Lake Audrey Information

South Jersey Bass Club Association

LAKE AUDREY PROJECT
(this page last updated: 1/17/2022)

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NOTE: On January 10, 2022, Lee Widjeskog passed away. Lee was instrumental in the acquisition, development and maintenance of Lake Audrey. Lee was very involved with the lake during his time as an employee of the NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife and all of the years following his retirement. He will be greatly missed.

Background:
Lake Audrey is a 120+ acre lake located between Millville and Mauricetown in Cumberland County (near the Mauricetown Bridge over the Maurice River). It was acquired by the New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife in 2004. The lake was not able to support fish life, due to an inadequate pH level and lack of fish holding structure. A multi-phase project was undertaken to modify the water quality, add fish habitat structures, create shoreline fishing areas, construct a boat ramp & parking area, and stock fish. The SJBCA decided to participate in some of the improvements to the lake. Volunteers who participate in SJBCA-sanctioned "work parties" at the lake earn a participation point towards an SJBCA fishing jacket for each time they show up and work.

In late 2005, early 2006, late 2007 and late 2008, volunteers from several SJBCA member clubs built & placed fish structures in the lake. In total, they placed over 40 structures in the lake. These particular structures were fabricated from wooden pallets and concrete blocks. Several wreck boats were sunk in deeper portions of the lake to provide additional structure. Volunteers also cleared brush to improve the makeshift ramp area (not in the same location as the permanent ramp will be). At subsequent work parties (which included SJBCA members and others), 136 tons of lime were dispersed into the lake, in order to adjust the pH level. The lime was purchased with a grant from the Cumberland County Improvement Authority, which was applied for by the Cumberland County chapter of the NJ Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs. A pH test taken during January 2007 found the level to be 7.7, suitable for fish stocking. (Subsequent pH tests found the level to be remaining in the ideal range.) Baitfish, fingerling smallmouth bass and a limited number of adult smallmouth bass were stocked in the lake during 2007 and 2008. It appeared that successful smallmouth bass spawns took place during the springs of 2008 and 2009. Smallmouth bass are the only game fish planned for the lake at this time.

On July 7, 2008, the State Fish & Game Council made a decision to officially close Lake Audrey to all fishing to "allow time for the lake's fishery to fully develop". Click here to view the official notice.

On August 17, 2009, the State announced that it was proposing to open Lake Audrey for public fishing on January 1, 2010 [the actual opening day will be January 4], but institute a "catch & immediate release" status for the lake for the foreseeable future. This new fish & game code will be in effect until at least 2012, effectively banning all tournaments until that year at the earliest.

A primitive ramp and parking area were created on the opposite side of the lake from the NJDFW office. It is located at the end of a pre-existing dirt road off of the Mauricetown Causeway. The parking lot was coated with crushed sea shells.

A Lake Audrey article from 2010 on the NJ Fish & Wildlife website... njfishandwildlife.com/pdf/2010/digfsh6-11.pdf
...and another http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/artlakeaudrey10.htm .

Click here to see photos taken at Lake Audrey on January 1, 2010.

The Cumberland County chapter of the NJ Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs received a grant from the Cumberland County Improvement Authority and purchased at floating dock for the ramp area. This was installed 2011.

Unfortunately, numerous reports were received regarding people illegally transporting the smallmouth bass from Lake Audrey to nearby ponds such as South Vineland Park and Giampetro Park Pond. These people helped to devastate the adult smallmouth bass population in the lake. Another contributing factor to the decline in the bass population here was a gradual decline in the pH level of the water. The placement of a huge quantity of lime in the lake in 2006 had brought the pH up to an ideal level for bass survival and reproduction. But the level slowly declined over time, making the water acidic again. No definitive cause has been found for the declining pH level, but it is assumed to be a characteristic of the groundwater around this spring-fed lake. It is not known whether this condition is temporary or long term. Electro-shocking and seining performed by Fish & Wildlife biologists showed that the presence of adult & juvenile smallmouth bass steadily declined and eventually none were found. Largemouth bass, introduced by an unknown source, came to dominate the overall bass population.

South Jersey Kayak Bass Fishing Club (a member club of the South Jersey Bass Club Association) "adopted" Lake Audrey with a commitment of performing shoreline & parking lot clean-ups at the lake several times per year. They will also be involved in habitat improvement projects there (see 2013 photos below).

The updated Fish & Game Code of 2012 continued the ban on taking bass from the lake, so livewell bass tournaments were not permitted until 2014 at the earliest. Some "paper tournaments" were permitted with all bass being caught, measured/weighed & released and the overall results reported to the State.

NJ Fish & Wildlife regulations for 2014-2015 and 2016-2017 continued to maintain the lake as a "catch & release" fishery for bass. For 2018, after some prodding, NJDFW dropped the catch & release regulation, allowing livewell bass tournaments to be held at the lake. (Practically speaking, the bass population in the lake wasn't ideal for tournaments at that time and few or none were being scheduled.)

