7 Pound Rainbow Trout Caught from Eastern Shore

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Robert Ivan

“Mark Boriek of Hunterdon, who fishes ice-free waters all winter, hit the jackpot Tuesday when he caught a 27-inch 7-pound 1-ounce rainbow trout while wading the Round Valley Reservoir shoreline.” read entire article on mycentraljersey.com

yo zuri pins magnet minnow rainbow trout pattern

A Yo-Zuri® Pins Minnow Magnet™ Size: 2-3/4 inch, 3/16 oz. Color: Rainbow Trout is said to have taken down the trout.

If I’m reading this correctly, the fish was caught on the eastern shore which is all the way on the other side of the reservoir from the boat launch. There is a hiking trail to get back there here’s a trail map of Round Valley pdf. Follow the Cushetunk trail to the Campground trail. It’s about a 4mile hike one way so be prepared.

Bottom Fishing Lighted Strike Indicator

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Robert Ivan

Tom From Bridgewater shares this tactic on how to detect a strike when fishing the bottom of the lake, Day or Night!

Tom from Bridgewater - Strike Indicator

A light up bobber, like this LED Lighted Bobber, is modified by screwing in a an open-eye hook into the top and adding some split-shot to the inside of the bobber for ballast. The eye hook allows you to easily hang or remove the bobber from you line. adding weight to the bobber allows it to hang down on the line more deeply.

Tom from Bridgewater - Bottom Fishing Strike Indicator

Setup:
When fishing at day time using a bottom rig, simple cast out, put your rod in its holder, reel in the tension then hang the bobber from your main line between two of the rod’s guides.

How it works:
The weight of the bobber will pull down on the line slighly but when a fish hits, the bobber will bounce and move up as the line gets taught.

At Night:
Activate the bobber (usually by turning it) so the light comes on. Follow the same procedure as above. The benefit of the lighted bobber is you can sit in the warmth of your car and watch the bobber from a distance… you lazy, lazy man.

Thank you for sharing this tip Tom. If you have any tips or tricks you would like to share with the Round Valley Fishing community please contact us!

Catching Rainbows and Browns Off The Rocks

Posted on January 16, 2011 by Robert Ivan

File this report under Better Late Than Never! Got this report via email back on December 30th! It’s an email account I rarely check so I apologize for the tardiness. Though Hunter had fished Round Valley before, he had never caught a trout. December 30th would be the evening that young Hunter Whitehead burst on the scene. On this night he caught the 22inch 4pound Brown Trout you see below. He returned the next day to catch another Brown and a Rainbow!

Hunter W Brown Trout 2010Dec30

Even the State Parks people stopped to check out his catch!

State Parks Pics

Name: Hunter Whitehead (16 year old from Kingwood)
Bait: Berkley Gulp 3′ white minnows (which of course he is out of & we can’t find anymore!!)
Method: jigging…..dude, we don’t do no stinkin bobbers hahaha
off the rock wall by the cement boat launch
Time: 3pm to 5pm

October 25, 2010 Shore Fishing Report

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Robert Ivan

Fished for an hour before going to work (hence the clothing) with my friends Chris, Erin, and Chris. It was good to spend time with them, it seems the older I get, the less “friend” time I have.

We fished off the shore on the sandy point directly across from the concrete boat ramp. Using garden worms, size 6 circle hook tied to 3 feet of fluorocarbon leader, 1small split-shot about 2feet above the hook, slip bobber set to `10feet. I caught 1 rainbow pictured above and 2 largemouth bass in about 1 hour. All fish were released.

The beauty about using the circle hook is that when the bobber goes under, just start reeling line in. At first you just pull in all the slack line that the wind has blown around. If the bobber pops up before you are done reeling in the slack, stop. Wait for it to go under again, then start reeling. You’ll feel the weight of the fish and see the bend in your rod when all the slack is gone and the fish still has the hook in its mouth.

The key for me in the Fall has been small hooks, small bait, and light leader. I suggest getting out and doing some Fall trout fishing at Round Valley. The reports have been spotty but the weather has been great!

Fishing The Rocks at Round Valley

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Robert Ivan

The Rocks

The Rocks in this article and on this site refers to an earthen dam that was created across a narrow waterway on the west side of the reservoir. It looks like a rock bridge or rock dam and it’s a damn good place to start fishing from the shore.

The big side of the lake – you can catch everything; trout, bass, crappie, bluegill, everything but Lake Trout.

Want to catch something big? Use medium to large live herring or shiner hooked under the dorsal fin with a #6 hook and suspended about 4 to 6 feet under a bobber. Half way between your hook and your bobber should be a barrel swivel and above that a 1/4 or 1/2 ounce egg sinker. Cast out and wait. Wait for the bobber to get pulled completely under water, reel in your slack, and if the bobber is still under the water, set the hook. If the bobber pops up before you can set the hook, just wait and see if the fish comes back. You will catch trout and bass using this technique.

You can also forgo the bobber and just live-line a shiner or herring. Use only a #6 hook, no swivel, no weight, no bobber. Cast out and let your bait swim around. Leave your bail open to allow free movement of your swimming bait. When you see line start running off faster or a big splash where you fish was just swimming, let it go a few seconds, then close the bail, reel in the slack and set the hook. I like using Circle hooks when livelining because there is less likelyhood the fish will swallow the hook. If you use Circle hooks, don’t set the hook, just start reeling in and the magic of technology will do the rest.

Are you with your kid and want to catch something just to show him or her what a fish looks like? If they’re small kids, avoid the rocks completely because it’s easy to fall and get hurt. Still hell bent on fishing this spot? Ok pick up a package of night-crawlers and use those on a #8 baitholder hook suspended 2 to 4 feet under a bobber. You will catch tons of sunfish and small bass.

Fishing on the bottom is not advisable from this location. You will get snagged on rocks and weeds.

Fishing with lures can be fun. In the Spring and Fall we’ve caught trout on silver Kastmasters and in the summer we’ve caught lots of bass and crappie on smaller floating and swimming lures.

The Swimming side of the lake – you will not catch any trout here but you will catch bass, sunfish, and chain pickerel. Use Rapala floating lures to stay out of the weeds. Weedless rubber worms are great here too. Some of the biggest largemouth bass we’ve caught have been on this side of the lake fishing weedless rubber worms right on the bottom.

You can fish with live shiners and minnows on this side of the lake as well, however the thick weed cover makes it a real nightmare if your casting accuracy is sub par. The weeds get thicker as the summer goes on.

In the winter this side freezes over pretty good and makes for good icefishing. Fish using live shiners and you’ll catch largemouth bass and chain pickerel.