30 in the morning.  To bad the fishing was terrible!  I fished with about ten guys and we only put 2 big fish(pickerel) on the ice, we also caught a few dink perch and couple small pickerel.  Myself< Ihad three flags all day and did not catch a damn thing all day(fished to 4:30, what a long day)!  At the weigh-ins I talked to several groups and the report was the same all around.  Fortunately the one big pickerel my buddy caught was big enough to take first place($580).  Second place was another pickerel(same as first about 4lbs, but losed on lenght by 7/8"), and third was a smallie (just under 4lbs).  They also had a prize for biggest perch(1lb winner) and crappie(1.2lb winner).  All in all I guess it was a success, but from what I heard things will probably be a little different next time.  The park rangers caught wind of it this past week and tried to stop it because no one approved it through them, I guess they went as far as threatening to close the lake yesterday!  But, some fast talking by the guys running it keep it going.  I wish them luck with it in the future, they said they are hoping to have a tourney again in the spring sometime.

[Icefishr17]

Was out at Aeroflex today. Nothing. Three guys, 15 traps, nothing but wind-burn.

Nothing to report on Aeroflex because I didn't fish it yesterday but went out on way home from Lake Iliff to see how the fishing was...and there was not much to report.  Lake Iliff has about 8-10" of fishable ice pretty much everywhere.  1 small pickerel on tip-up and 1 small crappie jigging....other than that...reading the paper.

[TonyTheIceMan]

Hey, if any of you guys call or sign-up for Swartswood tourny ask whoever you talk to what the are using besides weight in case of a tie.  I asked the other day when I spoke to the owner of the Boat House And he didn't think it was neccesary!  Anyone that has fished in a tournament knows that there is always that chance of a tie!  Like I said it is there first time doing this they just opened the restaurant this year.  Guess we will be flipping a coin if there is a tie!  Hope they work the bugs out because they seem to want to do this every year(buying trophy for twenty names).  Hope to see you all there!

When is the tournement at Swartswood ???I may be interested in attending.
Tony

[Howyahittinem1]

When is the tournement at Swartswood ???I may be interested in attending.
Tony

you missed it, was yesterday

[Howyahittinem1]

Went up the road to Lake Iliff this morning. Arrived about 7, had flags till about 10, then nothing.  Caught 3 nice crappies over 14"(1 jigging, 2 on tip-ups) and 5 pickerel, a couple nice ones around 3lbs, caught 1 pickerel while jigging.  My buddy should up just as the fish stopped hitting to jig for a little while, so when I decided to bag it at noon time he did to.  But, instead of going home he follow ed me to my house(lake Aeroflex) and went down the lake to try and find some more of the slob perch we have been getting.  He caught 5 perch, only one slob in the bunch so he let it go.  But, he did manage to catch the second biggest catfish I have seen caught here.  It was 7.5 lbs and he got it while jigging a kastmaster with a grub on it.  Unbelievable!  The largest catfish I have seen here was also caught through the ice while jigging.  Gonna try right out front of the house tomorrow and see how I do.  Better get out while we can the end is sure to come soon!

[TonyTheIceMan]

you missed it, was yesterday

Oh well, wait till next year.