<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

Many steelheads dropped back to Lake Ontario from the river, said Mike from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. Practically all will probably swim the lake in a week, and fishing for them on the river was alright, mostly on the lower river. The fish bit nearly all usual tackle, including trout beads, egg sacks and pink worms. Steelheads migrate to the river in fall and winter, spawn there in spring, and return to the lake for summer. Brown trout moved to deeper waters in the lake, after fishing for them had been good in the shallows close to shore. Rising water temperatures make them move deeper each year. Boaters hooked king salmon from the lake in 20-foot depths on stick baits. Coming up, anglers will focus on the salmon and catches including walleyes, bass and northern pike in Lake Ontario and other lakes.

<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

Not much was posted about striped bass caught from Delaware River this week on Bill Brinkman from Philadelphia’s <b>Brinkman Bait & Tackle</b>’s Facebook page. One angler posted on his page who said he was giving up on the bass, because no stripers bit for him lately, and was going to catfish that night on the river instead. Bill posted about a 4-hour trip he took yesterday on the river, boating 19 catfish to 8 pounds, three white perch and a 17-inch striper. But an angler on Sunday posted about his trip with his son that boated 15 stripers 14 to 22 inches on the river. No specific locations were mentioned for any of these trips. Bill and daughter last Wednesday on the river near Rancocas Creek reeled in 40 stripers 12 to 18 inches on a trip, and on a trip the previous day there also picked up 40, including one larger fish, a 32-incher. Bill expected to head back out this morning. Be sure to follow regulations for the river’s striper fishing, including where and when the bass must be released, and the hooks required.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

The boat was splashed for the season, and Capt. Dave Vollenweider, from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> from Montvale, fished lakes a couple of times on the vessel, he said. He fished Greenwood Lake on Sunday evening when he gave this report in a phone call aboard. The trip had just landed a 5-1/2-pound walleye on a trolled Rapala on a planer board, and Dave waited for the sun to set soon, so he could try casting plugs for walleyes. His nighttime guided trips for walleyes should begin soon, when walleyes push into shallows to forage on spawning alewives in the dark. That’s an opportunity to hook walleyes on cast surface plugs that the fish crush. It’s good sport, and walleyes are sizeable, tasty fish, a member of the perch family. Greenwood was 58 degrees, and Dave on a previous trip, the season’s first on the boat, plucked a few panfish from a lake. The boat before then was prepped for the season at the mechanic’s, including upgrades including side-imaging sonar and a new trolling motor in the bow. Dave until now trout fished on streams this year, usually his first fishing annually. He scored well on trout on lures, fishing that he specializes in during early spring. The lures are effective and interesting to fish, and streams usually run high enough for lure fishing in spring. The plugs need some depth to avoid snagging on debris like logs or on bottom. Dave also musky fishes this season and throughout summer and fall on lakes.  Live to Fish Guide Service guides trips for trout, muskies, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleyes, crappies, chain pickerel, panfish, yellow perch, white perch, carp and more. Lakes fished include Greenwood Lake, Lake Hopatcong, Monksville Reservoir, Echo Lake, Mountain Lake and Furnace Lake. Rivers fished include the Flatbrook, Pequest, Paulinskill and Ramapo.

Some anglers landed 12 to 25 shad from Delaware River in a day, if they hit a good day, said Joe from <b>Stokes Forest Sport Shop</b> in Sandyston. The fishing was fairly good, and roes started to be caught sometimes. Bucks had already migrated the river a while, and shad currently reached as far upstream as the Route 84 Bridge at Port Jervis that Joe knew about. Trout fishing slowed on streams, apparently because spring stocking ended early, because of the disease at the hatchery. That was unfortunate, because now is when dry-fly fishing starts to take off.  Crappie fishing was good at all the lakes that held them. Hybrid striped bass fishing was decent at different lakes. Largemouth bass fishing, restricted to catch and release through June 15, will begin to pick up soon on lakes.

Trout streams ran a little high, but little was mentioned about trout fishing, maybe partly because trout catches tapered off since spring trout stocking ended early, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. That was because of the disease at the hatchery. But the bigger reason seemed because anglers started lake fishing. Catches on lakes picked up, like bass, chain pickerel and muskies on Lake Hopatcong. Both largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing is limited to catch and release through June 15. Largemouths started to smack top-waters for the first time this season. But more were hooked on rubber worms or soft-plastic lures. Delaware River’s shad fishing went well for customers, and the shad migration reached beyond Delaware Water Gap.

<b>***Update, Wednesday, 5/14:***</b>: Lots of trout were pounded from the lake, Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong wrote in an email. The fish were trolled on Phoebes or small Rapalas, and some of the sizeable trout checked-in included Jim Smith’s 3-pound 14-ounce rainbow and Mike Sherrer’s 3-pound 13-ouncer. Tom Facciola and Dan Lehr stopped by with a 2-pound 9-ounce rainbow apiece. Walleyes to 7 pounds were clubbed, and hybrid striped bass gave up some catches. Livelined herring beat both, but sometimes both walloped stick baits at night in shallow waters. Kevin Demsey bested a 4-pound 14ounce chain pickerel. Jenna Curiotto landed a 1-pound 6-ounce crappie that was her first fish.

