Tilcon Lake is an accident of nature: an abandoned quarry in Allamuchy Mountain State Park that filled in a single afternoon in August 2000, when a huge storm sent the Musconetcong River pouring into it. The flood washed in bass, pickerel and panfish, herring were added later, and today this rocky, 88-acre, deep, clear lake is one of New Jersey's best spots for landlocked salmon.
When to fish
- Fall: the state stocks salmon each fall (about 440 in 2025), and shore fishing picks up.
- March and April: salmon can be caught from shore after ice-out, on the same lures that work in fall.
- May: salmon chase spawning herring into weedy shallows, where they'll hit spoons and even topwater plugs.
- Spring through fall: smallmouth, largemouth and pickerel.
Where to fish
- Open deep water: salmon hold in the cold, oxygen-rich layer around 20 to 30 feet in summer.
- Shallow coves on the western side: where largemouth and pickerel spawn.
- Deeper rocky areas: smallmouth spawning and holding water.
- Shoreline cutouts: limited bank access; the banks drop off steeply to over-your-waders depth.
How to fish it
For salmon from shore, cast small spoons, inline spinners and jerkbaits on light line, and vary your depth. From a kayak or canoe you can cover the deep water where salmon suspend. Herring are the main forage for salmon and bass alike.
Getting there
Tilcon is off Waterloo Road (County Route 604) in Allamuchy Mountain State Park. Car-top boats, kayaks and canoes (electric motors only) are carried in from the parking area on Kinney Road; for bank fishing, there's another access at the end of Kinney Road via Bell Road. It's a Holdover Trout Lake with its own trout and salmon rules; check the current Freshwater Fishing Digest.
From the water
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