<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

The river’s salmon fishing tapered off, and its steelheading began to take over, said Jay Peck from <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b>. A few squirts of salmon, he said, still migrated to the river. The steelhead fishing was fair, and steelheads migrated to the river in slow but steady trickles. If trips worked and covered the water, they caught steelheads. Mornings became cold, and steelheads could be sluggish then. Jay’s trips waited to fish for them later in the day. The river, running at 335 cubic feet per second, was in the upper 40 degrees to low 50s. Rain was forecast for today, and anglers hoped that would raise the level. That would cause more steelheads to migrate to the river. Rain fell in the past week, but no more than “maintenance.” The reservoir’s water-level was under capacity. Just as many 4-year-old steelheads, weighing 13 or 14 pounds, seemed to swim the river as 3-year-olds, weighing 7 or 8 pounds, did. Trips will probably bank good-sized sometimes. Jay’s trips currently cast egg flies to the steelheads, because areas he fished held salmon eggs the steelheads ate.  Steelheads were more willing than usual this fall to bite streamer flies swung across current, because the river held fewer salmon eggs than usual. Jay’s trips landed one steelhead on an Intruder streamer in past days. But the egg flies, offering a slower presentation, could also catch better because of the cold water in mornings. Steelheads migrate to the river from Lake Ontario in fall, winter in the river, spawn there in spring, and return to the lake for summer. Jay will fish for them on the river throughout winter and into spring. But he’ll also fish for huge brown trout on creeks and rivers in November, farther west in New York, around Rochester.  The browns grow large, because they summer in the lake. They migrate to the creeks and rivers to spawn in fall. They winter in the creeks and rivers, because forage is more abundant there than in the lake that season. The trout return to the lake for summer. Currently, few if any of the trout migrated to the creeks and rivers. But they’ll show up any time now. The bigger trout waters in that western New York area, the Genesee and Oak Orchard rivers, held spawning salmon currently. For the browns, Jay’s trips will fish egg flies, because the trout will feed on the salmon eggs. He’ll fish for the browns until western New York’s waters freeze. The Salmon River never entirely freezes, and its steelheading lasts the entire winter. Salmon migrate to all these rivers in fall, before steelheads and browns do. Salmon die in the rivers after spawning in fall, unlike steelheads and browns that don’t die after spawning. Once salmon die, fishing for them ends on the rivers for the season, of course. Salmon are dying now. Jay specializes in fly-fishing and catch-and-release for all these fish, and books trips that fish with conventional tackle for the steelheads and salmon with his other guides.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> smashed 32 hybrid striped bass on Lake Hopatcong on Sunday, he wrote in an email. He couldn’t fish with more than two rods, because he’d net a striper, and another rod would buckle over. Dead herring and chicken livers were fished for bait. He tried fishing the herring entrails, and that caught better than the herring. The hybrids were stacked 25 feet down in 30 feet of water in the 57-degree lake. “Man, can those bass fight!” he said. They bent the rods to the handles on scorching runs. “Awesome day,” he said!

Participation in trout fishing picked up, since waters were stocked, but the streams and rivers ran low, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. Anglers hoped rain forecast for today improved that. In the low water, anglers “will be picking pods,” he said. Caddis were the flies customers talked about casting to the fish. Lakes were also low, and bass “and stuff like that” still bit in lakes, he said. But low water hampered angling in general. Again, anglers hoped the rain would help. Need some water to stir things up, he said.  Brian talked about landlocked salmon at Tilcon Lake and Lake Aeroflex. Whether the salmon, stocked in those lakes, spawn was unknown, but landlockeds usually spawn in fall. Fishing for them in those two lakes is usually active in spring and early summer. Trolling for them with herring is one way to catch. Lakes were probably yet to turn over, and weather was probably too warm to make them flip. They usually do in mid-November, if Brian remembered.

A couple of customers trout fished on Pequest and Paulinskill rivers, saying deeper holes held the fish, said Cheryl from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook. Otherwise, customers mostly talked about low water everywhere. Passaic River ran low, but if anglers put in the time, they wrestled northern pike from the river. Largemouth bass were caught from lakes, but again, anglers put in time. Low water might’ve affected that angling, too. In saltwater, striped bass fishing was hit and miss.

Trout were tugged from streams, but the water ran low, and leaves floated along the streams, said Scott from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. That caused difficulty for angling, and maybe the rain today would raise the streams. Mostly Musconetcong River and South Branch of the Raritan River are heard about at the store. The Musky ran at 60 cubic feet per second, compared with a normal of 120. The South Branch flowed at 20 CFS, compared with a normal of 78. On the Musky, trout anglers caught on big nymphs like hare’s ears and pheasant-tails, and on spinner lures. Round Valley Reservoir was extremely low, and the dock at the boat launch was on dry land. Still, a few trout began to be banked from land that begin to cruise along the shoreline at the reservoir this season. Flies, spinners and M&M’s, z combo of marshmallow and meal worms, nabbed them. Hybrid striped bass fishing slowed that was good recently at Spruce Run Reservoir.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Customers fished for trout on the Toms River near the tree farm, scoring well, actually, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in the town of Toms River. They fished spinners and PowerBait, and a few anglers fished for chain pickerel on local ponds with killies, catching the fish. Killies, nightcrawlers and garden worms are stocked. Murphy’s, located on Route 37, also owns <b>Go Fish Bait & Tackle</b> on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River.

Trout were stocked last week on Tuesday at Grenloch Lake and Oak Pond, said Ed from <b>Creek Keepers Bait & Tackle</b> in Blackwood. But nobody seemed to hook the fish. Several customers fished Grenloch for the trout, but none reported catching or seeing anyone catch the fish. Anglers bought shiners to fish for largemouth bass at lakes. Ed imagined some were landed.

Was some decent foot traffic for trout fishing, because of the recent fall stocking, said Jeff from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. The fishing was good at Maurice River and Iona Lake on tackle like spinners. A few minnows were sold for catches like chain pickerel on lakes. Nothing was really reported about largemouth bass fishing. The trout stocking amped up fishing business a moment. Saltwater anglers waited for the migration of striped bass to arrive.

Back to Top