<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River & Central N.Y. Rivers</b>

The migration of salmon into Salmon River “wants to start,” said Jay Peck from <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b>. The run won’t begin this week, he thinks, because of a heat wave. But when the heat breaks, forecast for next week, and wind switches to northeast, cooling Lake Ontario, a few of the fish should shoot up the river. The river had been running at 185 cubic feet per second, and was supposed to be raised to 335 last Monday night. A hundred salmon, no more, would probably migrate into the river’s Douglaston Run, because of that. A handful of salmon, not many, were seen in the lower river before then. The heat wave would warm water and probably push salmon several miles from shore in Lake Ontario. The switch in wind direction, cooling water, should draw them toward the river. All signs, like the salmon staging close to shore, near the river, the few salmon that shot up the river already, and good water temperatures were positive for the river’s migration. Anglers seemed nervous about the run, because the migration was poor last year in exceptionally low water. But this year doesn’t look like those low-water conditions, and might look like the run could begin early. Jay will guide for the salmon soon, like every late summer and fall, and specializes in fly-fishing and catch-and-release. But he books fishing with conventional tackle with his other guides for the salmon. Currently, he guided dry-fly fishing for trout on streams in central New York, and that angling’s been some of the best of the year. The fishing can be stable in late summer and early fall. Tricos are hatching, and that’s beginning to wind down on some of the streams. Then he’ll fish streamers there, and that’s fun fishing, too. In the early salmon season, trips can do a combo of salmon fishing and trout fishing, taking advantage of the good trouting. Once the salmon run fully begins, fishing’s all about them. The dry-fly trouting is also casting isonychias and terrestrials, including ants, beetles, hoppers and crickets.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

Lakes were warm, conducive to fishing for largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, said Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b>. The temps were high for walleye fishing and musky fishing that he also does. A lake was 80 degrees on a trip with a father and son aboard this past week. They landed a couple of largemouths 3 pounds on a Rapala crank bait. A good-sized chain pickerel was taken on a Heddon Baby Torpedo. Incredibly, two smallmouths, hefty fish, were also landed on one plug, on the trip. The smallmouths were both hooked in the mouth, one on the front treble hook, the other on the back treble. When those were caught, one of the anglers was hung up in weeds, and gave Dave the rod. When Dave got the plug free, he felt fish on the line, and gave the rod back to one of the anglers to land them. The anglers seemed pleased with the trip and told Dave he was their man, he said. Dave might fish solo in the next days, but air temperatures might reach the mid-90s. That can be tough on daytime fishing, but the heat should break soon.

The heat seemed to keep many anglers from fishing, said Kevin from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. But customers still fished for largemouth bass and smallmouth bass on Lake Hopatcong. A buddy reeled in a few largemouths from the lake on a trip, saying the fishing was a slow pick. But he clocked the bass in the grass. Most anglers now fished for them through the weeds with jigs like a jig-and-pig or a Keitech with a crawl. Blue and black are always good colors for that. News about trout was scarce in the heat. A better stretch of weather for trout fishing, cooler temperatures and some rain, had happened a moment this summer. But that didn’t happen for some time now. Last week was warm, pushing 90 degrees, and so was this week. But weather is supposed to become cooler Thursday and next week. Once a good stretch of cooler weather takes place, and a couple of rains fall, anglers will begin trout fishing more often. Many anglers prefer to avoid trout fishing when warm water will kill the fish if fought. Delaware River’s smallmouth bass fishing should pick up when weather cools, too. Conditions were perfect for wading the river currently.

In the hot weather, the lake’s fishing was somewhat slow, Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong wrote in an email. But some good-sized fish were weighed-in. Kenny Stelmack pasted an 8-pound hybrid striped bass, several smaller stripers and a walleye on live herring. Jan Gorz fished chicken livers to hook hybrids 4 to 6 pounds off Chestnut Point. Crappies and a few largemouth bass hit in the lake. Fishing should pick up, once weather cools. Boat traffic should drop off, as kids return to school. Dow’s will be open until November sometime, depending on weather. The shop always closes a moment then, but opens back up for ice-fishing. The Knee Deep Club will hold the Kind of the Lake Tournament, a multi-species contest, on Hopatcong on Saturday and Sunday, September 19 and 20.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

A couple of customers bought shiners Tuesday morning to fish Round Valley Reservoir, said Braden from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. He knew that one was big on lake trout fishing. Lakers reportedly bit in 80 to 110 feet in the impoundment. Live bait reportedly caught better than trolling. The fish, averaging 21 or 22 inches, decent-sized, not huge, were picked. One angler beat eight or nine smallmouth bass on Delaware River this weekend, at mid-day, not even during low light, on Senko rubber worms and tube baits. He fished the baits “down low,” just drifting them, imparting no real action. Smallmouths were fought on the lower Raritan River at sunrise and sunset, including on stick baits and top-water lures. Catfish were rounded up from Spruce Run Reservoir. Scott from the shop told Braden that one customer plugged hybrid striped bass at Spruce Run and Lake Hopatcong in the dark on Zara Spooks, though the season was late for that. The fish usually smash top-waters like that when herring spawn in the shallows, attracting the stripers, in late spring or early summer, at night. Nothing was heard about trout in the heat. Nothing was heard about largemouth bass, either, but that didn’t mean fishing for the bass was good, bad or in-between. He just didn’t hear.

Customers who’d been fishing Manasquan Reservoir once a week stopped in Tuesday morning, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. They boated a couple of sizable largemouth bass on killies and mostly white perch from the impoundment this past week. Another angler cranked-in crappies, some decent-sized, from underneath the Route 528 Bridge in the shadows at Lake Carasaljo on shrimp and small killies. The fish hold there every year, maybe seeking cooler water. A couple of anglers subdued a few chain pickerel at the lake at Pinelake Park. Killies and nightcrawlers are stocked, and shiners will begin to be stocked in maybe 1 ½ weeks, because demand picks up. Murphy’s, located on Route 37, also owns <b>Go Fish Bait & Tackle</b> on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Water and weather remained too warm for trout fishing, said Bob Atticks, the fly-fishing manager from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. That’s no surprise, though, or is typical for the time of year. He explained for previous reports that if anglers catch trout now, they may as well bag the fish, because trout will die, because of the fight, in the warm water. Most trout anglers avoid the fishing this season, because of that. Not a lot was heard about fishing in the warmth. That included about smallmouth bass fishing on Delaware River. But the bass were reportedly wrestled at night on popper lures. Any largemouth bass news came from Assunpink and Stone Tavern lakes, both located in the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. Anglers fished for them with surface lures like rubber frogs in evenings and at dusk, and along bottom, like with rubber worms, during the middle of the day, or mornings and evenings.

Sunnies were played at Puppyland Lake and at the spillway across the road from Blackwood Lake on meal worms or trout worms, said Ed from <b>Creek Keepers Bait & Tackle</b> in Blackwood. Chain pickerel were clutched from New Brooklyn Lake on minnows. The lake is known for pickerel. A little was heard about largemouth bass from Surrey Lake near Lakeland on shiners and minnows. Ed has said in past reports that anglers mentioned the lake for largmeouths.

Anglers could probably make a catch out of panfish from lakes in the heat, said Jeff from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. They usually bite in the warmth, and probably still will, despite low water. Rain could be used to replenish lakes. Conditions were brutal for fishing. News usually becomes scarcer a moment, because kids are returning to school. But weather in the 90 degrees, and no rain, added to that.

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