Round Valley and Merrill Creek Reservoirs
The rule for this water, with the receipt.
Special regulations for Round Valley and Merrill Creek Reservoirs, as the state words them
Hunterdon County · River · NJ
The rules for this water, verbatimOfficial text
Straight from NJ's official regulations. Rules in force today lead; out-of-season rows are dimmed. Nothing is paraphrased. Not legal advice: verify the posted rules at the water.
- troutyear-roundTrout may be harvested within the regulations as shown on the Trout Fishing Regulations page.
- Largemouth Bass and Smallmouth BassDaily limit combined creel and possession limit of threeSize 15-inchAdded to Lunker Bass Lake regulation set; reduced from statewide 12-inch minimum and daily combined limit of five.
- Lake Trout
- Brown & Rainbow Trout (and their hybrids)Open year-roundDaily limit 2 combinedSize 15 inches
- Lake TroutOpen year-roundDaily limit 8 AND 1Size 15 to less than 24 inches AND greater than or equal to 24 inches
Statewide base layerParsed
These defaults apply where the rules above do not modify them.
- Season
- Not captured yet - consult the statewide regulations
- Gear
- Fish may be taken only in the manner known as angling with handline or with rod and line, or as otherwise allowed by law.Statewide
- Bait
- Only the following species may be taken for use as bait. American Eel, Banded Killifish, Creek Chub, Fallfish, Fathead Minnow, Gizzard Shad, Golden Shiner, Margined Madtom, Mummichog, and Tadpole Madtom.Statewide
- Poles
- When fishing from the shoreline , no more than three fishing rods, handlines or combination thereof may be usedStatewide
Where the verbatim rules above name a species, season, or limit, they replace the rows below. Each row is tagged with the layer it comes from.
| Species | Daily limit | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|
Brook Trout | 2 trout in total (Brook, Brown, and Rainbow Trout combined) | min. 9 inch | Statewide |
trout Varies by water: limit of 6 (general trout regulations); limit reduced from 4 to 2; daily limit remains 2 (general trout regulations); limit will also be 2 (general trout regulations) | one daily creel limit in possession | - | Statewide |
Largemouth Bass and Smallmouth Bass | daily combined creel and possession limit of five | min. minimum length of 12 inches | Statewide |
panfish | daily limit of 25 | min. no minimum size limit | Statewide |
American Eel | See size | min. minimum length of nine inches | Statewide |
How this answer was assembled
- StatewideStatewide river rules are the base layer: default season, gear, bait, and limits.
- This waterSpecial rules written for this exact water replace the statewide defaults where they speak.
- Emergency orderEmergency orders in effect today override everything else. They sync quietly when the phone has coverage and never lock you out of the app.
Where this stretch begins and ends
This water is not yet drawn on the map. Its rules are captured and receipted; the geometry ledger records exactly why it is not drawn (an ambiguous name match or a gap in the source data), and it will never ship as a guess. Each rule above describes in the state's own words where it applies, and those written descriptions are the authoritative boundaries.
Season at a glanceDerived
Sampled mid-month from the dated rows; short windows can slip between samples. The rows above are authoritative.
What are you fishing for here?Advice
Pick from the species named in Round Valley and Merrill Creek Reservoirs's rules. Setups are checked against the gear rules in force today, and your picks are remembered on this device only. These are rule-aware suggestions, not a claim about what is biting; advice, not law, and the rules above govern.
Receipts
Local services near Round Valley and Merrill Creek Reservoirs
Tackle shops, guides, and boat launches that serve this water will appear here - a separate lane below the rules, so a local business can reach you without ever getting between you and the regulation.
Run a shop or guide service on Round Valley and Merrill Creek Reservoirs? Get listed.