<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Adirondacks</b>

Lake George was pretty much frozen over, and the bays held at least 6 inches of ice, said Luke from <b>FISH307.com</b> in the village of Lake George. Lake George is always the last to freeze in winter in the Adirondacks, and cold weather now added an inch or two of ice daily to lakes. Really good lake trout fishing went down on Lake George the past two or three days. The lakers were jigged on micro grubs, white tubes or Swedish Pimples – all worked. Perch fishing was also excellent on Lake George, including on Harris Bay. Limits and sizeable perch were crushed there. Most other lakes held 8 inches to a foot of ice. Brant Lake served up good fishing for crappies and perch. Weather currently reached the low- to mid-teens during daytime and dropped to the negative single digits at night. Only 3 or 4 inches of snow covered the ground, and was hard-packed, because of rains recently. Ice on lakes was clear, holding no snow, and was slick. Creepers were suggested.  All baits are stocked, including hunts, icicles, suckers, fathead minnows, shiners, mousies, grubs and wax worms.  

<b>Salmon River</b>

The river flowed at maybe 1,000 CFS this week, after flowing very high at 2,500 last week, and steelhead fishing was now decent on the waters, said Mike from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. Most were banked along the upper river from Altmar to Pineville on trout beads, flies, jigs and sometimes egg sacks. A few trout, mostly rainbows, also bit. Weather had been relatively warm, but this week ranged from 5 degrees below zero to 5 above. No snow fell in past days, and about a half-foot covered the ground. No snow was forecast in the immediate future, Mike thought, unlike the blizzard that just hit the eastern seaboard. Ice fishing was great, mostly on Oneida Lake and lakes farther north. Sandy Pond had become “a little iffy,” he said, because rains had thawed some of the waters. Mostly yellow perch, crappies, bluegills, northern pike and walleyes were yanked through the ice. Sometimes lake trout were. Most walleyes came from Oneida, and lakers mostly came from lakes farther north, like Black Lake. The shop carries all supplies for fishing the river and for ice-fishing.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Quite a few anglers ice-fished on lakes during the weekend and even on Monday, said Joe from <b>Stokes Forest Sport Shop</b> in Sandyston. That was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and mostly crappies, perch and pickerel were tugged in. But a few smallmouth bass were axed from Big Swartswood Lake, and a few trout were tackled at Little Swartswood, along with crappies and perch from both those lakes. Mostly tip-ups were reported to catch, and not many catches were reported by jigging. Ice had cleared from Delaware River in last week’s warmth, and a few customers had headed out to fish for walleyes from the river’s banks, not from boats. No results were heard, but the walleye catches should be starting, usually peaking this month and in February. A few anglers will even ice-fish for the walleyes, if ice becomes thick enough. After the previous warmth, temperatures were currently supposed to plummet into single digits at night for about a week, starting last night. Three to 8 inches of snow were forecast to fall yesterday and last night. That wasn’t as much as some of the state.

Fishable ice had just started to form again on lakes, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. Weather started to turn even colder now, considerably cold, and some serious ice-fishing should kick in by the end of the week. Anglers were already fishing local lakes on the hard waters, mostly flinging in perch and crappies. Customers mostly fished spikes and livelined herring on the ice, and Lake Aeroflex was one lake that served up good catches of the perch and crappies. Nothing was heard about trout from Aeroflex. Anglers occasionally trout fished on streams like Pequest River. A few of the fish were picked, even on Griffiths gnats, not just on wet flies, during the warmth last week. Stop at Ramsey Outdoor’s booth at The Fly Fishing Show in Somerset from Friday to Sunday, and pick up deals on rods and tackle.

<b>South Jersey</b>

A few trout that were plucked from shore at Round Valley Reservoir was mostly the fishing talked about, said Braden from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. The fish were mostly 14- to 17-inch rainbows banked on PowerBait and M&M’s or marshmallows and meal worms. But sometimes brown trout were dragged in on shiners or small Yozuri lures, no matter the cold water. Anglers might think that the cold would make the fish too inactive to swipe a lure. A 21-inch brown was the biggest trout known about from the fishing. A few customers ice-fished last weekend at Pompton Lake, when fishable ice started to become more common again, after warmer weather. Mostly panfish and a few bass were cracked on tip-ups with live bait. Anglers looked forward to ice-fishing that should become more available now, because of drastically cold weather. Nobody mentioned much about trout fishing on streams, but streams flowed at a good mid-level and clear, the last Braden heard, before this week’s snowstorm. Braden, when he gave this report in a phone call yesterday afternoon, hadn’t seen how much snow had fallen by then. But he heard that traffic was substantially backed up.

Delaware River thawed from the warmth last week, so a few walleyes started to be tied into along the Lambertville wing dam, said Karl from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. Nightcrawlers nabbed them on lightweight jigs like 3/16 or ¼ ounce, just heavy enough to contact bottom, so anglers could flip the jig upstream, bouncing it back down.  The river became completely frozen in the last cold snap. Weather would become could enough for that again now. Since the last cold front, the Trenton power plant on the river discharged warm waters on and off, with no set pattern. When the waters were discharged, a few smallmouth bass were sacked there on shiners under floats. Trout fishing remained good on the northern state’s streams, like at Ken Lockwood Gorge and Musconetcong River. The fish bit small flies like zebra midges and disco midges, egg flies and small stoneflies.

Lakes had thawed, so they became fishable, but nothing was really heard about fishing them, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. He had thought that anglers would chase chain pickerel and crappies, and some diehards would hunt largemouth bass, once the ice, too thin to fish on top, thawed.  Then the blizzard barreled in Tuesday, and temperatures will freeze the lakes again. Once they thaw, pickerel and crappies will be fish that will bite in winter. They keep active in the cold, unlike largemouths that become sluggish.

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