<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Adirondack Mountains</b>

Weather was unusually warm in the Adirondacks, and forecasts look like the weather will become a little colder after January 1, in the mid 30 degrees during daytime and mid 20s at night, said Luke from <b>FISH307.com</b> in Lake George. That should build ice a little for ice fishing, and a few weeks will probably pass before ice fishing kicks in at the mountains.  In the meantime, fishing was great for landlocked salmon and lake trout on Lake George. Shore anglers landed the salmon, and boaters reeled in both the salmon and lakers. The boaters hooked the fish anywhere from along the surface to 70 and 80 feet down. That was because the lake rolled over for the season, and was mostly the same temperature from top to bottom, and no thermocline existed. 

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

Three feet of snow fell along the Salmon River’s headwaters, around Tug Hill, said Jay Peck from <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b>. That raised the river to 1,500 cubic feet per second at the dam, and 1,800 at Pine Hill. That was “big water” for the river’s steelhead fishing, and now rain was falling and weather was warming, and the river was going to raise more, maybe to between 2,000 and 3,000 CFS. But once the river drops back down, that usually draws a load of steelheads into the river, fresh from Lake Ontario. Steelheading could be great then. Plenty of steelheads already filled the river. They were “grouchy” early this week, maybe because of the water conditions, but Jay hooked a few. When the fish are like that, he works, changing flies and the ways fished, figures it out, and catches. A mix of egg flies, wooly buggers and nymphs caught, and fishing experimented with each to connect. Jay also found steelheads in some of the creeks north of the Salmon. Though weather is unusually warm, that probably means a busy winter of steelheading. Rivers probably won’t freeze solid, and cold probably won’t be as severe as some winters. Steelheading is world-class on the river throughout winter. Jay also fishes for the big trout that swim Lake Ontario’s tributaries farther west, around Rochester, throughout winter. Those rivers and creeks ran extremely low, and there was no fishing for the trout. Any of the trout that already migrated to the tribs, from the lake, died in the low water. Rain was falling in that area this week, and Jay hoped that raised the waters, drawing more of the trout in from the lake, kicking the angling back off. He had begun to catch them, until water became too low. Still, those tributaries will probably rise this winter, and more of the trout will probably head up the tribs, and the season’s warmth probably means some good fishing for them this winter. As long as the tributaries don’t freeze over, the fishing can be good throughout winter. Salmon River, an hour to two hours east of the trout tributaries, gets much more precipitation, because it’s on the east side of Lake Ontario, getting lake-effect rain and snow. The western rivers and creeks, with the brown trout, are south of the lake, and don’t get the lake-effect precipitation. Some of Lake Erie’s tributaries, farther west, currently gave up the trout. Jay specializes in fly-fishing and catch-and-release, and books trips that fish with conventional tackle with his other guides.

<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

One customer smashed walleyes on the upper Delaware River when weather was cooler, Bill from <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Philadelphia wrote in an email. The fish stopped biting when weather became warmer, but the angler expected the fishing to pick back up when temperatures dropped again. Anglers at the Penn Warner Club lit into “a whole variety of species,” Bill said. Anglers must pay to become members to fish the waters at the club. Fish there include largemouth bass, chain pickerel, northern pike, walleyes, hybrid striped bass, crappies, yellow perch, bluegills, sunfish, carp and channel catfish, the club’s website says. Anglers routinely catch 4- to 6-pound largemouths at the club, and an 8-pound 4-ouncer is the club record, it says. A 25-pound 12-ounce northern pike is the record, it says. Core Creek served up loads of trout, Bill said. Fishing for them near the lake was some of the best, and many anglers limited out quickly. Pennypack Creek held plenty of trout.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>
 
Trout fishing picked up somewhat, because of rain that raised trout streams a little, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. The streams had run especially low, earlier this year, and trout anglers now caught the fish. Some sizable were angled at Ken Lockwood Gorge. Small flies like midges and small blue-winged olives seemed to hook-up at trout streams. Walleyes were landed from Lake Hopatcong on Rapala Jigging Raps, he believed. Nothing was heard from Delaware River, like about smallmouth bass fishing that maybe happened there. Whether much of an ice-fishing season will happen this winter was a question, because of the unusual warmth. The warmth might open possibilities for other fishing, though, maybe even boating. Brian would still foresee a “change” in the weather this season, he said, and maybe substantially colder weather will arrive in January sometime. He was in Burlington, Vermont, recently, and weather was unusually warm there, too. Snow flurries might’ve fallen a little on his way back, but no snow settled on the area yet. All ice-fishing gear is stocked.

Passaic River ran pretty high, said Cheryl from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook. Whether anybody fished the river in the conditions, including for northern pike that the river’s known for, was unknown. The river had run low a long time in summer and fall. No fishing for trout or other freshwater catches was heard about. In saltwater, striped bass were still angled from Raritan Bay. Striper fishing lasted a long time this fall, and now into winter.

Scott from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook nailed a couple of sizable rainbow trout on the main Raritan River on black marabou jigs on a trip, he said. A carp was also landed on one of the jigs, and the river ran a little low and clear, but plenty of places could be fished. That was a day before lots of rain fell Thursday. The trout gathered in deeper runs and pockets. If anglers look for them there, they could catch. Customers fly-fished for trout, including at Ken Lockwood Gorge and the Musconetcong River. They bought wooly buggers, egg flies and tiny midges for the angling. The black marabou jigs resemble wooly buggers. Walleyes were banked from the Delaware River, Scott thought. Northern pike were fought from Passaic River. A friend of the shop was scoring well on hybrid striped bass on Lake Hopatcong on chicken livers. Anglers headed for Round Valley Reservoir to fish from shore for trout that cruise along the shoreline this time of year. Nobody who really lit up the catches was heard about, but the anglers bought shiners, mini marshmallows and meal worms for the fishing. The marshmallows and meal worms are fished on the same hook, known as the M&M combo. The store stocks garlic-flavored marshmallows for that, and the marshmallow floats the worm up from bottom to cruising level for the trout. Trout aren’t bottom feeders. Using minnows like that is common elsewhere, too, including in the western United States. Scott first heard about fishing with marshmallows in Washington State. Round Valley was low, and the docks at the boat launch were high and dry.    

Chain pickerel, a few largemouth bass and some crappies had been tugged from lakes, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. Nobody reported fishing for them in past days, and trout swam a few lakes included in the winter trout stocking, including Shenandoah Lake. The winter stocking took place during Thanksgiving week, and a couple of customers made the trip to Shenandoah for trout, though none caught. Killies are stocked, and had run out, Dennis said for the last report here. He’d been concerned whether more would be available this late in the year, because the minnows can be difficult to pot now, but got them. Garden worms and nightcrawlers are on hand. The store will be open until 5 p.m. today, from 8 a.m. to 1 or 2 p.m. Christmas Eve, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday. Dennis will decide the hours for afterward, and the hours should be included on the store’s voicemail. Murphy’s, located on Route 37, also owns <b>Go Fish Bait & Tackle</b> on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River.

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