<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Adirondacks</b>

Bays held 8 or 9 inches of ice on the lake, giving up really good catches of yellow perch, said Luke from <b>FISH307.com</b> in the village of Lake George. Fathead minnows caught them well. The main lake held 3 to 6 inches, and the pressure cracks were becoming “a little nasty,” he said. But lake trout fishing was excellent farther out on the lake like that, on anything white like a Swedish Pimple. Other lakes held 8 to 18 inches, and Brant Lake fished well for crappies. So did South Bay on Lake Champlain. Luke was busy with customers, when he gave this report early this morning in a phone call. So he wasn’t asked what baits were stocked. But the store usually stocks a large variety of ice-fishing baits, including three different sizes of shiners, hunts, fathead minnows, icicles and more.

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

Capt. Rick Miick from <b>Dreamcatcher Guide Service</b> ran an ice-fishing trip to Chaumont Bay, 45 minutes north of Pulaski, that was pretty good, he said. A half-bucket of yellow perch, all 9 inches, were piled up. They were hooked on Rapala jigs tipped with buckeye heads, fished over a depth of 22 feet, at a drop-off. The ice was 2 feet thick, and some people drove vehicles on top. Rick did no steelhead fishing on the Salmon River, but talked with a few who did. The river ran low and clear, and light, 3- and 4-pound leaders needed to be fished. Small, 6-milemeter trout beads and blue egg sacks were used. Rick in a past report said he’ll get busy fishing for the steelheads again later in February, when the height of winter weather is finished.  

A trip fished the Salmon River for steelheads Thursday with Jay Peck from <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b>, he said. The angling was pretty good, hooking six, landing four, on stoneflies. Other patterns, including egg flies, were fished, until the stones were tried. Then the catches went pandemonium, and that lasted a few hours, then quit. Conditions were the same as before on the river, running low at 285 cubic feet per second, and on rivers farther west, near Rochester, that Jay is also fishing for the big brown trout in them. In that area, the Genesee River was pretty much the only place to fish for the browns, because other rivers and creeks were iced up. Anglers just needed to be careful about shelf ice in the Genesee. The Genesee and waters in that area ran low, like the Salmon River did, typical in winter, because precipitation was snow, not rain that would raise the water levels. The snow wasn’t melting either, and melt also raises the waters. But the conditions were consistent, unlike earlier in winter, when fluctuating warmer and colder weather brought a mix of rain, snow, ice and melt that kept raising and lowering the streams. On the Genesee, Jay mostly dead-drifted egg flies, but streamer flies, swung across stream, could be fished at some spots. He specializes in fly-fishing and catch-and-release, but his other guides fish conventional tackle. Fishing for smaller trout, 8 to 14 inches, was also an option at one of the spring creeks. That was fun on 3-weight fly-rods, and the fish were taking scuds and midges. The browns in rivers like the Genesee are large, because they summer in Lake Ontario. They spend fall to spring in the rivers, because of more abundant forage. Weather wasn’t too bad, or was moderate for upstate New York. Days mostly reached the mid-20 degrees, maybe the low 30s. The temperature might bump upward later this week, and a few inches of snow might fall throughout the week. The area was on the edge of the blizzard that slammed the Northeast this week. Not much snow was supposed to fall locally from that.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Most anglers ice-fished, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. The angling seemed good at places like Lake Hopatcong, Swartswood Lake and smaller lakes like Cranberry Lake. But a few anglers fished open water for trout on Pequest River, before this week’s snowstorm. The river had run low, before rain before the snow. One angler reported landing seven trout in 3 hours on the river, saying the fish gathered in small pods. He’d usually land 20 or 30 in a trip like that. Ice-fishing baits stocked include spikes, and usually also include mousies, but mousies were out of stock at the moment. Brian wondered whether mousies were becoming scarce. All the ice tackle is on hand, including augurs, tip-ups, jigging rods and the variety of jigs.

Only 4 inches of snow fell along the lake in this week’s storm, Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong wrote in an email. So ice-fishing was still “manageable,” she said, and the lake held 6 to 10 inches of ice. Sixty-eight anglers competed in the Knee Deep Club’s ice-fishing tournament on the lake Sunday, and they yanked in yellow perch to 1 pound 10 ounces, chain pickerel to Dylan Cole’s 3-pound 14-ouncer and largemouth bass to 2 ½ and 3 pounds. The club will hold another ice tournament on Sunday, February 15, on the lake.

Yellow perch and crappies were bailed from the ice on Lake Hopatcong off the state park, like before, and now off Woodport, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Off Woodport is a good place for largemouth bass catches, when he fishes there in summer for largemouth tournaments. A few walleyes were creamed through the ice on Hopatcong, and one angler talked about locating them in water a little deeper. Ice-fishing was good at usual larger lakes, and the angling was usually prohibited at smaller local lakes. Waywayanda Lake turned out perch and crappies through the ice. One angler reported a few crappies from Greenwood Lake from deeper water, in 30 feet, from an ice trip, saying the fish move deeper as winter goes on. Fishing might’ve been slower on Greenwood, but that was unconfirmed. Tons of perch were plucked from Musconetcong Lake from the ice. The lake is shallow all over, only 5 or 6 feet, and is good for largemouth fishing in summer, though is weedy then. Lots of perch were pulled through the ice at Budd Lake.  Ice-fishing was good at Swartswood Lake. Al from the shop whaled catches from the ice on Highlands Lakes, but those lakes are private. Lots of catches came from the ice at a private lake Nick belongs to in Vernon, too. Lots of ice anglers fished tip-ups, but some also jigged. Lots of mousies were sold for the fishing. “That tells me something,” Nick said. Lots of meal worms were sold, and somewhat fewer wax worms were. Nothing was reported about fishing on Passaic River. “Nothing going on,” Nick said. Four to six inches of snow fell at the store in this week’s storm. Two feet fell farther north in the state, like at Sussex.

Plenty of fishable ice was around, said Joe from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook. He mostly heard about the angling from Lake Hopatcong. But he also heard about the fishing from Greenwood Lake, Shepherd Lake and a couple of local lakes. A mix of species, including panfish, chain pickerel, northern pike and walleyes, were axed through the ice. The Passaic River near the shop wasn’t frozen, though other places were frozen on the river. The river ran somewhat high, because of previous rain. That could keep some of the water open, and the river will probably continue to run high, as snow melts or more precipitation falls.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Part of Assunpink Lake was fished from the ice, said Karl from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. Anglers said the ice was 6 or 7 inches thick, and yellow perch and bluegills were hooked through the hard water on mousies and meal worms. Larger fish – crappies, chain pickerel and largemouth bass – were sometimes hit on shiners. Anglers who fished farm ponds said the same thing: Ice was 6 or 7 inches. They grabbed catches including largemouth bass, and the bass jumped on shiners. Ice baits stocked include mousies, meal worms, nightcrawlers and shiners. Tackle is stocked for the fishing, from tip-ups to augurs.

Fishing was pretty much at a standstill with ice on lakes and now snow, said Jeff from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Not much snow fell locally at all, during the week’s storm, though more was predicted.

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