<b>NEW YORK</b>

A quick trip went 3 for 8 on steelheads, 5- to 8- or 10-pounders, on Salmon River in 3 ½ hours on Monday with <b>Dreamcatcher Guide Service</b>, Capt. Rick Miick said. The anglers, some of his sponsors, caught best on peach egg sacks, because the water was a little stained. Trout beads caught none of the fish, but a pink Berkley Power Worm hooked one, and the worms began to work lately. Rick wraps his own sacks, and used peach netting on the ones that caught on this trip. Five or six eggs in a sack worked best, after three or four did previously, in lower water. The river flowed at 1,500 cubic feet per second, where the trip fished, and the flow was great for fishing, Rick said. The upper river ran at 1,200 CFS, and the lower ran as high as 2,000, around Pulaski, because of runoff. The reservoir was full, and a storm was coming last night. So Rick imagined the precipitation will keep the river running at least at 750 CFS in the near future, and the flow could change daily, and anglers never know. That’s how that goes this time of year. Any storms now, including last night’s, are snowstorms.  No snow covered the ground yesterday, but at least a foot, maybe two, was predicted for last night’s storm. Snow previously fell this season, but melted. Snow now is just a fact of life through winter, and anglers will fish right through it. Rick’s got a number of anglers from New Jersey joining him next week to fish the river. Salmon River’s steelheading remains great straight through winter. Rick will also guide ice fishing in winter, for perch and walleyes on Oneida Lake and perch and northern pike on Sandy Pond. In the river, lots of steelheads kept migrating up from Lake Ontario, and Rick watched the fish on the trip. “I was, like, yeah!” he said. The water was cold, but has been about a week, and the steelheads have adjusted.  The fish gathered in deep, meandering pools, not as much in fast water, like earlier this season. Rick just worked on episode two of this year’s The Run television show, about the river’s fishing. He writes and narrates the show, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGm4pkv5G-U" target="_blank">watch a video on The Run</a>.

Oak Orchard River ran low for trout fishing that Jay Peck from <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b> is doing, he said. Rain fell on Saturday, but to the west, missing the river. That’s been happening lately. The river ran at a healthy level for fishing recently, when the canal system emptied snow melt from a storm into the river. Nearby Genesee River, where Jay is also trout fishing, was currently flooded and unfishable. The difference has been stark, because of where the precipitation has been falling. But Jay’s trips still landed trout, browns that recently spawned, on Oak Orchard. He specializes in fly-fishing and catch-and-release, but his other guides fish with conventional tackle, including for steelheads on Salmon River, around Pulaski. Oak Orchard and Genesee rivers are farther west, around Rochester, and the trout fishing is good there this time of year. That’s why Jay is there. The trout, browns and rainbows, are especially big, because they come from Lake Ontario. The size is a reason anglers fish for them. The trout summer in the lake, and spend fall through spring in the rivers, because forage is richer then in the rivers. Jay’s trips landed a few browns on Oak Orchard in pools on streamer flies, like white Zonkers, egg flies and nymphs. The river will fish well again for the trout, when the water rises. The Genesee will, when it lowers. The eggs and nymphs caught best on Oak Orchard while the water was low. But the browns previously began swiping streamers, because the fish were spawned out and feeding, after not feeding while spawning. All the rivers were cold, but the fish began to acclimate. When Oak Orchard and the Genesee freeze this winter, Jay will switch to steelhead fishing on Salmon River, where his guides are currently fishing. Salmon River’s been getting plenty of precipitation, and ran at 1,200 CFS this week. That flow can be difficult for fly fishing, but fine for fishing with conventional tackle. But the Salmon will probably drop back down to 750 CFS, much more fishable with flies. When the water’s high, fly-fishing needs to carefully find places where a fly can be fished. Fishing in all of these rivers is in winter mode now. The water’s chilly, and the fish are acclimated to that, gathering in deeper, slower, warmer holes. Fly-fishing for Salmon River’s steelheads will now be best with bug patterns like nymphs, like hares ears nymphs, stoneflies, and caddis pupae. Egg flies will also still work, like they did earlier this season, when salmon spawned in the river. Streamer flies no longer work so well on Salmon River’s steelheads, like they did earlier this season. That’s because of the high, cold water. The strong current makes slowing down the streamers difficult. That matters, including because the fish are moving slower than before, in the cold. A fast-moving streamer can also be more difficult to sink. Plus, the bug patterns work better, because Salmon River is rich with aquatic life. All the dead salmon in fall create that. Salmon die in the river after spawning in fall. Salmon and steelheads, of course, were introduced to the river and Lake Ontario, weren’t native. The dead salmon really increased life in the river. Rivers in the West, in California, Oregon and Washington, can be much more barren, because practically all the salmon are bagged there. The fish no longer die in those rivers like they used to, depleting the bug life. One might think that bug flies should be more common than streamers to fish on smaller, trout rivers like Old Orchard and the Genesee, and that streamers would be more common to fish on larger rivers like the Salmon. But currently, it’s just the opposite. Streamers work well on Oak Orchard and the Genesee, because the spawned-out browns are hungry, preferring to feed on baitfish, and bug patterns work well on the Salmon, for reasons just explained.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> from Montvale might be finished guiding for the year, he said. He fished for muskies on a lake Friday and hooked nothing. The water was 39 degrees, and muskies can usually be trolled deep when water’s cold like now. Dave had high hopes for the trip, but trolled all over, without a touch. The year’s fishing was good, and he thanks anglers who fished with him throughout the year. Dave might ice-fish on lakes this winter, and might fish for striped bass on a river at a power plant that warms the water that he knows about. Anglers say the stripers can weigh 25 pounds and spend winter there. Dave might fly fish for trout with nymphs on Pequest River, in the warm water near the hatchery, where the angling lasts all winter. Guided trips with Dave usually start back up with trout fishing on streams in spring with lures. He prefers the lures, usually Rapala Countdowns, because the plugs attract big trout and are fun to fish. High water in spring is conducive to the lure fishing, avoiding hang ups, like on logs. During some years, he’s clobbered trout on streams on the lures in late winter, when the season wasn’t too cold, or ice and snow didn’t prevent that.

