Live Long and Prosper Traditional Cache
lavarock1: this had a great run.
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Family cache located in Jackson, New Jersey. There are great views of a roller coaster and Ferris Wheel in this beautiful WMA. * new coords as of 4-24-08*
Prospertown fat with pickerel, bass, crappie
New Jersey fishing map feature
By Tom Pagliaroli
Fishing and Hunting News
JACKSON, N.J. — Eighty-acre Prospertown Lake, located on New Jersey's Route 537 in Ocean County, is a summertime sweet spot that receives only marginal angler attention.
This is puzzling, since it's recognized as one of the state's best southern bass lakes while also providing tackle-grinding chain pickerel and platter-sized crappies . "My guess is that it's because Lake Assunpink is close by," says a local.
About the lake
With a maximum depth of 11 feet and an average near 4 feet, Prospertown boasts excellent weedbeds, grass beds, brushpiles, sunken timber and some man-made structures.
Surface structure consists primarily of lilypad mats. The water is slightly stained, and the fertility points to a pH slightly higher than the 7.0 neutral reading.
The bottom is a patchwork of sand, gravel and muck. The rich forage base includes shiners, frogs, eels and 2- to 4-inch sunfish and crappies. No doubt more than a few of the 1,130 brookies and rainbows (10-1/2 to 12 inches) stocked in the lake during April end up in bass and pickerel stomachs, adding to the larder.
Species
Bass to 5 pounds can be encountered in Prospertown, with the average largemouth tipping the scales between 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 pounds. Chains will stretch to 34- inches here, and a personal best stands at a 31-inch, corpulent 5-pound specimen that sailed up through the surface to clamp a black Hawg Frawg.
Gear
Karl says the best bet for bass and pickerel is live shiners.
"Same goes for the crappies, but go smaller, say 3 inches, on the shiners," he says. "Bass will hit 1/4- and 1/2-ounce Booyah! spinnerbaits with a white or yellow skirt and copper blades."
He points to the Mepps Timberdoodle (fire tiger)/Mister Twister Grub (chartreuse), the Mister Twister Hawg Frawg (black, green/white) and the Johnson Minnow (gold)/Pork Frog (white, frog, yellow) as potent pickerel medicine. Ditto the 45Ú8-inch Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow in bronze/black twitched just under the surface.
Getting on
Shoreline access is limited to the beach area, to the left of the beach area and along the dike. Please observe private property. There is a fishing dock and a cartop ramp, and propulsion is limited to oars or paddles only, per the property owner's deed to the state. A 'yak, jonboat and canoe are all effective fish-catching transports.
Get there
Prospertown Lake is easily reached via the New Jersey Turnpike to the Route 195 Exit. Take Route 195 east to the "Route 537/Jackson/Great Adventure" exit. Bear right off the exit and follow past Great Adventure to the Propertown Lake WMA entrance on the left.
Additional Hints
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Treasures
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