<b>NEW YORK</b>

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

Salmon River ran at 4,000 cubic feet per second, too high to fish for steelheads, said Capt. Rick Miick from <b>Dreamcatcher Guide Service</b>. But that happens every year, because of snow and ice melt, and the high flow should subside within days, and plenty of fish could be angled elsewhere. Trout and steelheads filled the river’s tributaries and creeks, and Lake Ontario near shore. Rick, who, in past reports here, often gave tips to anglers fishing on their own, currently recommends fishing with a guide. Fishing the river’s tributaries and creeks takes experience, and the lake was fished by trolling plugs in 10 to 12 feet of water, while Rick rowed the drift boat. The lake could also be fished from shore. If he’s booked, he’s got a network of guides he can connect anglers with. The guides are full-time, not weekenders. In the river’s tributaries and creeks, Rick’s trips landed steelheads and trout on blue egg sacks and live trout worms. The sacks were small, with three eggs. Though Salmon River was high, any snow was almost fully melted, and no substantial rain was forecast, so the river’s flow should recede before long, and the river’s best steelheading should be coming up. He expects the steelheading to last into mid-May or the third week of May. Trips will also have the river to themselves, because many anglers are turkey hunting or walleye fishing then. The hatchery at the head of the river is yet to release 4,000 steelheads they use for eggs. Those fish are released each spring, adding to the population already swimming the river. Steelheads winter in the river, spawn there in spring, and return to Lake Ontario for summer. They migrate back to the river in fall.

Salmon River was blown out for the moment, but Jay Peck from <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b>’s trips steelheaded on Oak Orchard River, he said. That’s to the west in New York, near Rochester, and the angling was good, peaking for the year. Fresh runs of steelheads were pushing up the Oak Orchard from Lake Ontario, and sometimes there could be a lull in runs. But the peak of the steelhead spawn was happening in the river. Many of the creeks also held the spawning fish in that western New York area, and trips just had to hunt the creeks to find the fish. In the Oak Orchard, Jay’s trips caught steelheads on Wooly Buggers and streamers, like rabbit-strip flies, swinging them across current. Egg flies and nymphs would work, but this was prime time for swinging those other flies, and the fish aggressively attacked them, and the angling was fun. So that’s what was fished. The steelheads were “hot,” smashing the flies. Anglers had to hold on. The steelheads were typical size, probably averaging 8 pounds. A few 14- and 15-pounders were landed with Jay. A week or two probably remained, before steelheads returned to Lake Ontario from the Oak Orchard. Then Jay will fish for steelheads on Salmon River until mid-May, when steelheads will depart that river for the lake. Steelheads spend summer in the lake, after wintering in rivers and then spawning in rivers and creeks in spring. High water will probably subside on Salmon River in a few days, Jay figured. Salmon River’s steelheading should be in full mode then. Creeks that feed Salmon River probably currently held steelheads. Big brown trout that Jay targeted in rivers like the Oak this fall and winter have now returned to the lake for summer. Once the water hits the mid 40 degrees, they move to the lake quickly. Jay specializes in fly-fishing and catch-and-release, and his other guides fish with conventional tackle.

<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

One angler landed a 37-pound striped bass and 20 throwbacks from Delaware River near the DOD Ponds, someone posted on Bill Brinkman’s Facebook page from <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Philadelphia. Those catches were during 4 hours surrounding high tide, and the angler saw mostly 18- to 24-inchers, but a few 30- to 40-pounders, caught during the trip. Another angler tackled a 35-inch striper from the river at Philly’s Allegheny Avenue on bunker, the angler wrote on the page. Another posted a photo of a 29-incher banked from the river near Rancocas Creek on bloodworm. Another fished the river 7 hours at night, scoring 12 hits, landing two catfish. That didn’t mention location in the angler’s post. Those were all the posts about the fishing in the past week. Bill’s most recent report about the river’s striper fishing came in an email last Thursday, and news about that was posted as an update in last week’s report. See that report to read that.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> from Montvale was into some good trout fishing on plugs on a few  trips, he said. On Thursday his trip banked 16 trout, including a 5- or 6-pounder, on Pequest River. On Friday, his trip reeled in a whopping 34 trout to a 3-1/2-pounder on Paulinskill River. That trip must’ve run into a school of the fish that were just stocked, because trout were landed on almost every cast at one place. His trip on Sunday found Pequest River crowded, so he moved to the Paulinskill. Twelve trout were beaten. All the trips’ trout were rainbows, and the state only stocked rainbows this spring, because they resisted the trout virus at the hatchery this past year. The trips caught on size-3 Rapala Countdown lures with a blue back and silver bottom. Dave loves fishing lures for trout on streams in spring, because the plugs are effective and fun and attract large trout. Spring’s higher water is conducive to the fishing, helping to avoid snagging the lures on bottom debris like logs. The rivers at first this spring, when trout season was opened on April 1, didn’t run high, Dave would say, but the water was pushing. Currently, the rivers seemed to drop a little. Dave’s been fishing the plugs with a 5-foot Fenwick Elite Tech River Runner rod with a Pflueger President spinning reel with 4-pound line. Dave keeps on the move during the plugging, working a stretch of river, then moving to the next. If trout are there, the plugs will catch them. He carefully reads the river, and casts are made to specific spots where trout should hold, though the casting might look random. He recently read Tom Rosenbauer’s The Orvis Guide to Reading Trout Streams and is currently reading Dave Hughes’ book Reading Trout Water. Reading the water makes a difference. The Paulinskill is more like a freestone stream, and the Pequest holds rock, mud and sand, and can be difficult to wade. The Paulinskill is a less popular river, for unknown reasons, though Dave finds lots of trout there. The Paulinskill can be crowded after trout are stocked on Thursdays. But Dave often finds the water to himself the next day, on a Friday, and other days. He mostly trouts in spring, because of the plugging, but hears that trout are also taken from the Paulinskill right through summer. All the trout were released on these three trips of Dave’s. The Pequest attracts more anglers, but seems to give up more large trout, sometimes some real monsters. Almost seems that the hatchery, located on the Pequest, favors its home waters with large trout. Dave’s boat was in the shop for spring maintenance, and that will probably be finished by the end of the week. Then he’ll also fish lakes. Lakes were cold, in the low 40 degrees, but he heard reports about bass and crappies boated from lakes. A lake trout tournament at Round Valley Reservoir reportedly slammed lakers, lots. Many types of fishing can be good in spring, and choosing the angling to pursue can be the difficulty.

