<b>NEW YORK</b>

Fishing will be in transition, typical for this time in the season, said Jay Peck from <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b>. Cold and snow will drop river temperatures, and warmer days will raise them. The dropping temperatures will slow trout and steelhead fishing a moment. The rising temperatures will pick the catches back up. Jay is fly-fishing for brown trout on western New York’s rivers around Rochester, including the Genesee and Oak Orchard rivers. His other guides are fishing for steelheads on the Salmon River around Pulaski, including with conventional tackle. Snow fell, and weather became cold. Probably 4 to 6 inches covered the ground along the Salmon River, and another 2 inches of wet snow was falling on Monday, when Jay gave this report in a phone call. The rivers cooled, slowing fishing, but weather is supposed to warm back up, and that will amp up the angling again. The trouting was pretty good last week. Jay no longer targeted fast water, like before. He began fishing “buckets” in pools. The trout held in deeper, slower water, escaping cold current. The fish also sought places with shelter overhead, for protection. The browns are large in the rivers, the reason anglers fish for them. Average size was 6 pounds, but 10- or 12-pounders, big hens, were banked sometimes. That was smaller than 15-pounders occasionally caught before, because many of the trout are finished spawning. The hens lose 25 or 30 percent body weight once the trout spawn. Egg flies caught best during the spawn, because eggs filled the water. Jay now started to fish other flies, like minnow imitations. The trout migrate to rivers in fall from Lake Ontario. They spawn in rivers during that season, and remain in the rivers until late winter or early spring, because forage is best in rivers then. Jay will fish for the trout until weather becomes too cold, and will fish for them again starting at ice-out. He’ll fish for steelheads throughout winter. Steelheads will bite in any open water then. Steelheads migrate up rivers in fall, winter there, spawn in the rivers in spring, and return to the lake for summer. Steelheading is world-class in the rivers from now into spring. On the Salmon River, steelheading currently is probably somewhat better than usual, and is good, but “technical.” This cold snap slowed the catches, but the angling will pick back up, as temperatures rise. Egg patterns caught on the upper Salmon, and anglers who liked to swing flies, like streamers, were into decent steelheading on the lower river. Eggs can work well on the upper river in fall, because salmon spawn there. But salmon are practically finished spawning. Swinging flies can work well on the lower river, because steelheads, at first during the season, are on the move there, swimming to the upper river. Swinging flies covers ground, when steelheads aren’t settling down in the lower river. Watch a video of Salmon River’s steelheading from Jay.

The Salmon River rose a little, because of precipitation runoff, said Capt. Rick Miick from <b>Dreamcatcher Guide Service</b>. That was good for the river’s steelheading, after the river ran low this season. Weather now became cold, and 4 or 5 inches of snow covered the ground through Tuesday, and another foot or 18 inches was supposed to fall later in the day. The good news is that weather is supposed to reach 47 or 53 degrees on Sunday or Monday, and that will melt the snow, causing the river to rise. He expects to report about good steelheading next week, because of that. The steelheading’s already been good. Rick took a break to hunt deer, because deer season was open, during this cold week, and would return to steelheading today. When he last fished, trips landed 15 steelheads on the last day, 12 on the day before, and seven or eight on the day before. Steelheads moved downstream a little, gathering mostly at Altmar, after they mostly gathered farther upstream before. At Altmar, they filled the holes. But steelheads swam the entire length of the river, and ones fresh from Lake Ontario kept arriving. All the steelheads were fresh on Rick’s trip the other day. His trips caught on small, 8-millimeter trout beads, in egg yoke, scrambled egg and glow roe colors, under floats. Rick saw no fly-rodders hook the fish the other day, and the steelheads seemed to key-in on the beads, mostly. The small size of the beads was because of low, clear water. Light, fluorocarbon leaders were fished, because of that, but Rick was able to increase the size of the leaders to 6-pound test. If 8-pound could be used, that could help, because the steelheads were “hot” or lively and aggressive. Good sport.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

