<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

Smallmouth bass fishing bounced back big time on the Delaware River after high waters from rains had hampered the bite, said Bill from <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Philadelphia. One customer fished the river at Bull's Island, catching 45 of the fish from 10 to 15 inches on minnows, and the stretch between the boat ramp to the Stockton Bridge was the most prolific. Another hit the river near the New Hope wing dam, landing a bunch of smallies and four walleyes to 18 inches. The bass were fought on white grubs and shallow-running crank baits, and the walleyes were angled on chartreuse Power Grubs. A couple of anglers drifted the river from Frenchtown to Point Pleasant, scoring well on smallmouths on fathead minnows and rubber grubs, on some afternoons playing 50 of the fish. Another angler worked small Rat-L-Traps along the bridge abutments at Point Pleasant, tangling with 19 smallies and five small striped bass. A whopper, 8-pound walleye was hauled from the river at Byram. Even the upper river seemed busy with smallmouth bass, walleyes, stripers and trout caught at the Water Gap.
 
<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Quite a few channel catfish were tugged from the Delaware River, and the whiskerfaces gobbled up dead baits on demand, said Bill from <b>Bill’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Phillipsburg. Considerable cats included Michael Merritt’s 7.9-pounder, Charles Hanson’s 7.8- and 5.9-pounders, John Seymore’s 6-pounder and Rich Dipple’s 4-pound 12-ouncer and 3-pound 8-ouncer. A wild mix of species was on tap at Merrill Creek Reservoir. Shawn Dornblaser nabbed a 5-pound 11-ounce pickerel, a 5.1-pound brown trout and a 4.1-pound largemouth bass at the impoundment. John Savola pulled out two alligator-sized pickerel 6.2 and 5.4 pounds from the waters, and Bob Swope scored a 3-pound 12-ounce largemouth there. Shiners will attract varied catches from the reservoir.

Smallmouth bass fishing really got hopping again on the Delaware River, said Greg from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Paramus. He drilled more than 20 of the bronzebacks from 13 to 15 inches in 4 hours in the Dingman’s Ferry area on Keitech swim baits in green pumpkin. Plenty of trout were hung again from the Rockaway River, because of subsided water levels, and the holdovers were eager to wolf down garden worms and salmon eggs.

Water temperatures were dropping on the lake, said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. Hybrid striped bass and walleye fishing was a blast on worms and herring, especially at the drop-offs along Chestnut Point and Elba Point, off the yacht club and back toward Byram near Pine Tree Point and Cow Tongue. Jacek Dziduch mugged his share of hybrids to an 8-pound 1-ouncer and a 7-pound 8-ouncer. Tommy Fernandez tackled a 6.6-pound walleye, and Robert Smith spanked a 4-pound 2-ounce ‘eye. The shop’s fall hours, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., will begin on Monday, September 14, and Dow’s will remain open with boat rentals and bait until November sometime, before switching to a winter schedule, like for ice-fishing season.

Pickerel and largemouth bass activity was happening above average at Lake Hopatcong, said Mark from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Mark Wojick beat plenty of both while casting out Senkos and Rapala X-Raps. Head to the Ramapo River for trout that are willing to pounce on garden worms. Greenwood Lake held promising largemouth bass fishing for anglers using Keitech swim baits.

Lake trout could be found at Round Valley Reservoir nearly anywhere that baitfish schools were marked, said Steve from <b>Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop</b>. The lakers generally hung in 65-foot depths, and were clocked on live herring. Rainbow trout fishing at night was hit or miss at the Valley, but anglers who scored a “hit” banged out a half-dozen or more to 3 pounds. Spruce Run Reservoir offered terrific channel catfishing. Late-evening chunking with dead herring kept producing cats to Greg Honachefsky’s 8.5-pounder. The night fishery for hybrid striped bass might get an angler into two or three fish. Also at Spruce, crappies opened their mouths in the coves during the daytime.  

