<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Adirondack Mountains</b>

Ice just began to cap over some of the lakes, said John from <b>FISH307.com</b> in Lake George. Nobody mentioned ice fishing yet this season, and a cold snap hit Monday and Tuesday. Daytime temperatures were in the 30 degrees, and nights were in the teens. Some places to the north in the Adirondacks dipped to single digits at night. Daytimes were supposed to warm to the 40s later this week. Nights were supposed to be cold, and conditions for forming ice weren’t great, but better, after the warm autumn and beginning of winter. Boaters still hooked landlocked salmon and lake trout from Lake George, like was reported here in previous weeks. That didn’t really change now, John said, and the fish were caught in various depths. That was because a thermocline was yet to develop, after the lake rolled over for the season. Shore anglers also landed the salmon. The shop is fully stocked for ice fishing, including carrying all the live baits. FISH307 is both a website and a brick-and-mortar store carrying all supplies for the areas’ angling.

 <b>Salmon River and Western N.Y. Rivers</b>

Winter’s first substantially cold day happened Monday, said Jay Peck from <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b> that evening. The temperature probably didn’t rise above 12 degrees, but the cold was only going to last another day. That night was supposed to be 10 degrees, maybe in the single digits. Temperatures were supposed to reach the 40 degrees by this coming Friday. Long-term forecasts looked good for fishing, because lots of precipitation, a mix of snow and rain, was predicted. Western New York’s Lake Ontario tributaries, around Rochester, where Jay fishes for huge brown trout, have been in a drought. He hopes for a good soaking that could begin to remedy that. Some of the area’s creeks he fishes began to rise, and began to give up the trout. The waters were so low previously that any of the trout that had already migrated to them died, and more of the fish, fresh from the lake, wouldn’t migrate in, until the water rose. The fish winter in the tributaries because forage is more abundant there than in the lake that season. The trout grow huge because they summer in the lake. Farther east, Salmon River, where Jay fishes for steelheads throughout winter, had already run high. That area is east of Lake Ontario and gets lake-effect rain and snow. It already got rain and snow this season, and Salmon River recently ran as high as 1,800 cubic feet per second at the dam, and 2,400 farther downstream at Pineville. That’s high for fishing, and Jay prefers 285 to 750, and the river dropped to 750 Monday. A decent number of steelheads swam the river, and Jay didn’t know what kind of “mood” they were in, once the water dropped. He was supposed to fish the river maybe today and definitely the next couple of days. The cold snap probably froze some of the river, helping to slow the current. That could be good for fishing, including helping lines to sink. High water can make sinking them difficult. Jay will probably fish the usual “winter fly box” for the steelheads: eggs, nymphs and streamers. He suspected eggs and nymphs might catch for the moment. The last time he fished for the steelheads on a trip, some were hooked on Zonker streamers, and one was hooked on an egg fly.  Jay specializes in fly-fishing and catch-and-release, and books trips that fish with conventional tackle with his other guides. Catch Jay exhibiting at the Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, N.J., from January 29 through 31.

<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

Fishing was nothing less than phenomenal, Bill Brinkman from Philadelphia’s <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> wrote in an emailed report from the shop. Once customer averaged four to eight trout per trip at Pennypack Creek, fishing there a few times a week. He dunked wax worms and earthworms, “just working his way down the creek, picking at every hole,” Bill wrote. Trout anglers at Core Creek Reservoir kept limiting out. They moved around the lake, until finding the trout, and that mattered most for the angling, and PowerBait caught best. Near the bridge at the beginning of the lake is Bill’s favorite spot. Anglers also winged lots of panfish including crappies, yellow perch and bluegills at the reservoir on small jigs with waxies or minnows. At the waters at the Penn Warner Club, everything bit, including largemouth bass, northern pike and yellow perch. Two anglers crushed the fish from shore. Fishing there is available by purchasing a membership.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> worked Paulinskill River for trout on a trip Sunday, he wrote in an email. He plugged a wild brown trout and lost a good-sized trout. The brown – “not a monster … but left me just as excited!” he wrote – hit a size-3 Rapala Countdown Lure in rainbow trout color. The fishing was slow, but better than staying home, he said. Dave might be finished guiding until weather warms, but he’s been fishing on his own, and also fished the Paulinskill on a previous recent trip, covered in the last report here. He had noticed that the river ran at a healthy flow that’s good for fishing with lures, his favorite way to target trout on streams. The plugging is effective and fun and can attract large trout. A fair amount of flow is needed to avoid snagging lures on debris like logs and on bottom.

If lakes froze during the two days of cold this week, only skim ice formed, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. That would be the first time they froze during this warm winter. Weather is supposed to become warmer now. Anglers hoped sustained freezing would still happen this winter to form fishable ice. A few customers during the holidays bought flies for trout fishing. They picked up small patterns like midges, like an RS2, and blue-winged olives. Some bought small streamers. Water flow was in good shape, probably a little high, on trout streams, because of rain. Walleyes were hooked here and there on Lake Hopatcong on larger Rapala jigs. Trout landed from Round Valley Reservoir from shore were sometimes heard about.

Passaic River ran at a good level, “not rolling too much now,” said Cheryl from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook. The river had been high. But nothing was heard about fishing the river, like for northern pike or carp. Few anglers seemed around in the cold the past couple of days. One angler reported still catching trout at Verona Park Lake.

Burt from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook was in the Delaware Water Gap area late last week, and Big Flatbrook looked good, running at about a normal level, he said. Rain had fallen before then, and Van Campen Brook also looked good like that. The waters might’ve become icy in the cold early this week. He saw boaters that day fishing Delaware River, probably for walleyes. Walleye catches were talked about previously from the river. Delaware River appeared to run at about a normal level, too. He was in Ringwood the next day, and reservoirs there looked 20 or 30 feet low, despite recent rain. The reservoirs flowed into Wanaque River, he assumed. A couple of customers fished for trout at Ken Lockwood Gorge. One said he had been scoring well, reeling in four to six trout per trip, though he fished whenever he felt like going, not just at ideal times. But then all the anglers said they suddenly hooked no trout. The theory was that blue herons decimated the fish in low, clear water. Burt’s seen a trout there with a hole in its side that a heron apparently stabbed.   

Anglers might not have fished in the cold the last two days, but some talked about hitting largemouth bass well at lakes previously, said Tony from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. They said the fishing was “a little different,” because of the warm season. The catches were heard about on jerk baits fished slowly with twitching. Rat-L-Traps were another lure talked about that caught. Lots of chain pickerel and crappies bit in lakes. Customers bought minnows for the crappies. Minnows or any flashy lures could clock the picks.

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