<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Adirondacks</b>

Probably 24 inches of ice covered Lake George, and ice-fishing for yellow perch was good in evenings there, said Tony from <b>FISH307.com</b> in the village of Lake George. They bit in the 15- to 20-foot shallows on grubs or soft-plastic lures. The lake’s ice-fishing for lake trout was also good, including at Crown Point, Northwest Bay and Pilot Knob, on soft-plastics or spoons in glow with a red dot. Snow mostly blew off the ice, and 2 to 3 feet of snow covered the ground. Daytime temperatures probably reached the mid-30s, and ice-fishing will probably last longer than in recent years. But this used to be normal.

<b>Salmon River</b>

Weather was cold, so steelhead fishing was a little slow on the river in past days, said Scott from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. Plus waters were clear and low, running at 335 CFS, though that was up from 285 last week, and the fish were spawning. Daytime temperatures reached the 20s, and snow on the banks was a foot to 4 feet, depending on location, but access to the river was no problem, or paths were packed down from anglers. The upper river was fished mostly, because of deeper waters.  Steelhead fishing will only get better, and was good before the cold. The angling peaks in coming weeks, and the fish will start to stop spawning in a week or so, and begin to drop back toward Lake Ontario. Steelheads winter in the river, spawn there in spring, and return to the lake for summer. They don’t die after spawning, like salmon do, and will return to the river in fall. Anglers still ice-fished on lakes, and catches were spotty, typical for late in the season. But some anglers caught well.

<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

Bill Brinkman from <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Philadelphia was yet to hear about striped bass caught from Delaware River this season, he wrote in an emailed report from the shop. With the snow yesterday and last night, he expects another tough week of fishing. Anglers bought lots of bloodworms to fish for the bass on the river during the weekend. Bill did hear about a few 50-pound stripers landed downstream from Commodore Barry Bridge on the river, but found that difficult to believe. One customer fished the river at Princeton Avenue the past couple of weeks, catching no stripers, and seeing none landed. Several anglers fished the river at Station Avenue lately, and Bill knew about only one catfish reeled in during the trips. Another angler fished the river at Burlington Bristol Bridge on three afternoons, managing only one perch. The report didn’t say whether that was a white or a yellow perch. A few yellow perch and crappies were claimed from the river at Dredge Harbor. The crappies were small, but the perch were 12 to 15 inches. One angler saw largemouth bass at Tullytown Cove along the shore, but couldn’t get them to bite. Another surprisingly winged six sizeable yellow perch at Neshaminy State Park Marina from his docked boat. A few anglers began to search the river for shad, including at the Trenton power plant. But the plant was turned off, discharging no warm water, and only a few gizzard shad hit. Some looked for shad farther upstream at Yardley, finding none. Anglers also fished for shad on the Schuylkill River in Philly, coming up with only a few hickory shad. But good catches of walleyes were made on the Schuylkill at the art museum on shad bodies, and saugers were mixed in. On the Delaware, a customer totaled three to five walleyes per trip at Lambertville, mostly on the shads fished slowly in deep waters. He said the fish really had to be worked for, but were some of the biggest in years, up to a 7-pounder. Another angler rustled up a few walleyes on trips to Point Pleasant on the river.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Some ice-fished on lakes, but Joe from <b>Stokes Forest Sport Shop</b> in Sandyston couldn’t imagine the ice would last much longer, he said. This was sort of an in-between time for fishing, when ice-angling was wrapping up, and fishing open waters on lakes was mostly yet to begin, and many trout waters were closed for stocking. Those waters will be opened to trout fishing on opening day of trout season, April 5, in two Saturdays, and anglers will start stirring around to prepare next week. A few anglers fished Delaware River, mostly for walleyes, and the fishing was hit or miss. Rains had murked up the waters. Those who caught well fished either rubber worms on jigheads, like a 7-1/2-inch worm in motor-oil color, or a shiner on a jighead. Most anglers boat for the walleyes, the preferred way to reach the holes. But shore anglers sometimes fish for them.

Hardy anglers still sometimes ice-fished, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. How much longer that would be possible was questionable, but this week brought a cold snap. Lake Hopatcong still held ice, and Brian didn’t know the ice thickness at any lakes. But cold nights kept the waters frozen, so much that anglers had to wonder what the beginning of this fishing season was going to be like, if the ice didn’t clear soon. A few customers trout fished at Paulinskill and Pequest rivers, catching mostly on small flies like midges or blue-winged olives.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Before colder weather this week, anglers eased in a few largemouth bass at farm ponds or development ponds, said Braden from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. They fished shiners or soft-plastic lures, working the lures slowly, and also hung a few chain pickerel on jerk baits. Darrel from the shop trout fished with friends in Pennsylvania on Saturday, a regional opening day of trout season in the state.  Opening day is this coming Saturday for the rest of the state. They first fished the stocked Little Schuylkill River, catching well. The trout were small, none big, and the fish seemed to be stocked at the easier places to access on the river. Darrel’s friends fished there, catching more than him, but he scouted other places on the river, avoiding crowds, when he fished. Afterward that day, he and the friends fished Little Lehigh River, also scoring trout well. Blue-winged olives hatched from 3 to 4 p.m. there. But nymphing for the trout was steady throughout the afternoon. At both rivers, Darrel fished small emergers in tan, gray and brown and size-18 flashback pheasant-tail nymphs. He never fished at the streams before, saying they were nice. The fishing wasn’t easy, but Darrel’s friends were zeroed in on ways to fish that worked. The waters were far up in the mountains, and weather was fairly chilly, maybe reaching 50 degrees, and became windy.

The Toms River at Trilco turned out a few chain pickerel on killies and shiners, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in the town of Toms River. A few perch, mostly yellow, some white, also nipped there. Trilco is a closed building supply, and no sign identifies the building. But locals know the stretch by the name, located near Garden State Parkway. One angler fished Lake Shenandoah, nailing a couple of small largemouth bass on shiners. Dennis wasn’t asked about baits stocked. But baits carried recently usually included shiners, killies and nightcrawlers. Dennis recently bought Go Fish Bait & Tackle on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River. Murphy’s is open daily, and Go Fish is open Thursdays through Mondays.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Crappies were cracked from Assunpink Lake, in the back at the flats, during the weekend, on 1-inch, yellow twister tails under floats, said Karl from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. They also jumped on fathead minnows or Crappie Magnets in yellow or white. At different lakes, largemouth bass were sometimes socked on warmer days on Rat-L-Traps in gold-and-black, silver-and-black or all-red. Or they were nabbed on small jigs, like Booyah Bed Bugs with a twister tail. A couple of anglers fished Crosswicks Creek at the mouth near Delaware River, tackling healthy-sized catfish on chicken livers. Nothing was heard about walleyes from the Delaware, and the fish just finished spawning.

Anglers tried to fish, but weather kept becoming difficult, like snow that began yesterday afternoon, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. They tried for whatever they could get to bite, including chain pickerel, crappies and largemouth bass. Tackle they fished included Rat-L-Traps, jigs, jerk baits and minnows that are now stocked.  White perch fishing was about the best angling, at Maurice River and creeks along Delaware Bay. But even that fishing sounded sort of sporadic.

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