<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Adirondacks</b>

Some of Lake George started to be fished on the ice, said Luke from <b>FISH307.com</b> in the village of Lake George.  Weather was cold, and Harris Bay on Lake George held 5 inches of ice that was fished. Off Million Dollar Beach was also fished through the ice on the lake, and other places probably also were, but those were the places heard about. Mostly yellow perch and lake trout were angled through the ice on George. South Bay on Lake Champlain gave up good ice-fishing for perch and crappies. Those are the two biggest lakes in the Adirondack Mountains, and most other waters held lots of ice in the mountains. Schroon Lake held 8 inches, and some places held 1 or 1 ½ feet. Some good catches of lake trout came from Schroon, and a 25-pound northern pike was hammered there during the weekend. Brant Lake turned out good catches of perch and crappies. Perch fishing’s been very good in the Adirondacks. For the perch and crappies, fathead minnows were fished. For lakers, white jigs and icicles were. For pike, golden shiners were dunked. Ice-fishing baits stocked include three sizes of shiners, fathead minnows, golden shiners, icicles and hunts. Suckers will arrive on Friday.

<b>Salmon River and Western N.Y. Rivers</b>

Capt. Rick Miick from <b>Dreamcatcher Guide Service</b> ice-fished, and steelhead fishing on the Salmon River was mostly at a standstill, because of cold weather, he said. One of his guides steelheaded on the river Tuesday, he thought. Too much ice currently filled the lower river to fish. But the upper river, maybe from Altmar to Pineville, could be fished, and maybe mid-river could. The upper river remains open, never freezes, because of moving water from the reservoir dam. If anglers were going to fish the river for steelheads now, Rick would recommend blue egg sacks or lime-green, 8- or 10-milimeter trout beads, during clear skies, like are currently forecast for the next week or so. Air temperature was 6 degrees on Tuesday, but is supposed to reach the 20s this week and the mid-30s on Sunday. That will be more fishable. Rick’s ice fishing included a trip Monday that landed eight jumbo yellow perch and two walleyes on Oneida Lake. Rapala Jigging Raps were fished with buckeyes. Rick replaces the center hook with a Mustad straight, gold hook that hangs down about 2 inches.  That hooks the fish better.  The perch were full of eggs, getting ready to spawn. The walleyes were “nomading,” looking for something to eat. Any ice locally was probably 8 inches thick at most, ranging from 3 to 8.

With daytime highs from 3 to 7 degrees, and wind gusting to 40 m.p.h., fishing was wintered out last week, said Jay Peck from <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b>. The weather just started to become somewhat warmer in past days, and Jay returned to fishing on Sunday and Monday, for the big brown trout he’s fly-rodding on rivers and creeks around Rochester, and the angling was good. The creeks were frozen and couldn’t be fished, but the Oak Orchard River and the Genesee River were open. Bigger waters like those were fishable, and anglers just needed to be careful about shelf ice, and not dipping the reel into the water. The water was 30 or 31 degrees, and an angler could watch ice form on a reel if dipped. The weather’s supposed to become somewhat warmer now, and the fish were biting. On Sunday’s trip, the trout were hooked on darker rabbit-strip flies, refusing egg flies. On Monday, the trout preferred the eggs, not the rabbit flies. “Fish being fish,” Jay said. Not much snow, only a few inches, fell in this area. Some places, like Buffalo, got bands of heavy snow, a couple of feet. On the Salmon River, 2 hours to the east, probably 1 ½ feet of snow covered the ground. Jay is fishing for steelheads on the Salmon, and specializes in fly-fishing and catch-and-release. But his other guides steelhead with conventional tackle on the Salmon. The Salmon had been running high, probably as high as 1,500 or 1,600 cubic feet per second, because of previous rain. But the level dropped to 750 by this week. Open water is available to fish there, and Jay will probably fish the Salmon on Thursday, and the day is supposed to reach the 20 degrees. It’s winter fishing. But not arctic like last week.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Got some ice, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. Some of the smaller lakes were ice-fished, but so were parts of Lake Hopatcong, like the coves. The Knee Deep Club is supposed to hold an ice-fishing tournament at Hopatcong on Sunday. Ice-fishing was just getting started, and weather is supposed to warm to the 40 degrees on Sunday, but become no warmer than in the 20s at night, in the coming week. That should maintain fishable ice at some places. Most smaller lakes held 3 to 6 inches. Weather was a little cold for trout fishing on streams. Some trouters fished Pequest River, and the river was jammed with ice somewhat. Trout streams probably held ice along edges. But if weather approaches the 40 degrees, that should help. Ice-fishing bait and tackle is stocked, including mousies, spikes, tip-ups, sleds and jigs, like Kastmasters. Some anglers are even using blade baits, a larger jig, and that might be popular this winter.