Trout fishing seemed good, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. Catches were heard about from the Musconetcong River, the north and south branches of the Raritan River and the Pequest River. The waters ran at average levels, after running a little high when trout season was opened. Spinners and Trout Magnets were popular producers. For bait anglers, butter worms worked best. On the Pequest, small nymphs like hares ears caught. Not much was heard about hatches, but early black stoneflies and small blue-winged olives would be hatches this time of year. From lakes, fishing for catches like walleyes and muskies was mostly reported. Those fish can feed on stocked trout this season, so fairly large lures could be fished. Not so many largemouth bass seemed to be angled, and water might be cold for them. Yellow perch were probably active in lakes. Shad apparently migrated Delaware River. Customers bought shad spoons and gear for the fishing. 

Ponds stocked with trout gave up the fish well, said Joe from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook. Rockaway River turned out trout, he heard. Passaic River subsided to a normal level, after running high this season. Kayakers and canoers smashed northern pike from the river, probably mostly on spinners. Try bigger spinners, like a No. 5 Blue Fox. Little was reported about largemouth bass yet this season. A largemouth tournament was held on Lake Hopatcong during the weekend, and boat launching is open at the lake, after it was closed because of ice. John visited the lake at the state park that day, and many boats kept running around. That didn’t seem a good sign for largemouthing.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Trout fishing was in full swing, and the angling sounded good, said Scott from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. Some anglers had success, and some didn’t, but usual haunts seemed productive. Good reports came from the Black River and the South Branch of the Raritan River. The trout he caught were all healthy-looking, scrappy rainbow trout. Only rainbows were stocked this season, because they resisted the virus in trout at the hatchery this past year. He caught on butter worms and PowerBait. Most anglers reported success on butters. Some caught on spinners, and not much was mentioned about flies. Streams might’ve run somewhat low, but were completely fishable. They weren’t washed out from rain, like can happen in spring. The water was cold, and he found that trouting was better in afternoons, when the water warmed. Mornings could be slower for trout fishing. If not for the cold, though, rainbows can tend to bite all day, not just certain times of day, like some trout. Sometimes brown trout mostly feed nocturnally, for instance. All the trout leading the shop’s trout tournament came from Spooky Brook Pond at Colonial Park. In other news, Round Valley’s fishing was sort of slow, according to customers Scott talked with. Reports about shad rolled in from Delaware River at Lambertville.  

A customer this morning said he’s catching a few chain pickerel and largemouth bass at smaller ponds that are shallower and warm quicker, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. Another reeled a few largemouths from Lake Riviera. Trout fishing was slow on streams, and the water was high, because of rain. Customers fish for trout on the Toms, Metedeconk and Manasquan rivers. But trouting was super at Spring Lake, like it has been this season. White perch fishing improved on the brackish Toms a little. The slabs were picked here and there. A few of the perch, not many, were hooked at Forge Pond, but one angler fished for them a few times, copping none. Freshwater fishing was mostly slow. Not a lot of anglers fished yet this season, too. Fishing for small striped bass was great in the saltwater Toms. Winter flounder were almost nonexistent in the saltwater Toms. Few were caught this season, and they seemed to migrate out of the river now. Flounder fishing was good on Barnegat Bay near Mantoloking Bridge. Shiners, killies and all the worms, including for trout, are stocked. Murphy’s also owns <b>Go Fish Bait & Tackle</b> on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River. 

Good trout fishing was bailed at Delaware and Raritan Canal on Roostertails and on salmon eggs or nightcrawlers drifted along bottom, said Karl from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. Trout, good catches, also came from Sylvan Lake, on shiners or big gold or silver Phoebes. Largemouth bass got winged pretty well at Assunpink Lake on Rat-L-Traps, suspending jerk baits and spinner baits. Anglers waited for Delaware River to clean up, hoping that happened in the next days. The river was dirty since last week’s report, but should hold the migration of striped bass and shad.

Lots of trout were smoked from Grenloch Lake, Clementon Lake, Rowan’s Pond and Oak Pond, said Ed from <b>Creek Keepers Bait & Tackle</b> in Blackwood. Several 5- to 6-pounders were weighed in. Trout fishing seemed off to a healthy start at different waters this year. A few chain pickerel and largemouth bass were lifted from lakes on minnows and shiners, but no specific locations were mentioned. A few small striped bass were reported from Delaware River here and there. Whether anglers had success on the stripers depended on who you talked with. But a few began mentioning the catches, on bloodworms.

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