Fishing Report For Round Valley Reservoir, NJ

Current Report: Good

Lake trout season has specific restrictions and limits at Round Valley Reservoir, review the details here. To protect the spawn, catch and release is in effect during part of the season.

WINTER. Ice fishing for lakers was good last year with quite a few monster lake trout caught. It should be good again this year. Favoring water temperatures in the 40's, lake trout find areas to their liking in 60 to 160 feet of water, and tend to stay there throughout the cold months. Learning these areas before the lake ices over can get you into some of the better area for ice fishing. Patient anglers willing to work slowly can catch some nice lake trout through the ice.

SPRING. After ice out, trolling with leaded line or downriggers, or vertical jigging with spoons and jigs, completes the cold-water season in 80 to 160 feet of water, or deeper. Spring weather finds lake trout, along with baitfish, into around 40 to 100 feet of water. Because they are shallow, Spring is an ideal time to catch big lakers. They are caught in areas of the lake which have deep water, next to shallower, feeding spots. Jigs and heavy spoons are catching the majority of these big lakers. Slow trolling with leaded line or downriggers allows small crankbaits and spinners to be worked in deeper water, which also produces some nice fish. Later in Spring they typically drop into deeper water.

SUMMER. Summer heat drives lake trout deeper, generally below the thermocline in 80 to 160 feet deep. Early and late in the day, lakers may feed slightly shallower. Generally, lake trout prefer to stay deep, below the thermocline, throughout Summer. They look for depth variations like ditches, channels, humps, points and ledges, but are often caught in the deeper water around this structure. Heavy spoons and jigs, as well as very slow trolling, with leaded line or downriggers, produce many of the lakers being caught during Summer. In late summer concentrate on channel edges, troughs, and main lake humps.

FALL. Lake trout will be returning to relatively shallow water, as Fall weather cools the shallows first. They spawn in the Fall, and for a few weeks can typically be found 30 to 100 feet deep on points, flats and humps that have a rocky bottom. Lake trout feed on small fish, so lures imitating baitfish, sunfish, perch or small trout are good choices. Cloudy days, early mornings and early evenings are the best time to catch big lakers. Later in Fall they return to 60 to 120 feet deep, or deeper. Spoons, jigged vertically within the target depth can entice bites along depth changes. Trolling with spoons, brightly-colored jerkbaits, and spinners with a variety of rigging methods to get these lures to run deep. For big lakers, use larger baits.

Current Report: Good To Very Good

Round Valley Reservoir is managed as a trophy trout lake, with a 12-inch minimum length limit, and a daily limit of a 2 fish combination of brown and rainbow trout.

WINTER. Now that Winter has settled in, jigging spoons, and jigs tipped with bait, are catching nice limits of rainbows out of 10 to 50 feet of water. These baits work well around the old river channels and the deeper humps and cuts. The area around the North Dam and drop offs along the East side are delivering some good results. Trolling with leaded line or downriggers, or vertical jigging with spoons and jigs, are the best approach during the cold-water season. Slowly worked offerings are more likely to attract bites in this cold water.

SPRING. As water begins to warm in early Spring, rainbow trout move from their late winter holding areas to shallow, warmer water 8 to 40 feet deep. Following contours in 10 to 30 of water has been successful in prior years. A good number of rainbows are typically caught from mid morning to late afternoon, during the warmest water of the day. Shallow flats and rocky structure are quick to warm in the afternoon sun. A wide variety of small spinners, spoons and bait are catching most of the fish.

SUMMER. Once Summer is here to stay, the warmer water drives rainbow deeper, 40 to 80 feet deep, occasionally deeper. Prior year reports indicate good catches coming from the Central basin edges and drop offs along the east and southeast side of the basin. Trolling the main basin with spoons, spinners and crankbaits, using downriggers or leaded line, and drift fishing with bait, are currently the most productive methods. Following drop-offs into deeper water, along structure or creek channels, is a major key to getting bites. Anglers fishing from the bank are using nightcrawlers or Berkley PowerBait, with heavy weights on a Carolina rig, to get baits in deeper water.

FALL. Cooling water temperatures in the shallows, draw rainbow trout out of deeper Summer depths. Anglers catch them 8 to 40 feet deep on rocky banks, wind-blown points, rocky structure, humps, ledges and points on north and west shores, and anywhere baitfish are gathering. Once they had a full summer to grow, there are some nice size rainbow to be caught. Small spinners, spoons, jigs, miniature crankbaits and swimbaits are good choices, as are salmon eggs and prepared baits. Later in Autumn, they move into 10 to 40 feet of water.

Current Report: Good

Due to the popularity of trout fishing here, bass fishing often gets overlooked. There are plenty of bass to be caught, and locals are reporting a wide variety of lures are catching nice largemouth bass.

WINTER. The cold of Winter has isolated largemouth around deeper structure, flats, points and creek channels. Water temperatures are currently in the low 40's, and bass are being found from 6 to 40 feet deep. Often, some of the larger bass, which isolate away from schools, are caught out of 5 or so feet deeper water. They are currently being caught around drop offs along the east and southeast side of the basin. Here they hold, feeding less frequently, awaiting warmer water to return in Spring. Slow presentations with drop shots, jigs or finesse worms are often the key to getting bites.

SPRING. Once water temperatures rise into the low 60's, largemouth will move from deep wintering holes, to shallower water near spawning areas. Anglers report good topwater action from mid Spring through Summer, especially early in the morning, and on cloudy days. Vibrating jigs, crankbaits, jerkbaits and spinnerbaits typically get bites just away from the shoreline. At this time they are feeding aggressively in about 2 to 20 feet of water, and preparing for the spawn. Once water warms into the mid to high 60's, they will move into 2 to 8 feet of water, and create nests, then lay their eggs. Immediately afterwards, females move to deeper water and males remain to guard the eggs, and then the fry. After a couple weeks, the males also move to slightly deeper water, around 10 to 20 feet deep. The North cove ledges, and other sheltered points in the northwest sector are typically good areas in Spring. Deep-diving crankbaits, vibrating jigs, drop shots, plastic worms, jigs, spoons, and swimbaits catch bass during this period.

SUMMER. Water temperatures will warm considerably in Summer. Bass will feed shallow, early and late in the day, where they are typically caught in 8 to 12 feet of water, on topwater lures, square-bill crankbaits, spinnerbaits and a variety of other lures. During Summer, keep an eye on the thermocline to determine the maximum depth to fish, as there is very little oxygen below the thermocline. Largemouth bass here feed on shad, herring, small sunfish and crawfish. During the hotter parts of the day, they are being caught on points, channel edges, and ledges 15 to 40 feet deep. Wacky-rigged stick worms always catch finicky bass when the bite is slow. Some of the best reports typically come from anglers fishing around central-basin ledges and north shore timber pockets.

FALL. When Fall arrives, bass here will follow schools of baitfish into coves and shallow bays where topwater, crankbaits, swimbaits, and slow-rolled spinnerbaits have been successful in prior years. In early Fall, anglers typically have success in 3 to 25 feet of water, around points and shallow flats leading to deeper water. As deeper water cools, bait and bass move out to ledges, channel edges, points and humps. Here flutter spoons are often the ideal bait in 15 to 25 feet of water. Some of the larger bass will seclude themselves away from the school, often in slightly deeper water.