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Upstate N.Y.
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New Jersey Freshwater Fishing Report 2-1-17


<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Adirondack Mountains</b>

Weather became colder, and bays on the lake, like at Million Dollar Beach, froze beginning Monday night, said Jeff from <b>FISH307.com</b> in Lake George. The lake, a big body of water, is always the final to freeze in the area in winter, and whether the bays were fishable on the ice yet was unknown. But they might be fishable by the weekend. All other lakes and ponds were fished on the ice in the Adirondacks. Anglers were catching, including yellow perch at most places, sometimes lake trout, sometimes landlocked salmon, including at Schroon Lake, and, on Saratoga Lake, walleyes. All baits for the angling, a large supply, are stocked. The shop was going to email a huge sale on augurs, the store’s biggest ever, today. Augurs would be sold at pretty much cost or below cost, with free shipping. Visit <a href="http://www.fish307.com" target="_blank">FISH307.com</a> to sign up for the email list. FISH307 is both an online store and a brick-and-mortar shop.

Northern pike fishing picked back up on Great Sacandaga Lake through the ice, said Lou from <b>Fuel-n-Food</b> in Mayfield, a town along the lake. Walleyes chomped in the lake the same as before: at first light and a half-hour before dark. Twelve to 14 inches of ice covered local lakes. Some of the lakes to the north held 15. West Lake turned out great crappie fishing on the ice. Brown trout bit pretty well at Indian Lake through the ice. At Piseco Lake, lake trout bit for ice anglers but were mostly small or throwbacks. Action was good, though. Weather became colder in the past week and is forecast to be cold. Baits stocked for ice-fishing include small and large suckers, hunts, medium and large shiners, and spikes. Gear stocked for the angling includes tip-ups, augurs, all terminal tackle, lures and jigs. Fuel-n-Food is a gas station and café and includes a good supply of bait and tackle. The crew at the store can point anglers in the right direction for ice-fishing.

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

Salmon River had a pulse of higher water early last week that settled by the weekend, and drew in a jag of steelheads from Lake Ontario, said Jay Peck from <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b>. High water will do that, and not a ton of the fish swam in, but some did. The river now dropped back down to 750 cubic feet per second, about the maximum flow for good fly-fishing in winter. Fishing for the steelheads with nymph flies was definitely improving. Egg flies would maybe hook a few, and a few of the fish were willing to chase streamers swung across current. Downstream from the fly zone, a trip could land two to six steelheads, about the same as before. Two feet of snow fell at Tug Hill, at the river’s head waters, on Saturday night. A foot or two was expected last night, and all of this is good. A good snow pack creates a healthy river flow for spring. Farther west in New York, around Rochester, where Jay fishes for huge brown trout that winter in rivers and creeks, waters ran somewhat low. But the water level was much improved compared with a drought this past year. Oak Orchard River there flowed at a moderate level currently. The creeks will freeze again, because weather became cold and snowy, after a warm spell. So the whole area was getting some precipitation, a welcome relief, because the drought had been severe in the past year. Jay specializes in fly-fishing and books trips that fish with conventional tackle with his other guides. In other news, local lakes probably were yet to be safe for ice-fishing. Ice-fishing had taken place this winter locally, until a warm spell. There was a drowning two weeks ago. Even if ice currently looks safe, Jay would give it time to thicken.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

No ice was fishable on lakes, and anglers hope for some by the weekend, said John from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. With no fishable ice, not much happened with angling, except for trout on streams and rivers. The streams and rivers flowed at a good level, and Pequest River produced trout. Big Flatbrook reportedly fished okay for them. Trout anglers fished small flies like Zebra Midges. But anglers fishing conventional tackle also caught. Worms hooked up for them, because rains washed worms into the rivers.   

Maybe ice will be able to be fished after the weekend, said Irene from <b>Hi-Way Sports Shop</b> in Washington. “We need cold, cold, cold,” she said. Weather became colder, but today was supposed to reach 45 degrees locally, and a stretch of days with considerable cold is needed.

The lake held skim ice but no ice thick enough to fish, said Joe from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. The skim ice kept shore anglers from fishing and boating anglers from launching, so no fishing was possible. Either colder weather or warmer was needed. People telephoned, asking if the shop’s rental boats were available. None was, and the store would’ve launched some, but cold nights kept forming skim ice.

No customers fished in the past two weeks, really, said Larry from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook. No ice-fishing was possible, and cold seemed to keep anglers from open-water fishing. Passaic River near the store ran high. That and the cold seemed to keep people from fishing there. Catches including northern pike, carp and smallmouth bass come from the river at different times of year. Saltwater fishing was similar to freshwater: weather seemed to keep anglers from fishing there, too.

This was a time for maintenance on reels and other fishing gear, said Bryan from <b>STC Sports</b> in Gibbstown. Customers arrived to spool reels with new line and get the reels cleaned and greased. Then when the weather breaks, they’ll be ready for fishing. The store was even closed a couple of days because of weather last week. But one customer reported seeing baitfish and swirls at Raccoon Creek, a tributary of Delaware River. That seemed a good sign, because that’s usually not reported until later this month.

<b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland was being stocked for spring fishing, Jeff said. That’s about all that happened related to fishing. Ice sometimes formed on lakes and sometimes didn’t. In last week’s report, Steve from the store said fishing had improved a little. That was because of a warm front then. Now weather was colder. During the warmer days, a few largemouth bass anglers worked waters including Rainbow Lake and Davis Mill Pond, catching mostly on jerk baits, occasionally on crank baits and Rat-L-Traps. A report rolled in then about chain pickerel biting well at Malaga Lake. Anglers there had been trying for largemouths but ran into the picks that smashed jerk baits meant for the bass.

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