In 2018, a large supply of lime was purchased with the intent to disperse it into the lake during the winter of 2018-2019 and raise the pH level of the water back to an acceptable level to maintain a fish population. A plan to have the lime dispersed by volunteers was considered but was ultimately done by employing a contractor who did the job with mechanized equipment. Following this initial re-liming, the pH level was monitored, with the intention of purchasing & dispersing smaller amounts of lime as needed to maintain the pH level.

A survey of the fish population at the lake revealed that largemouth bass were prevalent, but mostly small. No fish stockings were planned. It was also noted that grass had become abundant in the lake.

Bass tournaments held during 2021 had generally good results, with some decent five-bass limits weighed in and some good sized lunker winners in the five pound range.

Contact:
Lake Audrey is maintained by the NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management, under the supervision of Nate Figley. He can be reached at 856-785-0730.

Volunteers who work on projects at Lake Audrey need to complete a Wildlife Conservation Corps application (this application is available on the NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife site and is needed to get you covered under the State's liability insurance coverage during the project).

Aerial Photographs of Lake Audrey


Ferry Road runs across the top of the photos; Buckshutem Road runs down the right side of the photos. The NJDFW office is on Ferry Road in the top center of both photos. The temporary boat ramp is in the upper right-hand corner of the photos, behind the auto repair shop. The permanent boat ramp & parking lot will be along the right-hand side of the large peninsula in the center of the photos.

Topographic Map of Lake Audrey
Topo Map

Lake Photos
Photographs from the SJBCA's first work party on November 6, 2005. Building fish habitat structures out of wooden pallets & concrete blocks and dropping them in a designated area out in the lake.

Launching boats at makeshift ramp.	Pile of pallets (pile was more organized for 2nd work party)
Project Coordinator Lee Widjeskog loading pallets onto Bill Duckart's boat.	Loading pallets and blocks onto work boat.
View of the lake from the NJDFW office.	Volunteers (from left: Mark Musso, Rick Lentz, Bill Duckardt, Fred Lentz, John Radamski, Dave Burket, Gary Corliss)

Photographs from the SJBCA's second work party on January 22, 2006. Building more fish habitat structures out of wooden pallets & concrete blocks and dropping them in a designated area out in the lake.

Loading pallets and blocks into work boat.	More loading. (Carmen Bersani, Fred Lentz & Gary Corliss)
Dropping fish structures out in lake.	Loading pallets into work boat.
Loading blocks onto work boat.

Photographs from the SJBCA's third work party on April 30, 2006. (Mixing up a "slurry" of lime & water and spraying it along the shoreline of the lake with fire hoses.)

Piles of lime bags waiting to be dumped.	Slurry tank.
Dumping lime into the slurry tank.	Filling slurry tank with water.
Dumping lime into the slurry tank.	Spraying the lime slurry into the lake.
More spraying.	Another angle.
Hauling bags of lime.	Keeping the slurry mixed.
Monitoring the slurry tank.	More dumping & mixing (bit of a dirty job).
Lime slurry disperses into lake water.	Another view of the lake after liming.
Spraying the lime slurry into the lake.	Dumping bags of lime into the lake.
Opening & dumping bags of lime into the lake.

Photographs from work party on July 16, 2006. Dumping bags of lime out in the middle of the lake by boat.

(photos pending)

Photographs from work party on August 20, 2006. Dumping bags of lime out in the middle of the lake by boat.

(photos pending)

Photographs from work party on October 13, 2007. Sinking wreck boats in the middle of the lake.

Junk boat being filled with concrete blocks and fish-attracting items	Finishing filling a wreck boat
Another wreck boat ready to be towed	Guide boat leads the way to the sinking spots
Towing wreck boats out into the lake

Photographs from work party on November 23, 2008. Building fish habitat structures out of wooden pallets & concrete blocks and dropping them at designated areas in the lake.

Volunteers arrive at the rendezvous point.	Volunteers arrive at the rendezvous point. (Does that look like a work boat?)
Volunteers discuss the project with Lee Widjeskog (white hat in back on right).	The makeshift launch ramp (with xmas trees ready for placement),
Boats get launched.	Xmas trees get transported to the middle of the lake.
Loading up pallets and concrete blocks.	Loading up pallets and concrete blocks.
Transporting pallets & blocks to drop locations.	Assembling a pallet structure.
Loading the work boats back up.	Loading the work boats back up.
The SJBCA members of the work group pose for photo. (left to right: Rashawn Lewis, Terry Boesenhofer, Bob Russell, Rob Kunze, Fred Lentz)

Photographs from work party on March 9, 2013. Building fish habitat structures out of Christmas trees & concrete blocks and dropping them at designated areas in the lake. All work was done by members of South Jersey Kayak Bass Fishing Club, which "adopted" this lake for the purposes of shoreline clean-up and fish habitat projects.

Preparing the habitat structures	Placing the structures in strategic locations
The volunteers after a hard morning's work

Lime purchased in 2018, to be dispersed during the winter of 2018-2019.

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