<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Adirondacks</b>

A foot of ice covered the lake’s bays, and 8 to 10 inches lay atop the main lake, at least in the southern basin, said Luke from <b>FISH307.com</b> in the village of Lake George. The southern basin is near the store, and a foot of snow and slush covered the ice. But lake trout and yellow perch were lit into. The fishing slowed a little, and was better in mornings than afternoons. The lakers were jigged on white tubes or Swedish Pimples, down 60 to 120 feet. The perch mostly grabbed fathead minnows and wax worms. The bait supply was pretty good, and included small to medium hunts, suckers, all sizes of shiners, and fatheads.

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

The temperature failed to dip below zero degrees on Tuesday, for the first time in six or seven days, said Capt. Rick Miick from <b>Dreamcatcher Guide Service</b>. He did no steelhead fishing on Salmon River in the cold, but the next trip is slated for Sunday. Even an ice-fishing tournament was cancelled this past week, because temperatures plummeted as low as minus 35. He also ice-fishes. A very few fished the upper river, the only place with open water, in the recent cold. The fast water from the reservoir dam keeps the upper river from freezing throughout winter. Blue trout beads on light, 4-pound leaders could be fished. So could probably root-beer colored flies that work well in low water. The river is running low, typical in winter, because any precipitation is snow that’s not melting. The good news is that plenty of snow, 7 or 8 feet, is packed around the river’s head waters. That means plenty of water will fill the river when the snow begins to melt, good for spring steelheading. Rick couldn’t imagine the flow will be less than 1,000 to 1,800 cubic feet per second, probably into May. Some weeks will pass before Rick’s steelheading becomes busy again. That’s the best steelheading of the year. Still, steelheads swim the river throughout winter, and the angling is world-class. This was a brutal cold snap, but temperatures are probably going to begin to rise.

Jay Peck from <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b> fly-fished for steelheads on Salmon River last week on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the angling was surprisingly good, on the upper river, he said. He specializes in fly-fishing and catch and release, and his other guides fish with conventional tackle. Jay almost chuckled to himself, he said, because the angling was exceptional for winter. Stoneflies he fished seemed the key. A whopping 30 steelheads were hooked, and 22 were netted, on one of the days with him. A few of the fish were sizable, too, up to 10 and 12 pounds. Others were average-sized, 7 or 8 pounds. Steelheads were keyed in on abundant stoneflies. Many anglers fished trout beads, an egg imitation, but if they tried stoneflies, they could be surprised. Anglers had to be “game on,” had to use skill, while drifting the flies. But few eggs filled the river.  The river flowed low at about 285 CFS, like before. The only thing that changed was that the snow became deeper and deeper. The snow was packed 8 feet deep around the top of the river. That boded well for plenty of water to flow in spring in the river, good for steelheading. Jay is currently fishing for them during breaks in the cold weather, or on relatively warm days. Otherwise, he’s tying flies. Monday morning was minus 10 degrees, and the temperature was supposed to reach 18 on Tuesday, the warmest this week. See some of the stonefly fishing in the latest video from Jay. In western New York around Rochester, where he’s fishing for large brown trout on rivers and streams, he did no angling in past days. Snow was packed 2 or 3 feet on top of ice on most of those waters, and flows there also ran low. But he was landing the trout just previously, on relatively warmer days, and when the snow thaws, the conditions will change quickly. The melting can be like 4 or 5 inches of rain, and the trouting will turn right on. That can happen in 48 hours.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Pretty much just ice fishing now, and there was plenty of ice on lakes, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. Ice had to be 12 inches at many places, and the recent cold had to build ice. The Knee Deep Club was supposed to hold an ice-fishing tournament on Lake Hopatcong on Sunday. No results were heard, but ice-anglers mostly reported yellow perch catches from different lakes. The perch were hooked on small jigs with mousies or spikes. Chain pickerel were landed, and maybe walleyes were. Mousies and spikes are stocked. Catch the shop’s annual <a href="http://www.icontact-archive.com/TfWiFvrku197Z2--LzaadgfK9jElz5Ww?w=2" target="_blank">Cast and Blast</a>, a fishing and hunting expo, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, featuring clubs, demonstrations, speakers, raffles and more. That will include talks about trolling trout on Lake Hopatcong, bucktailing for fluke, muskie fishing, kayak bass fishing and more.

