Boating and Fishing on Pompton Lake

Pompton Lake is a great lake for fishing and boating in northwest New Jersey located in the town of Pompton Lakes. The lake is fed by the Ramapo River flowing from Oakland, and turns into the Passaic River and eventually the Hudson, however you can't take a boat through any of these from Pompton Lake. There is a speed limit of 25 mph, but it is very loosely enforced and there are not many police patrolling out there. Although the neighbors may complain and turn you in using your boat's registration number, so watch out. It's a small lake, just keep that in mind and only go fast when it is safe and doesn't do harm to anyone.

The lake itself is narrow and long, counting the Ramapo River that flows into it and also the small lake that also connects to it, Potash Lake, it is about a two and a half mile run. The speed limit on the river that flows into it and the smaller lake is only 10 MPH so keep that in mind as well. Water skiing is allowed, as are jet ski's. I wouldn't take anything over a 16 ft. boat in here with more then a 90 HP outboard motor, although inboards can be seen on the water sometimes. There is not much debris in the lake, after it rains, like any lake, there is some debris though.

Swimming is not bad although there is a lot of lake weed in this lake, so keep that in mind before you go here. Like any lake, there is more lake weed during certain parts of the season then others. There is a lot of lake weed in the summer months, although this year wasn't too bad with the lake weeds. The lake is also very shallow in some parts and deep in others. The deepest the lake gets is about 20 ft.

Fishing is why most people come to Pompton Lake, there is a lot of bass in the lake and the river that flows into it as well as northern pike, catfish, lake trout, perch, and others. The best thing to use would probably be either worms,plastic worms, or live minnows. I've caught some pretty big "lunkers" out there with live minnows myself. There are two bridges that you will go under, as well as many logs on the sides and shaded areas where bass love to hide. It's really a great lake for bass fishing and more and more people seem to find this out every year.