Water levels on the trout streams were finally healthy, not flooded out because of rains for a change, and the fishing was good, said Bill Hoffman from <b>Skylands Angler</b> from Clinton. Although the deluge of rains in spring and summer often washed out fishing on the rivers, the rains also kept the waters from becoming low and stagnant like is sometimes an issue in the warmer months. Trouting with Tricos in the early mornings was probably best on the Pequest River. Angling with white flies later in the day was probably best on the Musconetcong. The white fly hatch, the most consistent hatch of larger flies, is a great opportunity to fish large, size-14 dries. Generic nymphs like hares ears will also gain attention in the various streams. But Bill also fly-rodded for carp, largemouth bass and hybrid striped bass. The carp were around and could be caught, and copping them on a fly is difficult but rewarding. Success seemed mostly a matter of placing a cast in the right place, but retrieving in the right way to almost trick them into biting was also important. Bill usually fishes for them with any bonefish pattern, but a couple of sinking ant flies also worked. Largemouth fishing seemed somewhat challenging, for some reason, but will probably get better as the weather cools. Bill fishes for them at places like the ponds at Hoffman Park, offering easy access to several waters on foot paths, and a couple of other places, including a private lake. The bucketmouths seemed to prefer top-waters lately, so a deer-hair fly with floatant to keep them high will work. Bill often fishes a <a href="http://skylandsangler.com/Fly_Tying.html" target="_blank">Knight Slider</a> for them. He usually targets the hybrids at Spruce Run Reservoir, and they also seemed slower to respond for unknown reasons. Bill also took a trip to scope out fly fishing in the surf at Sandy Hook, even though the season was early for the surf. Not much was happening yet, but he’s begun to keep an eye on the wash, anticipating the fall migration of striped bass and blues. But false albacore will be one of the first fish to kick off the season’s surf angling, and the high-powered members of the tuna family are one heck of a fight from the suds. No appearances of the albies in the surf were heard about yet, but they usually move in when baitfish begin to pour out of the bays and rivers into the ocean, usually starting around September’s full moon that just passed. Albies were especially abundant for boaters farther out in the ocean this season, but nobody can know whether a substantial population will move into surf in a given year. But the time has arrived to expect them if they’re going to show. The only real way to take a guided trip for albies with Bill is to stay on notice for when he discovers them from the beaches, and be able to head right out while the fish are there. That’s fishing, and if you do hook up, you won’t forget the experience. Fighting the powerful albies from shore, without the ability to follow them like from a boat, is something. Skylands Angler guides fly-fishing trips for trout on the Musconetcong and Pequest rivers and Ken Lockwood Gorge. Bill aims to teach anglers, whether beginners or advanced, how to fish the rivers, so they even can come back and catch on their own. That includes fly selection, how to fish the flies, casting lessons and all aspects. He also offers trips for other freshwater fish, like pike, hybrid striped bass, carp and largemouth bass, if anglers want to fly rod for them. Plus he guides fly trips in the ocean and bay surf during the spring and fall migrations at Sandy Hook and Island Beach State Park.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Smallmouth bass “woke up” in the South Branch of the Raritan River, said Pat from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. Tube lures in green pumpkin grabbed the bigger bronzebacks to 4 pounds, while Rapala crank baits claimed better numbers of the smallmouths. Cooling waters will really get them going, Pat said. All the local rivers were finally clean and highly fishable, and some excellent action on holdover trout came from the Pequest River for fly anglers flinging out small blue-winged olives in size 16.

Lake Riviera served up the most consistent largemouth bass and pickerel fishing, said Jeff from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. Small stick baits and shiners drew strikes from both. At Lester’s Lake catfish vacuumed up dead herring baits from the bottom. At the Trilco stretch of the Toms River, fair-sized chain pickerel to 3 pounds whacked shiners and Rapala crank baits.

The Delaware River’s fishing kicked into high gear, said Eric from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville. Smallmouth bass and walleyes were chomping at the bit to pounce on lures, and the best action seemed to happen from right before dark around 6 p.m. till later. The Washington’s Crossing area was the site of an all-out smallmouth blitz, with the bronzebacks inhaling shad fry swimming downriver. The bass walloped top-water poppers, crank baits and just about anything else thrown at them. The walleyes were mixed in with the smallies, also crushing poppers and crank baits. Lake Assunpink turned out crappies during mornings and evenings on slowly twitched Senkos and on garden worms.

Trout fishing picked up considerably, most likely because of cooling temperatures, said Bob from the <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. The Paulinskill, Musconetcong and Pequest rivers were excellent for the fishing, and wooly buggers and Tricos worked. At the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area lakes largemouth bass and crappies got all over Senko worms. A few more muskies than before were caught at Lake Mercer on large Mepps bucktail spinners. Fishing on the Delaware River rebounded with lower water levels, and smallmouth bass became active in the Frenchtown area. Capt. Deiter Scheel totaled 45 of the smallies on Senkos and shiners on a trip.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Smallmouth bass fishing gained steam on the local Delaware River, especially near the shoreline on Senkos and minnows, said Rick from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b> in Brooklawn. The river along the Gloucester Pier was a spot to tie into catfish and even striped bass on chicken livers. Largemouth bass prowled the mouth of Big Timber Creek, and Stewart Lake also shoveled out a bucketmouth chew on shiners. Crappies nibbled away at tiny, yellow and white grubs in the Cooper River.

Mostly kids and families were out to cast nightcrawlers to pull on sunfish and small largemouth bass at Blackwood Lake and the Puppyland Ponds, said Ed from <b>Creek Keepers</b> in Blackwood. But bigger bass were battled at Grenloch Lake, and so were a good show of catfish on cut baits fished on the bottom.

Chain pickerel had already been eager to bite, but cooler water temperatures got them even more active, said Lou from the <b>Sportsman’s Outpost</b> in Williamstown. Malaga and Iona lakes were places to hunt them down on shiners or crank baits along the shorelines, where the fish lay in wait.

The Salem Canal was the most steady largemouth bass producer, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Flip’n Jigs worked well on the bass to 4 pounds. But Jackal Crawfish were the go-to bait for bass at Davis Mill Pond and Rainbow Lake. Small striped bass to 24 inches really moved in to the tidal portion of the Maurice River, and Rat-L-Traps and stick baits hooked plenty.

White perch fishing turned gangbusters in the Maurice River, said Ki from <b>Huck’s Place</b> in Millville. That’s typical as fall approaches, and the whiteys, ½-pounders to 1-¼-pounders, swiped Fishbites and grass shrimp on the higher tides, and anglers could easily fill a bucket with the tasty treats. Small stripers were in the mix in the river.

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