Passaic River’s fishing was slow, and not much was heard about the angling, said Cheryl from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook. That included about northern pike fishing. But bass and crappies were tugged from Lake Hopatcong. Many customers talked about striped bass fishing on Raritan Bay. A customer yesterday morning reported tackling 15 bluefish from shore at Sandy Hook. Blues seemed to arrive.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Hatches of Hendricksons were scarcer or hit and miss on trout streams, because of higher waters than usual and the fluctuating temperatures of May, said Angelo from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. But anglers hope that will change soon, when spring rains let up. Trout ate the heck out of wet flies, though. So many nymphs were seen, when rocks were flipped over. Caddis dries hatched, because they’ll emerge on cloudy days. Hendricksons will come off on sunny days. Hares ear nymphs, preferably dark, will imitate the Hendricksons, and to cover both bases, Angelo on a trip to Ken Lockwood Gorge fished sizes 14 to 18 hares ears trailed behind size 16 or 18 olive caddis or an egg, earthworm or midge pattern. Braden from the shop said lots of catfish began to bite everywhere. He heard about the fish from Spruce Run Reservoir, Delaware River, Delaware and Raritan Canal and sometimes Farrington Lake. Crappies chomped, including at Spruce, Farrington and the D and R at Griggstown, on fathead minnows and small shiners. Largemouth bass, required to be released through June 15, gave up better and better catches. Tackle that many said nailed them included gold, willow-leafed spinner baits and bright-colored Rat-L-Traps. Braden also mentioned some other artificial that this writer missed. The bass were in pre-spawn, and walleyes were whacked at Raritan River at night on bigger floating plugs like a size 13 Rapala Original Floating Lure. In saltwater, fishing was going off. Bluefish invaded Raritan Bay and the nearby coast in the past couple of days. Blues swarmed at the Oceanic Bridge at night. Surf anglers on the bay began to run into blues. Lots of striped bass were bunker chunked, preferably on the heads of the baitfish, in the bay. Ling fishing slowed somewhat in the ocean in water temperatures that dropped. But the next rising temps should amp the fishing up again at the Scotland Grounds.

A few largemouth bass, not a lot, were cracked at Lake Riviera, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River.  Be sure to release the bass by law through June 15. The largemouths mostly lay on spawning beds, but started to come off. Chain pickerel and crappies were wrestled from the lake. Pickerel fishing was good on the Toms River at Trilco, and carp started to bite there, in warming waters. The river was 65 degrees at places there, and the carp were active, nibbling baits like raisins or corn. Many were hooked but lost, because of weeds in the river. But the fishing was cool, like when big wakes were seen that the carp pushed. 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. Farther upstream, trout fishing turned out to be good on the Toms this year. Throw spinners against the banks for trout that hover underneath overhangs. A few trout came from Lake Shenandoah, and waters there and everywhere began to weed up. Lakes and ponds were fished all around, including Ocean County College Pond. Bluegills and sunnies swarmed there, and the pond was supposedly going to be closed to fishing, but the status of that was unknown. Nobody was known to be kicked off the pond. Forge Pond gave up a few white and yellow perch, but the runs was slow this year. Murphy’s, located on Rouge 37, recently bought <b>Go Fish Bait & Tackle</b> on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River, and is running both shops now.  Baits stocked at Murphy’s include shiners, killies and nightcrawlers. At Go Fish, baits include killies and nights, and the tank for shiners is supposed to be installed today.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Shad fishing picked up again in Delaware River around Trenton and Bordentown, said Karl from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. Apparently another wave of the fish migrated up the river, because the season seemed early for the shad to already spawn upstream and head back to the ocean. Flutter spoons caught them best, and pink, white and chartreuse were good colors. Striped bass were eased from the river at the Turnpike Bridge at 20-foot depths. Cut herring and shad pasted them best, and be careful to follow regulations for the river’s striped bass angling. Know where and when the fish must be released, and the hooks required. Largemouth bass, relegated to catch and release through June 15, began to hit top-waters at lakes like Carnegie Lake. That included small poppers and buzz baits, and many of the bass were spawning, so most landed were males. Crappie fishing was decent at the back of Assunpink Lake on small hair jigs or tubes under a float.

<b>***Update, Wednesday, 5/14:***</b> Trout from the spring stocking were beaned at Rowan’s Pond, Grenloch Lake and Oak Pond, and some were taken from Haddon Lake, said Ed from <b>Creek Keepers Bait & Tackle</b> in Blackwood. The catches still seemed good, and chain pickerel were tackled at New Brooklyn Lake, always a place for picks. A little was heard about largemouth bass catches from lakes, but no specifics, or nothing “stood out.” Largemouths are restricted to catch and release through June 15. Striped bass were still bloodwormed from Delaware River from shore.

Many largemouth bass were spawning in lakes, so they could be caught on soft-plastic lures, said Andrew from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Largemouths must be released through June 15, and the fish will attack a soft-plastic just to remove the lure from the spawning bed. They don’t really eat while spawning, and are finicky about biting anything. Now that vegetation began to form on lakes, rubber frogs and buzz baits could draw largemouths to strike. Nobody really talked about trout anymore, but surely some anglers still fished for them, and a few of the trout probably remained in lakes from the spring stocking. Crappies were socked at lakes including Parvin Lake and Mary Elmer Lake. The slabs probably bit at places like Malaga Lake, and a few were hung at Rainbow Lake. Saltwater fishing was picking up well. Striped bass were beached from the ocean surf, and a few drum, puppies, began to be boated on Delaware Bay. Small drum are often the first hooked in the bay.

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