<b>NEW YORK</b>

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

Water levels were dropping in rivers and creeks in western, upstate New York, tributaries of Lake Ontario, that <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b> is fishing for steelheads, Jay Peck said. The water was also clearing, and this was it: It’s time to get after the steelheads. It’s also time to do that on Salmon River, the lake’s tributary an hour east. All this fishing was two or three weeks ahead of schedule, because of the warm winter. The Salmon’s flow now dropped to 750 cubic feet per second, down from 1,700 previously. Steelhead fishing was also peaking there, and anglers pressured the Salmon, because they had been waiting for the lower water.  The flow at 1,700 was awfully high. The Salmon was cold, though, or 36 to 38 degrees. So a few of the fish, not a lot, were spawning there. A few were drop-backs, fish that already spawned and were returning to the lake to spend summer. Waters were warmer in the western rivers and creeks. That’s near Rochester, and probably 50 percent of the steelheads there already spawned, and those waters warm quicker in spring than the Salmon does, because the waters are smaller than the Salmon. The weekend was cold, helping to keep the water from warming too quickly, and slowing spawning. That made the water 40 degrees in western New York. Anglers pressure those rivers and creeks less, and a trip there with Jay yesterday morning landed six steelheads among eight or nine hooked. The fishing did not disappoint. The fish weren’t in heavy in western New York, and trips needed to hunt the steelheads and fish smart. Trips with Jay there fished egg flies in pools, if the morning was cold. Once the day warmed, making the steelheads active, the trips fished streamers or other big wet flies.  On Salmon River, stoneflies often caught. Small Wooly Buggers and medium-sized Intruder streamers also hooked up there. To catch, anglers covered water. Jay specializes in fly-fishing and catch-and-release, and books trips that fish with conventional tackle with his other guides.

<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

This looked like a great start to striped bass fishing on Delaware River, Bill Brinkman from Philadelphia’s <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> wrote in a report on the shop’s website. Big stripers were yet to arrive, but small stripers were caught. Plenty of 15- to 24-inchers, no keepers, were reported played south of the Philly Airport. The fishing was similar near Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. Bill even heard about a few from the river at Trenton, he said, landed on bait and plugs there.  Bill boated eight to 10 stripers on bloodworms on a trip. On the next trip, he and Helen boated 25 stripers 12 to 19 inches and two catfish. On the next day, he boated 26 stripers and two perch on bloodworms and a catfish on bunker. Anthony from the shop boated more than 20 stripers per day on trips on the river. The river’s shad fishing improved. Two anglers at Trenton landed two shad and lost a few on a trip. Another angler boated five shad and missed a few at Washington’s Crossing. Farther up the river, walleye fishing was good from New Hope to Point Pleasant, mostly on minnows and twister tails. An angler at Point Pleasant pulled in three walleyes 17 to 22 inches on spider grubs in smoke and pumpkinseed. Walleye fishing is open on the river year-round but otherwise is currently limited to catch-and-release in New Jersey for spawning, reopening beginning on May 1.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Five good-sized rainbow trout and a 21-inch lake trout were boated on Round Valley Reservoir on a trip that Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> took Sunday, he wrote in an email. The fish were trolled, some on planer boards and some on leadcore line. The email didn’t mention the lures trolled, except that the laker smacked a Kinchou Minnow. The water was 38 degrees, and a little snow fell that day, “but the fish didn’t seem to mind,” he said.

Most trout-stocked waters were closed to fishing now for the spring stocking, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. But customers last week caught trout, and some waters remain open to fishing or catch-and-release. Anglers caught mostly on midges like Copper Johns. Early black stoneflies and sometimes blue-winged olives hatched.  Trout streams looked to flow at a normal level. The closed trout waters were closed beginning on Monday will be reopened beginning on April 9, opening day of trout season. Catches including smallmouth bass seemed to bite in Lake Hopatcong. Walleyes might’ve bitten in Hopatcong, but walleye season is currently limited to catch and release for spawning, until reopening beginning May 1. This is a time when fish like yellow perch should be active in lakes.

