<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

The river’s salmon migration picked up a little, said Capt. Rick Miick from <b>Dreamcatcher Guide Service</b>. Almost an inch of rain probably fell on Saturday, and on Monday, the river flowed at 440 CFS at mid-river. He fished there at 11:30 a.m. that day while he gave this report in a phone call, and the flow was up from 335 CFS previously. He saw three anglers hook up in the past 5 minutes, and also saw pods of 30 to 40 salmon swim past in the area. The river’s salmon were mostly kings, like usual. But a few Coho salmon were around, also like usual, and quite a few steelheads, more than usual this early in the season, migrated the river. The trip that Rick guided that day had gone 2 for 5 on salmon on flies, and earlier in the morning had scored three bites on plugs. A steady push of salmon seemed to migrate up the lower river that morning. Fishing for them was slow on the upper river currently. The best fishing for salmon was in the deep holes, like before. Monday was the season’s first day that Rick was able to cast for salmon, instead of trolling for them in the drift boat, this season.

<b>Jay Peck Guides</b> actually ran into a good run of salmon on the river Saturday, Jay Peck said. His trip that day probably had 30 of the fish on, a step in the right direction, after the migration was slow to start previously. Lots of the fish, mostly Chinook or king salmon, started poking through, and the angling began to pick up a little, ever so slowly. The fishing also started to pick up on the tributaries in western New York. In the Salmon River, Jay started to see a few of the salmon spawning, and that was about on schedule. Just fewer of the fish than usual migrated up the river from Lake Ontario. They were late. A few Coho salmon, dribs and drabs, migrated up. That’s usual, and fishing for them is hit and miss. If fishing happened to run into a pool of them, Cohos were caught. Steelhead catches seemed to be picking up on the river, and that was early. Steelheads usually migrate up after most salmon do. Brown trout were just a bonus catch, or there weren’t many, also typical. Jay specializes in fly fishing for the salmon, catching and releasing them, but books trips that fish for them with conventional tackle with his other guides. On Jay’s trips, wooly buggers in black, brown and olive were fished, like before. But bright-colored wooly buggers also began to be cast, because salmon began to spawn. Bright colors could trigger a strike, because of the bright color of the salmon eggs. The trips also started to fish egg flies, especially on the upper river. Steelheads definitely preferred stoneflies. Jay spent more time fishing the lower river now, after previously he fished both the upper and lower. Currently, the fishing improved on the lower river, and too many anglers fished the upper. The river was a little warm for the Chinooks that prefer water in the mid-50 degrees. But the river’s temperature dropped to 60 or the high 50s in the last couple of days, after the river had warmed a moment. Rain fell around the weekend. After all the hook-ups with Jay on Saturday, the angling slowed the next couple of days. But the angling generally seemed to be amping up slowly.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Two trips fished a lake last week but boated no catches with <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> from Montvale, Capt. Dave Vollenweider said. Weather’s been “flakey,” he said, and another trip was supposed to fish this past Saturday, but Dave cancelled, because of forecasts for a rainstorm in the morning. Another trip is supposed to fish aboard this Saturday, and rain is forecast, so Dave will keep an eye on the weather. He doesn’t mind rain, but wind or thunder and lightning is another story, he said.

Trout streams ran low, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna, but he didn’t know whether recent rains affected them. Fall trout stocking was slated to begin this week, and Brian heard that some of the larger brood stock would be stocked in South Jersey’s lakes, because of low water in the streams in the northern state. Fishing for largemouth and hybrid striped bass seemed strong at places like Lake Hopatcong. One angler reported good walleye fishing at Hopatcong. Walleye fishing at Swartswood Lake usually takes off earlier in the year, but nothing was heard about the angling. Another angler said landlocked salmon bit at Lake Aeroflex. Landlockeds were also tugged from Tilcon Lake, where they were stocked for the first time last April. Landlockeds were just stocked again at both lakes, a press release from New Jersey Fish and Wildlife said on Thursday. Some were also supposed to be stocked at Waywayanda Lake in late September or early October, it said.

The lake’s fishing was a little slow last week, Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong wrote in an email on Thursday. But a few walleyes, small hybrid striped bass, chain pickerel and white perch were reeled in. Fishing should pick up in cooling weather. The shop is stocked with Rapala ice-fishing jigs, blade baits and Got-Chas “for the fall jigging season,” she said. The Knee Deep Club will hold the King of the Lake Tournament, for a variety of species, this Saturday and Sunday. The winner will be named the King, and cash prizes will be awarded, depending on the number of entrants. For more info, anglers can visit the club’s website or telephone Dow’s at 973-663-3826.

From <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b>, Nick came in second-place at a largemouth bass tournament at Greenwood Lake during the weekend, breaking his stretch of first-place wins, he said. He won five tournaments in a row previously, and in this tournament, his partner, who fished the bow, won first. They caught largemouths in Belcher’s Creek along weed lines on 4-inch Keitechs during the event. Schools of bait were seen in the creek, so Nick knew largemouths would be there. Many entrants socked smallmouth bass, not big, on the main lake, working rocky points at deep water. The lake’s level was 3 feet lower than usual, causing anglers to adjust somewhat. Nick’s streak of success has been partly because his experience seemed to be coming together. But he also attributes his catches to homework or research before the tournaments. He telephones anglers to ask about the fishing, for example. For this tournament, his telephone calls told him about catches in the creek. The creek was loaded with yellow perch during the trip. In other news, a buddy tied into a largemouth almost 6 pounds at Pompton Lake at the bridge, and landed a couple of others, at the weeds, Nick thought. Passaic River gave up northern pike, not great fishing, but catches, at Twin Bridges on shiners. A couple of anglers were into carp and catfish at Third Ward Veterans Memorial Park in Passaic. They connected on pieces of bagels, but also on boilie carp baits the store began stocking that caught phenomenally. Panfish including yellow perch were flung from Ramapo Lake. Many customers bought bait for the fall trout stocking that was supposed to begin this week. Rain sometimes fell, and that should help a little with low water at trout locations.

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