Trout were reported reeled from streams, including at Ken Lockwood Gorge and Pequest River, even if the catches were few and far between, said Kevin from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. Sub-surface flies caught. On a warm day, like some of the weather last week, blue-winged olives might connect. But the dry flies would need to be small. The stream levels, running low, probably rose, especially because of rain on Monday. But now the cold snap is here. See the <a href="http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/news/2014/wntrtrt14.htm" target="_blank">winter trout stocking schedule</a> that will begin next week. Largemouth bass were yanked from lakes, probably not as often as before. Keitech jigs or Yamamoto rubber worms probably hooked them, as far as Kevin knew. Again, sub-surface, because of the cooler time of year. Landlocked salmon were angled from Lake Aeroflex the last couple of weeks. That fishing’s probably going to change, because lakes will turn over, if they didn’t already. Then the salmon will swim deep.

Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield jigged a walleye larger than 4 pounds from Greenwood Lake, he said. The fish smacked a ½-ounce Kastmaster in 30 feet of water, and Nick’s buddy on the trip jigged a 2- or 2-1/2-pound largemouth bass. They also tugged in sunnies and crappies, totaling eight to 10 fish from the lake, on the outing. A few customers fished Passaic River, tackling a northern pike here and there, at Twin Bridges, on shiners. Nothing was heard about the river farther downstream, closer to the shop. Participation dropped off somewhat, and even shiner sales became slower. A few pike, not many, were pulled from Pompton River on shiners. Customers plucked a few trout, small, 6 to almost 9 inches, none as large as the 9-inch legal size, from Ramapo River, on orange or yellow Powerbait nuggets. The winter trout stocking will begin next week. Saltwater anglers scored both good and slow days on striped bass. Most were boated, and some were landed from the surf. Surf anglers snagged and then livelined bunker for bait during daytime. Nick wasn’t asked what they fished at night.

Passaic River ran a little higher than before, and northern pike, good catches, were cranked from the water, said Joe from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook. The river previously ran low, but not as low as earlier this season, the store reported in previous weeks. Joe read a blog that talked about a gathering of anglers that fished for walleyes on Lake Hopatcong, catching well. Customers boated trout, considerable-sized, on Round Valley Reservoir. All the ice-fishing gear is now in supply at the shop.

<b>South Jersey</b>

A customer talked about rounding up rainbow trout, good catches, on Black River, said Braden from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. He bought gray scuds and blood-dot eggs. Monday’s rain surely raised trout streams, and the customer fished before the rain. Shore anglers still eased in trout from Round Valley Reservoir, like before, at first and last light, mostly on shiners, some on streamers. Walleyes were jigged at Lake Hopatcong and Swartswood Lake off major points. Braden saw photos of the fish to 7 pounds. In saltwater, the striped bass migration swam the coast, en masse. On some days they fed, and on others, they didn’t. Stripers also held in the back of Raritan Bay and off the Rockaways. They were also boated at the Shrewsbury Rocks in the ocean. The blackfish bag limit was raised to six starting Sunday, and south wind hampered fishing for them that day. Some were caught, but not as many as usual. Party boats docked good catches of sea bass, porgies and cod from the mid-range grounds during the weekend.

Chain pickerel should definitely be able to be fought from the Pine Barrens ponds, said Karl from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. A few customers fished for trout on Pequest River, connecting on spinners or Roostertails in white or yellow. Some fished South Branch of Raritan River, grabbing trout on Roostertails in yellow or pumpkinseed. Nobody mentioned crappie fishing, though Karl reported crappies from Stone Tavern and Rising Sun lakes in this report last week. Those are both in the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. Delaware River ran perfectly, but no customers talked about fishing there.

Fishing picked up a little, and moved into a colder-water pattern, said Andrew from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland.  Jerk baits caught largemouth bass well on lakes. Rat-L-Traps also worked on the bass, and so could jigs. Fishing for chain pickerel and crappies will pick up as weather becomes colder. Pickerel will attack the same lures as the largemouths. Crappies can be nabbed on small jigs. Saltwater fishing improved somewhat. Lots of small striped bass milled around brackish rivers. Stripers were sometimes boated on Delaware Bay, and a few large could be found. Most of the large stripers were yet to arrive in the bay, and most of the migration remained in the ocean to the north.    

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