New Jersey Fisherman Reports Seeing Mountain Lion at Local Lake

They are not stopping.

I'm talking about the emails I receive on a consistent basis from New Jersey residents claiming to have seen mountain lions.

A number of those most recent reports are below. Other stories about mountain lion encounters reported throughout the state can be found here.

One of my most recent emails comes from a gentleman who was fishing in a New Jersey lake this summer.

Google Maps

Lake Ames is location of mountain lion sighting

I received a report from PM who told me about his mountain lion encounter. It happened in June or July of 2024.

According to PM, he was fishing from his kayak in Lake Ames in Rockaway.

PM says he had just paddled his kayak to the shore, just after sunset. He was pulling the kayak about 15 feet to the parking lot when he heard something.

"I heard a low growl come from the tree line, which was around twenty feet to my right. I was confused at first, as I had never heard anything like this ever, As I turned to face the sound, it growled again. It was dark, but I assure you what I saw was a big cat."

PM says he knows bobcats are in New Jersey, but this was no bobcat.

"I could only see the face through the trees, but it was too high off the ground and too large. I froze up, and for a brief moment, we stared at each other. It then slowly and silently moved back into the trees, where I could no longer see it."

He loaded his kayak onto his truck and drove away looking for the animal from his truck. No luck, though, that's all he saw.