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Parvin Lake:
South Jersey's
Trophy largemouth lake
Lee & Sharon De Bevoise
anglers & editors
Looking for trophy bass? Check out this lake in Southern New Jersey. Located in Salem County , Parvin Lake makes up part of New Jersey's Parvin State Park. This 95-acre manmade lake is one of the tributaries of the Maurice River. And, it is only one of two lakes in New Jersey to be designated as trophy lakes for largemouth bass.
Lures
A 4- to 6-inch plastic worm or lizard is the best all-season bait for Parvin Lake. Favorite colors are purple, grape, plum or black. Most importantly, regardless of primary color, each worm or lizard should have a chartreuse tail.
Plastic lizards work best when Carolina-rigged. Best rigging are with ¼-ounce to ½-ounce bullet weights for your Texas-rigs and a ¼-ounce egg sinker when Carolina-rigging.
Another year-round favorite is a ¼-ounce Rat-L-Trap in the bleeding shiner pattern.
Feeding frenzy
Bass on Parvin Lake often go into feeding frenzies. These periods last approximately 30 minutes and can occur once or twice a day. If you notice a sudden increase in strikes, change to a Rat-L-Trap or another similar crankbait.
Hot spots
A brush pile near the swimming beach is a year-round hot spot. Retrieve a Rat-L-Trap rapidly through it to avoid hanging-up. If you do hang-up, leave the brush pile alone for at least an hour.
Another hot spot in early spring is found between the first point on the northern shoreline and the swimming beach. Concentrate on the scattered stumps in this area.
Also try fishing the lake-side of the island near the southern shoreline. Focus your efforts on the gravel flat.
A good springtime bass fishing spot is located about 150 yards beyond the flagpole. It is a spawning area on a sandbar.
Spring
Until the water temperature reaches 52 degrees Fahrenheit, 1/4-ounce Rat-L-Traps are effective when retrieved slowly near the bottom. Another effective lure is a 1/4-ounce jig-and-pig combination in either all black or black and black and blue.
Hard jerkbaits also are a good choice for spring bass fishing. The best pattern is natural minnow. That is to say, lures with either gray or black and silver back and a silver belly.
Slider worms are another productive bait from mid-April through mid-June. Since the water is stained, darker colors work best.
Summer
Parvin Lake is often referred to as "Starvin' Parvin" in the summer. Because of the extremely heavy fishing pressure, the bass seem to develop lockjaw in the warmer months.
However, it is possible to catch largemouths in the lily pads if you are patient and persistent. However, it may take a dozen or more casts to the same spot to trigger a strike but be assured that bass are lurking below the pads.
Plastic worms and grubs work well in the lily pads, as do unweighted Slug-Gos. Plastic frogs in a natural green pattern also can be productive. Additionally, jig-and-pig combos can be a hot bait.
Fall
White spinnerbaits work well anywhere during the fall. However, you must experiment with various retrieval speeds until you find what the bass want.
Mann's Minus-One crankbaits in a fire tiger pattern work well around shallow points during this time of year. And, white buzz baits can be productive early in the morning when worked around stumps.
Winter
There are only two effective winter lures: Rat-L-Traps and jig-and-pig combinations. The only speed for both is s-l-o-w. Locals explain that if you aren't cleaning `angel hair' weeds off your Rat-L-Trap, then you are fishing too fast.
When using a jig-and-pig, only occasionally move it. When you do it should only be slightly. Many times a bass will just sit there with the bait in his mouth. So, whenever you see any line movement or feel heaviness when you lift your rod tip, immediately set the hook.
Tackle
As with all the bodies of water in southern New Jersey, the lighter the line and tackle, the better. Your line's pound-test should not exceed 8- to 10-pounds. Ideal rod and reel outfits would be either spin cast, spinning or bait casting in the medium-light to medium category. Some Parvin Lake anglers even prefer ultralight outfits with 6 pound-test line.
Ramp access
The lake has a small ramp on the western shoreline. It is an electric motor-only lake.
Conclusion
So, if you are looking for bragging size largemouth bass and don't mind a challenge, give Parvin Lake a try. You won't regret it.
Editors Note: Click here to go to our list of Fish & Game Agencies websites and find New Jersey's.
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