<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Adirondack Mountains</b>

Weather was warm, melting ice, but is supposed to be cold again this weekend, said Jeff from <b>FISH307.com</b> in Lake George. That should be good for ice-fishing. Still, safety is most important. During the warmth, two anglers fell through the ice at Sandy Pond near Pulaski and died. That’s a distance from the Adirondacks.  The pond reportedly held 6 inches of ice, but it was “punky” or soft. During the warmth, the northern Adirondacks held the best ice for fishing. This weekend’s cold should help the rest of the mountains rebuild ice. The shop is loaded with all ice-fishing bait, tackle including lures and gear including augurs. See sales on ice-fishing supplies on the store’s website, including a $70 discount on <a href="https://www.fish307.com/ion-40-volt-lithium-ion-battery-powered-electric-ice-auger-w-reverse/" target="_blank">Ion electric augurs</a>. Fish307.com is both an online store and a brick-and-mortar shop.

Big walleyes bit in Great Sacandaga Lake for ice-anglers, but only in the first hour or two in mornings and just before dark, said Lou from <b>Fuel-n-Food</b> in Mayfield, located near the lake. That angling was decent, though, and fishing for northern pike slowed at Sacandaga on the ice. All ice-fishing generally slows somewhat, after the early season, once ice becomes thicker. Fishing for splake, a hybrid of a lake trout and a brown trout, had been good on Caroga Lake, like usual in the early season, and dropped off now. Good brown trout fishing was nailed on Indian Lake’s ice. Piseco Lake gave up pretty good brown trout fishing through the ice. Many of Piseco’s browns were too small to keep, but some were better-sized, and the angling was productive the last couple of weeks.

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

Warmth and, early last week, rain improved fishing for the big brown trout that swim rivers and creeks in western, upstate New York, around Rochester, in winter, said Jay Peck from <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b>. The waters had been extremely low, not good for the angling, and the creeks had been frozen, making fishing for the browns impossible. But the waters were higher and open now. They were just becoming fishable, and Jay hadn’t fished them in 48 hours, but suspected they were fishing. He was probably going to get after the browns yesterday afternoon. The waters were up and a little dirty. Some anglers might say they were very dirty. But the fishing should score. Mostly egg flies will catch. But Zonkers will claim a few of the trout. An hour or two to the east, Salmon River flowed at 750 cubic feet per second consistently. That’s a good level for the river’s steelhead fishing, and a fair number of the fish held in the Salmon. Anglers needed to fish for them smartly and understand conditions, like when snow melt chills the water and makes the steelheads slower to bite. But the fishing was alright for Jay, including on Thursday. The angling was a little slower with him Friday, but the trip whacked a 19-1/2-pounder. Some sizable were around, and that steelhead swiped a size-8 stonefly. Stoneflies were the bite, and egg flies failed to hook the steelheads much. Mornings and evenings or low light produced. This past week’s warmth melted much of the snow along the Salmon, and that made the water like liquid ice. But those two trips still fished alright. Colder weather is supposed to return later this week. Jay expects that to just “stabilize” conditions. He specializes in fly-fishing and catch-and-release, and books trips that fish with conventional tackle with his other guides. Meet Jay at his exhibit at The Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, N.J., this Friday through Sunday at the Garden State Exhibit Center.  

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

Kittatiny Lake was fished on the ice during one or two weekends in cold snaps so far this winter, said Andy from <b>Stokes Forest Sport Shop</b> in Sandyston. The private lake was completely unfrozen now. Delaware River had been frozen a little, but he doubted the ice remained in this week’s warmth. Big Flatbrook could be fished for trout, but nobody mentioned the angling. Most customers who trout fish work the Flatbrook. Andy hadn’t seen trout streams recently to know whether they flowed average, high or low.

Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> trolled five rainbow trout on Round Valley Reservoir on Saturday, he wrote in an email. Plus, he landed a good-sized <a href="http://fishingreportsnow.com/NJ_Fishing_Photos_View.cfm/PhotoID/19589/desc/A-chain-pickerel-br-a-surpris.html" target="_blank">chain pickerel</a>, a surprise, that bit during the trolling. The water was 36 degrees.

Anglers trout fished a little on Pequest and Musconetcong rivers, said Kevin from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. Rain during the storm the past two days surely raised and might’ve dirtied the water. But the weekend is supposed to be beautiful, and the rivers should be back in shape for the angling. Trout-stream levels were good before the storm, after being low earlier this season. A customer yesterday said he pasted walleyes, good catches, on Delaware River on crank baits recently. No fishable ice remained in New Jersey, and none might form, at least not for a substantial time, the rest of the winter. Forecasts showed no considerable cold snaps through Feb. 1, the foreseeable future.  Anglers fished open water on lakes, reeling in crappies and perch on meal worms 3 feet under bobbers. Visit the shop’s booths at The Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, N.J., this Friday through Sunday at the Garden State Exhibit Center.

The only fishing doing was trout fishing on rivers and from shoreline at Round Valley Reservoir, said Keith from <b>Hi-Way Sports Shop</b> in Washington. No ice-fishing was available. Some lakes held skim ice, preventing casting or boating, but not thick enough to fish on top. But a few anglers fished for the trout at rivers like the Pequest and the Musconetcong, banking some good-sized rainbows. They fished salmon eggs, but many who stopped at the shop fly-fished for them. Midges or small nymphs like pheasant-tails caught. The shore anglers at Round Valley mostly eased in occasional rainbows. They fished a rig with an egg sinker with a barrel swivel below and maybe a 24-inch leader with a hook below that, with PowerBait or shiners. A couple of customers headed to Merrill Creek Reservoir, but how they made out was unknown.

No fishable ice was on the lake, and skim ice in coves prevented boats from being launched for fishing, said Joe from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. Surely boaters will fish as soon as the ice clears, because they kept telephoning the shop asking if launching was possible.

Customers kept buying worms, so they fished somewhere, probably on ponds, said Joe from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook. Weather was too warm for ice-fishing. He saw nobody angling on Passaic River that’s located near the store. A couple of customers party-boated for blackfish on the ocean. Those catches sounded slow.

Fishing was a little better in last week’s warmth, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. But few fished during the last two days in wet, windy weather in the storm. That was clearing up now. When the weather was better, a few largemouth bass anglers got out. The fishing was fair, tackling some big, just not many. Mostly jerk baits were fished. The anglers tossed a few crank baits and Rat-L-Traps. But jerk baits were most popular. Rainbow Lake and Davis Mill Pond fished alright for the bass. A report tumbled in about many chain pickerel hooked from Malaga Lake. That was also mostly on jerk baits. The anglers tried for largemouths with the lures, running into picks.

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