Lake Aeroflex is best known for landlocked salmon. It’s also known for year-round trout, but largemouth bass, pickerel, and panfish make it a great fishery. The clear water even supports a reproducing smallmouth bass population relating to stone bottom where the fish find that.
At a maximum of 110 feet deep, Aeroflex is the deepest natural lake in the state. The 119-surface acres give boaters elbow room. Shore-bound anglers have options when it comes to weed pockets, overhangs, and blowdowns, which bass and pickerel occupy. Open water is available for those trout and salmon too.
Andover Hunt and Fish is a right turn and a pedal punch away. The owner, Gerald Mamuric, says the lake offers “a lot of shoreline fishing,” but he adds that “when it comes to salmon, you’re better off at Tilcon Lake.” Whether or not that’s the case, his recommendation of “shiners, and if we do have the herring, that would be the best bait to use,” is spot on.
He carries “shiners, fatheads, and a variety of worms,” and adds that “I haven’t seen mousies in ages.” The little grubs are unbeatable on ice jigs for panfish and trout, but Mamuric also carries “spikes (maggots), mealies, wax worms, regular earthworms.” The tiny jigs tipped with spikes, wax worms, or mealies will take trout and panfish. It might be better to try and catch the salmon on fatheads suspended just under the ice on tip-ups. In any event, trout and salmon are the most popular ice fishing targets. Keep the line test of the leader minimal and hook size tiny.
Good-sized largemouth bass come through the ice on tip-ups. Use the largest shiners you can get, and set the bait anywhere from eight to 25 feet deep along weedlines. Use wire leaders or heavy fluorocarbon, because it’s even more likely you’ll hook a pickerel than a bass. Ice fishing is popular at Aeroflex because fish get caught.
Naturally, the open water season results in a lot of bass and pickerel getting caught, and Mamuric says, “For the bass, you can’t go wrong with the plastic worms.” That’s been my experience precisely. So far, I’ve caught all of my bass – besides an 18-incher through the ice – on Chompers traditional-style worms and Yum Dingers. I’ve caught pickerel on jigs as deep as 20 feet, and though I’ve tried topwaters in favorable conditions, I’ve missed hits but haven’t caught anything on one yet.
The water is clear, so even though the shorelines typically drop off, topwaters might be effective along the weed edges early and late in the day. Near the ramp you’ll find extensive weedbeds, and you can work a topwater over them. Near the power lines weedbeds exist, too.
Beyond the narrows, back into the oval, cove-like area of the lake’s back end, bass and pickerel exist with water plenty deep to hold them. I’ve caught pickerel fishing the bottom edge of weedlines late in June. It’s not always the case that most of the fish will be that deep – around 20 feet – but it’s pretty easy to try for them there.
Mamuric says about smallmouth bass that they “would hang out in the back near the power lines.” I’ve never caught one, seen one caught, or heard of any caught besides Mamuric’s assurance that they’re there, but I’ve read that they’re in the lake. Diving plugs, a variety of jigs, plastic worms are all good choices for them around any rocks, and shiners will work, too.
Mamuric sells a lot of shiners for bass and pickerel, though he says it’s “not an easy thing to get live bait… I have to have it as a bait store, so I make the effort in picking them up myself. They used to be delivered.” Bait and Boat of Netcong had big holding tanks for shiners shipped from Arkansas. The outfit served as a distribution hub, but they’ve been out of business for years.
However you approach the fishing, Lake Aeroflex is a great lake to bass fish. Pickerel shouldn’t be shunned, either, and they grow pretty big. It’s a tantalizing situation that smallmouth bass can be caught, too.
The boat launch is a strong, concrete ramp. You’re limited to electric, oars, paddles, or pedal-powered kayak. Be careful when headed out beyond the weedbed, because it gets very shallow. It may be best to lift the electric and paddle through.