For those who like variety, Spruce Run Reservoir’s fishing began to turn on, said James from <b>Behre Bait & Tackle</b> in Lebanon. All different species started to bite there, great fishing. The catches included crappies and a 7-1/2-pound largemouth bass, the biggest largemouth heard about from there, so far this season. A few hybrid striped bass began to be yanked from Spruce. The water was warming, picking up the angling, but most catches from Spruce still came on live bait or shiners. A few anglers fished artificials like jerk baits or swim baits, but the water was just warming. News from Merrill Creek Reservoir was yet to pick up this year. Not a lot of reports came from Round Valley Reservoir, and fishing began to change there, because of the warming season. Boaters grabbed rainbow trout and lake trout from Round Valley. Shore anglers there still banked a few rainbow trout, not as many as in winter. The rainbows fed in mornings on PowerBait in chartreuse, yellow or orange, and stopped feeding later in day. Lakers were occasionally still reeled from shore at the impoundment, on shiners. The Round Valley Trout Association will stock trophy, 4- to 7-pound trout at Round Valley at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Passaic River ran at a normal flow, good for fishing, and anglers fought northern pike and a few smallmouth bass from the water, said Joe from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook.  This was after the river ran high in winter, and Zoom fluke soft-plastic lures and other soft-plastics like jerk shads will nail the pike. Lakes produced largemouth bass, and anglers often fished plastics for them. A few crappies were reported tugged from lakes. Lake anglers still caught yellow perch, too, he said.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Customers talked about good fishing for crappies at Colonial Lake last week, said Bert from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. Most stocked trout waters were closed to fishing beginning Monday for spring stocking, and will be reopened beginning April 9, opening day of trout season. But some trout waters remain open to fishing or catch-and-release. Customers had been buying flies to fish for trout at places like Pequest River. They mostly bought usual patterns like pheasant-tail nymphs, hares-ear nymphs and Prince nymphs. But early black stoneflies began to hatch. Nothing was heard about fishing at places like Round Valley Reservoir and Spruce Run Reservoir in past days. Bert was at Round Valley a couple of weeks ago, and the water was very low. Someone said that Spruce rose a bit, because of rain.

Virginia who works at the store’s family reeled up yellow perch and crappies from Ocean County College Pond on a trip, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. She and her husband on a trip late last week caught a good-sized, chunky largemouth bass and a sizable chain pickerel at a local pond. Photos were posted on the shop’s Facebook page. Mostly fish active in cold water like pickerel, crappies and yellow perch bit, but largemouths began to hit. Anyone putting in time was catching at lakes. Shiners, killies, nightcrawlers and garden worms are stocked. Murphy’s, located on Route 37, also owns <b>Go Fish Bait & Tackle</b> on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River.

<b>South Jersey</b>

There was a rush of a couple of reports about striped bass nailed from Delaware River last week, said Dom from <b>Barracuda’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Riverside. Then news became quiet because of colder weather in past days. Still, the river’s striper migration seemed to be beginning, and customers bought supplies for the fishing, like one who picked up six tubs of clams. An angler probably wouldn’t buy bait like that if the angler wasn’t into the fish. Customers fish clams for the bass, but bunker was the bait mostly heard about. Frozen clams and bunker are stocked. Some anglers get hyped about the right bait to use. But the stripers are scavengers, and if they’re there, they’ll bite any usual bait. Finding the fish is most important. Dom tells anglers that if they don’t score bites in a half-hour or so, move. A couple of warm days in a row will probably pick up the angling. This next week will probably be when the angling will begin to take off, he thinks. The recent cold days needed to pass, but warmer weather is forecast for the next couple of days. Customers sometimes geared up for crappie fishing at lakes, so that angling seemed to begin a little. Others picked up supplies for chain pickerel fishing. Both are fish that thrive in cool water, and the pickerel anglers all seemed to head to pine waters beyond Medford.  Trout season will be opened beginning on April 9, not long from now.

Anglers from <b>Creek Keepers Bait & Tackle</b> in Blackwood mostly tried for striped bass on Delaware River in past days, Ed Jr. said. Throwbacks caught here and there were heard about. One reported hooking the small stripers at River Winds in West Deptford. That was probably on bloodworms, because that’s the bait the angler bought. The customer was headed back to fish for them yesterday afternoon, saying that was because outgoing tide was when the fish bit for the angler. Customers bought shiners and minnows now and then. A few largemouth bass were landed from lakes. Grenloch Lake was closed to fishing beginning Monday for trout stocking, and will be reopened beginning April 9, opening day of trout season. But a customer caught largemouths there before the closure. Creek Keepers is open daily except is closed on Mondays. The shop will also be open on Mondays probably beginning in two weeks.

White perch fishing was really heating up on brackish rivers, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. That was mostly on Maurice River on bloodworms, stocked at the shop. Any striped bass bite in the river? he was asked. Just small, resident ones, he said. No large, migrating stripers were heard to be caught from Delaware River yet. But that could begin soon. Maybe this week’s full moon would help trigger that. Largemouth bass fishing became decent on lakes. “That’s been promising,” he said. Jerk baits hooked them well, and jigs hit them pretty well. Crappies were yet to bite at lakes as much as they’d be expected this time of season. But some were nabbed, on small jigs with minnows or twister tails. Minnows are stocked.  

Back to Top