<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Adirondack Mountains</b>

No fishable ice covered Lake George, but all other local lakes held fishable ice, said John from <b>FISH307.com</b> in the village of Lake George. Lake George is a bigger, deeper lake and gets lots of wind, so is the final to freeze in the area each winter, if it freezes. Some of the larger lakes in the Adirondacks weren’t as frozen as during some winters, because of this warm season. A walleye ice-fishing tournament was canceled on Great Sacandaga Lake last weekend. Ice was fished on Sacandaga, but the ice was too thin to hold vehicles. Plenty of other lakes were fished on the ice in the Adirondacks, including Schroon Lake, Brant Lake, Paradox Lake and Trout Lake. Schroon held 8 inches of ice on the northern end, but only 4 on the southern, and anglers needed to be careful about the ice on the southern. Ice-fishing was pretty good. Good reports were heard about the angling for yellow perch and crappies. Tackle was fished for them like Caty, Marmooska and tungsten jigs. Grubs were fished on any of those. Fathead minnows worked well on the perch and crappies, fished along bottom. Anglers couldn’t fish for lake trout on Lake George on the ice, so they fished elsewhere for lakers, including on Schroon Lake. All ice-fishing baits, a large supply, were stocked, except icicles, and icicles were expected to be carried soon. FISH307.com is both a brick-and-mortar store and a website, selling all supplies for local fishing, including ice-fishing.

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

Jay Peck from <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b> exhibited at The Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, New Jersey, throughout the weekend, he said. He was just getting back to fishing today, but Salmon River was in great shape for steelhead fishing. A healthy run of the fish, fresh from Lake Ontario, swam the river at Douglaston. This was looking like a good winter run of steelheads in the river. The river ran at 335 cubic feet per second, and that’s low, but good for his angling. Precipitation was scarce this winter, and no snow covered the banks. But that could change quickly, and 3 feet of snow could dump in one storm. Weather was warm for winter, and Jay imagined the river was 35 or 36 degrees, a great temperature for the fishing for the time of year. He knew somebody who fished the lower fly-fishing zone yesterday morning, grabbing 10 bites, landing two of the steelheads. Jay also fishes for the huge brown trout in Lake Ontario’s tributaries farther west in New York, around Rochester, this time of year. But those waters were extremely low. The trout grow large because they summer in the lake. They winter in the rivers and streams, because forage is more abundant in the tribs that season. Steelheads swim Salmon River in winter for the same reason, after summering in the lake. The trout spawn in the tributaries when they first enter in autumn. Steelheads spawn in spring in Salmon River and other rivers that are tributaries of the lake. The trout and steelheads return to the lake for summer. Jay specializes in fly-fishing and catch-and-release, and books trips that fish with conventional tackle with his other guides.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

Anglers ice-fished on Lake Musconetcong and Budd Lake through yesterday, landing catches like yellow perch in the coves, said Kevin from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. But the ice would probably melt in today’s forecast warmth and rain, and maybe no more fishable ice would form this winter. Long-range forecasts looked like that. Trout streams were fished, including Musconetcong and Pequest rivers. The fishing was a little slow, but the waters were coming off the cold snap that ended around the blizzard two Saturdays ago. Small bead-headed nymphs hooked the trout.

A little ice-fishing bait was sold, but rain and warmth forecast for today would probably make the ice, whatever fishable ice there was, sloppy and messy, said Braden from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. The store was loaded with the bait, including fathead minnows, medium and large shiners, mousies, spikes and wax worms, and usual freshwater bait – nightcrawlers and red worms – that were also fished on the ice. A few customers fished for trout on Pequest River last week, and fished trout streams whenever the water levels were average or not too high. A few of the trout were known to be banked, not great fishing, but one or two reeled in per trip. This was February, after all. Water levels weren’t consistent, rising high from precipitation sometimes, too.

 <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> from Pine Brook will exhibit at the Kayak Fishing & Outdoor Adventure Expo on Saturday and Sunday in Parsippany, Cheryl from the shop said. The store’s two booths will feature tackle including rods, reels and some lures. Nothing was really available to report about fishing, since the blizzard and deep snow that lingered afterward. But much of the snow melted this week, except the large piles that were shoveled and plowed up and would take time to melt. Passaic River flowed at about a normal level. Customers fish the river for catches including northern pike and carp. The state stocks the pike, and the river is one of New Jersey’s few waters that harbor pike. They can grow large in the river.

Not much fishing happened since the blizzard, and lakes had been mostly frozen, said Tony from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Today was supposed to be in the 60 degrees, and the ice would melt. Ice remained through yesterday, and anglers until then fished a few open patches of water for catches like chain pickerel, yellow perch and crappies. Those are fish that will bite in cool water, unlike largemouth bass that can be reluctant to hit until consistently more warmth. A variety of tackle could be fished for the pickerel, perch and crappies. But if anglers simply wanted to catch, minnows were a best bet.

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