Baitshops Near Round Valley Reservoir

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Now Open! Behre Bait & Tackle Located about 1.2 miles east of the Round Valley access road, on Eastbound Rt 22, at Clark Road. Located behind the Shell gas station. (908) 625-2326 Parking in the rear of store.

• Hours: 6 am to 7 pm. Open 7 days.
• Live shiners, worms and herring in season.
• Jim Behre, owner and RVTA Member
• About Behre Bait & Tackle

Efinger Sporting Goods – 513 West Union Avenue, Bound Brook, NJ 08805 Phone: (732) 356-0604. Frozen Bait: Bunker, Spearing, Squid, and Clams. Live Bait: all kinds of Worms (nightcrawlers, garden worms, meal worms, etc…), Live Shiners, and Fathead Minnows.

• Business Hours:
  • Monday – Friday: 9:30 AM – 9:00 PM
  • Saturday: 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM
  • Sunday 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
• View Google Maps Directions
• Visit Efinger’s Website

Sportsman’s Rendezvous Located about 2 miles sought of Round Valley Reservoir, 174 State Route 31 in Flemington NJ.

• Hours: M-F 10 am to 7 pm. Sat. 10 am to 5 pm. Sun. Closed
• Large variety of hunting & fishing supplies, live bait, firearms, ammunition.

Kolmer Equipment Company – 901 County Road 579, Flemington, NJ 08822 Phone: (908) 237-5600. They have Live Bait. Call for your needs.

• Business Hours:
  • Monday – Friday: 8 AM – 5 PM
  • Saturday: 8:00 AM – noon PM
  • Sunday: closed
• View Google Maps Directions
• Visit Kolmer Equipment Company’s Website

Dick Dows – Fishing and Boat Rental- 145 Nolans Point Road, Lake Hopatcong, NJ 07849 Phone: (973) 663 3826. Call and ask if they have live Herring in stock – the herring are caught right in Lake Hopatcong so there is a good chance they do. Call for winter hours. If Lake Hopatcong is frozen solid, they are open regularly in the winter.

• Business Hours:
  • May-Sept. Mon – Sun: 5:00am – 7:00pm
  • April & Oct. 6:30am – 6:00pm
  • Winter if there is ice Mon. -Sunday 6:00am – 2:00pm
• View Google Maps Directions
• They have an amazing assortment of Ice Fishing jigs and lures as well as wooden slip bobbers. Really amazing selection of useful items.
• If they don’t have live herring, no one has live herring.

Lebanon Bait and Sport - Due to damage caused by hurricane Sandy Lebanon Bait and Sport is closed for the foreseeable future.

The following baits are commonly used at Round Valley

Alewife (Herring)

Here is a video from Maine of Herring swimming around, doing what Herring do:

• The Best baitfish to use if available.
• The alewife is a species of Herring.
• Round Valley Trout Association and Division of Fish & Wildlife have stocked the lake with these fish in an attempt to reestablish a viable forage base for game fish.  More here.
• Average length 3 to 5 inches.
• Herring will out fish Shiners 15 to 1 (in my experience).
• Keep in an aerated livewell or insulated cooler adding ice every 1/2 hour or so.

Shiner

• Golden Shiner, commonly referred to as just Shiners.
• Most commonly used baitfish because they are hardy and cheap.
• Shiners are a Cyprinid like Minnows and Carp.
• Average length 3 to 5 inches.

Fathead Minnow

• Not as popular because they are small so you will catch everything in the lake except sunfish.

Gammarus (Scud)

• Little fresh water shrimp, normally 1/4 inch in length or smaller and flat.  If you bring up a snagged branch while fishing deep, take a close look at it, these things will be all over it.
• As far as I know, these are naturally occurring in the lake.
• As far as I know, no one sells them as bait.
• Fisherman use small salad shrimp from the grocery store as an alternative.

Mealworm

• Are most effective when fished with an egg sinker and marshmallow to keep it off the bottom.
• Effective when used after stocking in the Spring.

Garden Worms

• You can catch anything in the lake with garden worms.
• They are a favorite bait of mine when fishing from shore under a slip bobber.

Night Crawler

• You can catch anything in the lake with night crawlers, however I’ve found that trout prefer the smaller garden worms.

Crayfish or Crawdads

• Smallmouth Bass go nuts over crayfish
• More than one state record bass has been caught on crayfish
• Lebanon Bait and Sport occasionally stocks live crayfish
• Hook the crawdad through the tail, from the underside up and out. Drift or anchor, but beware of the crawdad diving into a rock and hanging you up.

Chicken Livers

• Ok, this isn’t a live bait, but it was alive at some point.
• Supposedly you will catch catfish on this stuff when fishing at night.
• I have never had any success with Chicken Livers.
• Buy from the grocery store, stick them in an old stocking, insert hook.