<b>NEW YORK</b>

Salmon River rose, making the river’s steelheads move around, instead of holding in the holes where they did before, said Capt. Rick Miick from <b>Dreamcatcher Guide Service</b>.  The river rose from 900 to 1,200 cubic feet per second, he thought, mostly because of melting snow in warmer days. The melt also chills the water, but steelheading can adjust to all of that. Heavier leaders, 8-pound instead of 5-pound, were fished, and so were larger egg sacks. When the water becomes dirtier, because of higher flow, bright colors are fished, like chartreuse, or white, though white can work in all conditions. When the water is clearer, darker colors, like blue, are fished. Sometimes the fishing can slow around the time the flow changes. The angling was tough on one or two days recently, after it was good on the previous day. Weather is supposed to be 50 degrees around Christmas, and not many anglers are on the water around the holidays, and that can be good for fishing. Contact Rick if you want to fish.

Eleven or 12 steelheads were hooked on Salmon River on Monday with Jay Peck from   <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b>, Jay Peck said. That was a great catch for the group, and they fished the hard way: fly-fishing with streamers. Usually, half that number can be expected on flies. But the river was on the rise after the trip, reaching 1,200 CFS that evening, Monday. It was supposed to top out at 1,500 that night, and those levels are too high and strong for fly-fishing. Jay expected the river to be back in good shape for fly-angling after Christmas. The trip fished the bottom of the river, and the water flowed at 750 then, up from 500 the previous day, Sunday. The trip’s steelheads probably ranged 4 pounds to 12 pounds, all different sizes. The lower river fished was 34 degrees, cold, but not bad, considering the time of year, and the fact that snow was on the ground. The day probably reached 41 degrees, and weather recently was somewhat warm for the time of season, and was supposed to become warmer this week. The trip had to cover lots of water, but the steelheads were there, and wanted to grab streamers. Mostly small Intruder streamers were fished, and the steelheads favored light colors, like white with olive and maybe a little pink or peach. The fish were fresh from Lake Ontario, and the color probably imitated what the steelheads fed on in the lake. Steelheads migrate to the river in fall and winter, spawn there in spring and return to the lake for summer. Jay specializes in fly-fishing and catch-and-release, but his other guides fish with conventional tackle. Jay is also fly-fishing for trout, mostly large browns, and steelheads farther west in New York, around Rochester, on waters like Oak Orchard River. That water’s been low but becoming higher, and the angling’s been good, like previously. Not much rain or snow has fallen there, and more precipitation has fallen along Salmon River.  But rain was forecast for the western rivers this week. If it comes as much as forecast, that will draw another run of steelheads to migrate up the waters. Jay’s been swinging streamer flies to the trout, the same as before, covered in previous reports. The trout grow large, because they come from Lake Ontario. The browns spawn in the rivers in fall, and spend winter in the rivers, where forage is better, and return to the lake for summer. The browns have already spawned, and are feeding aggressively, making the angling good. They don’t eat while spawning.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> in Montvale saw a photo of a 9-pound walleye from Greenwood Lake, he said. He reported a 40.7-pound 51-inch musky, about a pound lighter than the state record, that an angler jigged from Greenwood last week, while fishing for walleyes, covered in the last report. Dave also saw a shot of a musky from Monksville Reservoir, and that angling’s supposedly turning on there. He saw a photo of a 22- or 23-pound chain pickerel from Passaic River or some other river. Photos of trout caught also circulated. So there were catches, and Dave might boat another couple of times this season, before wrapping up boat fishing for winter. Weather was supposed to be in the 50 degrees or warmer around Christmas, and that will help. Once the boat is winterized, he might nymph for trout on streams, or fish for striped bass on a river where a power plant’s warm water attracts big ones, in the 20 pounds. He might also ice fish this winter.

One customer was boating walleyes on Delaware River on deep-running, suspending crank baits and blade baits, said Kevin from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. The fish were sizable, too, up to 5 or 6 pounds, and the angler said he had the place to himself. Anglers could’ve fished for them from shore at some places, the angler said. The water was low enough. Some anglers still fished lakes, often with suspending crank baits or blade baits. Weather wasn’t really cold, and was supposed to become even warmer. Could be good for fishing, if anglers have off for the holidays. Kevin wasn’t asked what was caught on the lakes, but in last week’s report said mostly largemouth bass and smallmouth bass were. Some anglers still picked trout from streams, and, again, the warmer weather could be good for the angling. Trout streams ran a little high last week, and were coming down afterward. Rain was supposed to fall today, but probably not enough to affect the rivers much. Flies like small, bead-headed nymphs, or eggs, should catch the trout. Not enough midges seemed around to fish with midge dry flies. A few midges might come off at moments. But midge fishing becomes a little better in February to March, when the sun is higher in the sky. Speaking of the warm weather, no ice fishing was foreseeable in the near future. The extended forecast called for no cold weather that would freeze lakes at least through New Year’s.

Mousies are stocked for ice-fishing, though the price is a little high, and plenty of ice tackle is on hand, Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong wrote in an email. She hopes for ice on the lake soon, “so we can get back on track for a weekly report,” she said. Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year, she said.

A musky larger than 40 pounds was nailed on Greenwood Lake last week, and a bunch of anglers started fishing there afterward, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. He knows a couple of anglers who’ve been bailing walleyes at Greenwood and Lake Hopatcong, mentioned in previous reports, and they focused more on Greenwood recently, too, because of the musky. But they caught the walleyes like crazy, they said, in 30 to 35 feet of water, on ½-ounce and ¾-ounce jigheads with 4-inch Mister Twisters, or Rapala Jigging Raps in size W9. They bounced either of those jigs along bottom. On Passaic River, a few small striped bass and some northern pike were fought on swim baits below the falls. Rain raised the river somewhat, drawing in the stripers, he guessed. A couple of anglers winged rainbow trout, but small or 6-inchers, not even keepers, at Barbour’s Pond on pink salmon eggs. Nine inches is keeper size, and all the trout stocked there recently seemed 6 to 9 inches. Customers boated largemouth bass on live bait at a private lake in Stockton. Ice-fishing tackle was sold, but no ice-fishing seemed imminent. No cold is forecast the rest of the month, and friends with property in upstate New York said Lake George and Lake Champlain were completely open. Those lakes, the largest in the Adirondacks Mountains, take the longest to freeze. Still, there’s usually some ice by now, even if unsafe.

Some anglers were into trout on stocked waters, said Cheryl from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook. They fished worms and salmon eggs, and not many anglers fished Passaic River this time of year. But a few northern pike, not many, were landed on the river. Rivers including the Passaic seemed to flow not too high and not too low.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Delaware River flowed at an okay level for fishing, and walleyes should probably bite in the river at places like the Lambertville wing dam, said Karl from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. Nobody was actually heard from who fished, but a 3/8-ounce ball jighead with a black or yellow Mister Twister should hook the walleyes. The Trenton power plant pumped warm water off and on into the river. Smallmouth bass should bite there when the water’s pumping, on shiners under a float.

Nothing was reported about fishing, and minnows were no longer stocked this season, said Jeff from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Skim ice formed on parts of lakes in past days, but now weather was warming. Rick from the shop in last week’s report said crappies and chain pickerel seemed to be tied into at lakes on minnows. He also said then that small largemouth bass were angled in a tournament at a lake – Rainbow Lake, he thought – on jerk baits and Rat-L-Traps. Those are usual lures for the bass in the cold.

Back to Top