Weather was rough this week, but water was yet to freeze, and no weather cold enough to entirely freeze lake surfaces was forecast in the next week, said Kevin from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. Binsky blade baits were just stocked that anglers are using to jig walleyes and other fish, like chain pickerel, at lakes including Lake Hopatcong. The angling might be slow, or a trip might jig one or two fish in many casts, but anglers are doing the fishing. Nothing was heard about the bank-fishing for trout that cruise the shoreline at Round Valley Reservoir this season. But the blade baits could probably boat lake trout that might’ve pushed shallow there. The lakers move shallow in March, and Kevin couldn’t see why they wouldn’t now. Trout streams were probably blown out, because of rain during this week’s nor’easter. But at least the streams held water now, after they ran low earlier this season. Flies that will grab trout include eggs, so-called micro ones in sizes 12 or 14, and bead-headed nymphs, this time of year. San Juan worms will catch well, and, on warmer days, midges might hook up. Nobody mentioned Delaware River, but smallmouth bass fishing is usually good there to Christmas. Anglers cast jigs and spoons to them.

From <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield, Nick’s son’s friends beat up walleyes at Lake Hopatcong and Greenwood Lake, Nick said. They scored great, including on some large, they said, and Nick thought they trolled and jigged the fish. The water was in the low 40 degrees, and the angling amps up when the water drops to 45 or 50. Passaic River ran high near the store, because of this week’s rain. Nick hoped some anglers tried for striped bass or northern pike on the river, but the river might’ve run too high. Nobody fished Hackensack River that he heard about. A couple of customers plucked small rainbow trout, not a lot, from Barbour’s Pond on spinners and pink salmon eggs. The pond was included in the winter trout stocking during Thanksgiving week. Another angler fished one of the rivers in Pequannock Township, a specific hole he hiked to or something, bailing brown trout. So at least one angler scored well on native browns. Another angler whacked lots of chain pickerel at a lake in Sparta on live bait.

<b>South Jersey</b> 

Because of the week’s weather, Braden from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook literally heard from one angler who fished, Braden said. The angler fished Passaic River for northern pike, slow-rolling large-bladed spinners and large, rubber swim baits. No pike bit, and they weren’t aggressive in the cold, but the angler did move seven or eight of the fish. Trout streams will probably be blown out a few days, after Tuesday’s nor’easter. They were already high that morning. Braden’s dad took a float-trip on upstate New York’s Salmon River. He went 3 for 4 on steelheads the first day, and 2 for 4 on the second. The fish were good-sized, up to 8 pounds, and bit egg sacks.

Before the rain blew out Delaware River, walleyes were sometimes winged there at Lambertville and Scudders Falls, said Karl from the   <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b>. Three-inch, black Mister Twisters on ¼-ounce jigheads were fished for them along bottom. A few crappies were yanked from Assunpink Lake, though the angling was a little slow. One-inch, yellow Mister Twisters under a bobber cracked them. A few were socked on shiners under a float. A few of the farm ponds turned out largemouth bass on black Senko worms Texas-rigged and worked slowly along bottom.

Weather was too windy, too rainy, too cold, too this or that, in the past week, so news was scarce, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. But weather looks better for the weekend. It’s practically winter, so jigs and suspending jerk baits will be the go-to tackle for largemouth bass in lakes. When all else fails, anglers can drown a minnow, and are sure to catch something, like a chain pickerel, crappie or largemouth. In saltwater, a few anglers still had boats in the water, and trolled striped bass on the ocean.

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