Fishable ice should be around a while, and the ice-fishing season was good for two years in a row now, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Weather was too warm for the angling at first this winter, but the fishing was stretching over a good period of time now, and catches were good. Ice thicker than a foot was probably included on every lake. “This week’s not hurting, for sure,” he said, talking about the cold. Customers still reported ice-fishing at Lake Hopatcong for perch and crappies. Greenwood Lake held some open water in the middle, but was ice-fished, including for perch and walleyes. Waywayanda Lake turned out perch, crappies and a few bass from the ice. Perch were plucked from Pompton Lake’s coves through the ice, maybe not as well as before, but catches. Monksville Reservoir was ice-fished, and one angler there reeled up a muskie, not big, and a couple of smallmouth bass. Plenty of bait is stocked, including mousies, spikes, wax worms and shiners. Some tip-ups are still stocked, and tackle like the selection of ice lures is in good supply. Looking ahead to spring: Nick’s largemouth bass club is looking for a boater to join, because a former member had to leave, because of changing jobs. A non-boater is also welcomed, but a boater needs to join for another non-angler to be able to fish on the vessel. Email Nick at Daiwa710@aol.com if interested.

Lot of ice, with all the cold, said Joe from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook. Anglers still caught through the ice. “Very active,” he said. Mostly Lake Hopatcong’s ice-fishing was heard about, and mostly from Henderson Cove there. A little was reported about ice-fishing from Greenwood Lake. Passaic River wasn’t frozen locally. Skim ice was seen in the early morning, but that melted by afternoon.

<b>South Jersey</b>

“Cold,” said Braden from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook! Northern pike were fought at Pompton Lake through the ice. A 38-incher and a 32-incher were known about that were caught there last weekend. At Lake Hopatcong, yellow perch, mixed sizes, other panfish and some channel catfish were eased through the ice. Walleyes taken from Hopatcong began to be heard about, from off the points with deeper water, in low light. Not much was reported from Swartswood Lake. At Round Valley Reservoir, quite a few chain pickerel were beaten at the bathing beach on the ice. Largemouth bass fishing was decent on local ponds for 12- to 16-inchers from the ice. Mousies, wax worms and spikes are usually stocked for ice-fishing. Nightcrawlers, garden worms and meal worms are carried year-round. Medium and large shiners are in.

Customers are ice-fishing, said Karl from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. Many hit Prospertown Lake for chain pickerel, largemouth bass and crappies on shiners. Lots of bluegills bit there, and at Assunpink and Stone Tavern lakes, through the ice on small marabou jigs or hair jigs with mousies or wax worms. Anglers who fished the ice at Pemberton Lake reported similar hook-ups: crappies, largemouths and pickerel on shiners, and bluegills and also yellow perch on small jigs. Rapala Jigging Raps clocked some of the largemouths for ice-anglers at lakes. Delaware River was frozen in the cold. But the Trenton power plant pumped warm water into the river. That can attract catches, but no fishing was mentioned from there.

Six or seven inches of snow was being shoveled Tuesday, after the storm that night and morning, at <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b>, Jeff said in a phone call that day. Practically all local waters were frozen in the cold in past days, and that and the snow shut down fishing, really. Ice-fishing isn’t as popular this far south in New Jersey, as it is farther north in the state. Fishable ice doesn’t usually last long. Some good news, though: The shop is stocked with lots of gear, anticipating the new fishing season. Anglers hope the weather breaks to begin soon.

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