Ice covered most of the lake, and the main lake held some open water during the weekend, despite frigid weather, Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> wrote in an email. But most of the lake held 4 to 7 inches, and a few ice-anglers were out and about, catching perch and pickerel on tip-ups and jigs. A couple of walleyes were axed from shallow water through the ice. Scott King yanked good-sized perch to 1 pound and a 3-pound pickerel from the ice. The Knee Deep Club will hold an ice-fishing tournament on the lake Sunday, and for up-to-date info, Laurie said, visit the club’s website or call the shop, at 973-663-3826. <b>***Update, Friday, 1/16:***</b> The Knee Deep Club postponed this Sunday’s ice-fishing tournament until the following Sunday, January 25, Laurie wrote in an email. Plenty of fishable ice covered the lake, but some of the water was open in the main lake, in deeper water. “Crazy, considering how cold it’s been,” she said.

Ice-anglers started fishing Lake Hopatcong off the state park, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Six inches of ice or so formed there, and all the perch that anglers could want could be landed. Some anglers said Budd Lake held fishable ice, but Nick found that difficult to believe. Anglers said perch and crappies were claimed there. A couple of anglers scoped out the ice at Monksville Reservoir that Nick knew about. Police showed up, warning them about the ice, but the anglers said the ice was 4 inches. But Hopatcong was basically the place ice-fished for now. Nothing was heard about the ice on Greenwood Lake, though a customer asked about that. The Passaic River was frozen near the store, and that was unusual. The shop is stocked for ice-fishing, including with mousies, wax worms, meal worms, shiners, tip-ups, jigging rods, jigs including Rapalas and Kastmasters, ice-fishing line, augurs and sleds.

Joe from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook had been away, hadn’t heard recent news, he said. But fishing was probably similar to what he reported last week, he said. The Passaic River was yet to freeze near the shop, though it’ll likely freeze sometime this winter. For last week’s report, he said the river’s northern pike fishing was a little slow, but still good. Spinner baits, spinners and swim baits should catch. Joe for this week’s report wasn’t asked whether Verona Lake Park was frozen, but the lake gave up good trout fishing this season, he said in the last report. The trout were apparently from the winter stocking.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Ice-fishing began, though weather currently warmed compared with last week, said Scott from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. Last week was especially cold, and places supposedly ice-fished included Budd Lake. Not much open water remained on Spruce Run Reservoir, but Scott didn’t know how thick the ice was there. A customer banked lake trout from shore at Round Valley Reservoir the other day on a small jig with a Mister Twister. A little trout fishing happened at Ken Lockwood Gorge, but the river was beginning to freeze. Ice-fishing bait and tackle is stocked including mousies, spikes, wax worms, tip-ups, all kinds of jigs, ice-fishing line and augurs.

The lakes were ice-fished at Assunpink Wildlife Management Area, said Karl from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown, though he didn’t know whether that was safe. Those are Assunpink, Rising Sun and Stone Tavern lakes, and Farrington Lake was also ice-fished. Small largemouth bass, chain pickerel and crappies were cracked on shiners. Smaller fish like bluegills were hit on mousies and meal worms. The Trenton power plant generated warm water into Delaware River, but whether fish bit there wasn’t heard. Sometimes the warmth attracts fish that can include smallmouth bass, walleyes and catfish that are caught. All the ice-fishing bait and tackle is stocked, including mousies and shiners.

Lakes were iced-over, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Even the spillways were frozen, he saw when he poked around the waters to take a look. Sometimes at least the spillways can be fished, when the rest of the lake is frozen. So no open-water fishing was reported, and ice-fishing isn’t popular locally, like farther north in the state. That’s because the lakes farther north are usually frozen for a longer sustained time than locally. But Steve definitely saw people playing ice-hockey.  

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