Merrill Creek Reservoir

Merrill Creek Reservoir is a 650-acre, privately owned reservoir in Harmony Township, Warren County, open to public fishing and more than 200 feet deep. It is one of only two lake trout fisheries in New Jersey, and its lakers reproduce on their own. It also has smallmouth bass, big rainbow and brown trout, and landlocked Atlantic salmon, all thriving on the reservoir's herring and the tiny shrimp-like scuds that fill its depths.

When to fish

• Fall: the state stocks landlocked salmon every October and November once the water cools, and shore fishing for salmon and trout is at its best.
• Winter and early spring: salmon and trout stay catchable from shore through March and April.
• May: salmon chase spawning herring into weedy shallows of 7 feet or less, where they hit spoons and even topwater plugs.
• Year-round: lake trout, which can be kept all year from 2026.

Where to fish

• Rip-rapped dikes and standing timber: where Fish and Wildlife points bass anglers.
• Open water off the shore: the bank drops off fast. Salmon can be anywhere from the bottom to the surface, so vary your retrieve depth.
• Near bottom for lakers: most lake trout are caught within a few feet of the bottom.

How to fish it

For salmon and trout from shore, cast small spoons, inline spinners and jerkbaits on light fluorocarbon. Go bigger to reach farther if small lures aren't producing, and remember that pickerel hit the same lures and can cut light line. Herring are the best bait here when you can get them, and the reservoir's lake trout and salmon also feed heavily on scuds. The current state-record landlocked salmon was caught here on a jig.

Getting there

The reservoir is off Montana Road in Harmony Township. The owners set the boating rules: launched boats have had to be at least 12 feet long, and gas engines can't be run on the water. Merrill Creek is one of New Jersey's two Trophy Trout Lakes, with its own trout, salmon and lake trout rules, and from 2026 it's also a Lunker Bass Lake with stricter bass limits; check the current Freshwater Fishing Digest and the reservoir's own rules before you go.