For easy access to Allamuchy Pond, take exit 19 from Interstate 80 onto County Road 517. The 50 acres are almost immediately on the left headed south. Altogether within Allamuchy Mountain State Park, the water is entirely public, even though a manor house, Rutherford Hall, overlooks the pond with an overbearing presence. No ramp exists. Kayaks and canoes are manageable by lowering them down an embankment between some boulders.
Though some rocks exist along the western shoreline that drops off quickly to 17 feet or more, Allamuchy Pond is eutrophic and slowly filling in. Aquatic vegetation dies off yearly, forming deposits of muck on the bottom. It’s a largemouth pond, though you might encounter some pickerel and yellow perch. And like the bass, crappies are abundant. Spring is a good month to target crappies among deadfalls along those steep shorelines, as well as on the flats both in the back and front of the pond. When the water is warming, they get interested in spawning and head for those shallows.
Largemouth will be there as well, 3-pounders common. Fish more than twice that size not out of the question, one over 6 pounds would probably be a once-in-a-lifetime catch. Allamuchy Pond is reputed to have 30- or 40-foot depths, plenty of water to generate forage, but like other
small public lakes in New Jersey, it produces numerous 16- and 17-inch bass, while any much over 19 inches are hard to come by.
When you fish a eutrophic lake, it’s always good to know if it’s essentially glacial. If so, it’s been there for millennia and won’t likely burn out anytime soon. Lake Passaic did diminish into the Great Swamp and Troy Meadows ages ago, and Lake Hopatcong has some serious issues, but like any glacial water remaining with us, you can count on the sustenance of a long natural history. By contrast, Spruce Run Reservoir is a prominent example of a common problem with the state’s reservoirs. Anoxic during recent summers deeper than about 15 feet, during the 1970’s that reservoir was a trout powerhouse with oxygen available all summer in its deepest depths. Allamuchy Pond was damned early in the 20th century but only to raise the water level by about 4 feet. Most of the pond’s weed decay is about that deep and shallower.
That situation gives the clue as to what early summer mornings can do for you. Especially the flats at the top and bottom of the pond, and the gradually sloping eastern shoreline, are great to probe with topwater plugs. You can fish any thick vegetation with weedless frogs; deadfalls, too. Wood in the water is especially productive, but keep in mind that the breakline between weedy shallows of about 4 or 5 feet, and water sloping out into the depths, is especially important when fishing for big bass. You will find flat water that is extensively 3 to 5 feet deep with interspersed weeds and no breakline to set it off from open water, which will produce a lot of smaller bass. But if you find the defining area between weedy flat and open water, give it special attention.
Don’t limit the approach to topwaters; worm that edge. Unweighted traditional-style worms on inset hooks work, as do Senkos rigged Wacky. Senkos cover water quickly. After the worm has settled on bottom, just jig the rod tip so the worm flutters, then take up slack. The retrieve rate is pretty quick. A traditional style worm of 6 to 10 inches is retrieved slowly. Sometimes you let it sink to bottom, allow a long pause, jiggle it a few times, and retrieve it back quickly to place elsewhere. The subtlety is deadly.
Spinnerbaits become especially productive with the turn of the season in September. Try a lift-and-drop retrieve along the steep shoreline. On through October, spinnerbaits continue to work, as do chatterbaits, crankbaits, and stick baits. Keep putting the lures along weeds and wood.
When ice is safe, you might not be the only one out there fishing. Crappies are popular through the ice, but slabs aren’t common. Setting tip-ups for bass and pickerel is especially productive along the steep shoreline.
