<b>New Jersey</b>

From <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna, Matt’s been fishing Cranberry and Greenwood lakes and Lake Hopatcong from shore, he said. The angling’s been slow, and he landed two largemouth bass during daytime during the entire month of August. Nighttime fishing’s been okay. Fishing from a dock at Hopatcong at night, he’s been tackling mostly crappies, sometimes largemouths. For the bass, he mostly fished crawl jigs, including at night. Actually, the fish bit best on top-water lures in early mornings for him. Set-ups like wacky-rigged Senko rubber worms haven’t been working for him for the bass. In June and July, he axed walleyes and hybrid striped bass at Hopatcong from shore on livelined herring. That slowed for him this month. Anybody been trout fishing? he was asked. That’s been slow, he said, and most customers tried for largemouths. Some anglers avoid trout fishing in this season’s heat, because warm water could kill the fish during the fight.

Jeff Good won the Knee Deep Club’s catfish tournament Saturday and Sunday on the lake with an 8-pounder, Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> wrote in an email. Eddie Mackin won second with a 7-pound 10-ouncer, and Max Hughen copped third. No weight for his fish was included in the email. The anglers won $255, $154 and $103, respectively. The club will next hold a hybrid striped bass tournament Sept. 23-24 and a walleye tournament Oct. 7-8 on the lake. Hybrids to 8 pounds are swiping livelined herring and chicken livers off the lake’s points. Chain pickerel, crappies and bass, including Jim Marshall’s 4-pound 7-ounce smallmouth bass, were sometimes seen from the lake.  

Largemouth bass definitely gave up catches at lakes, mostly on plastics, said Cheryl from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook. New plastics from Z-Man were just stocked. So was the Missile Baits 48 Stick Worm. The new Rapala Ripstop lure is also in supply. Nothing was heard recently about fishing Passaic River. First, rain affected the river. Then the “dregs” of summer arrived. Saltwater anglers headed for last shots at fluke, before fluke season is closed beginning Sept. 6. Bucktails with Gulps were popular for the flatfish. Joe from the store prefers chartreuse.

Not a lot of reports rolled in about largemouth bass fishing, but those that did came from Manasquan Reservoir and a couple of lakes from Jackson, said Virginia from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. Purple Heart Trail Lake was one of the lakes in Jackson, and nightcrawlers and shiners clocked the bass there. At Manasquan Reservoir, the bass were bonked on popper lures, spinner baits and, for those who preferred to fish bait, shiners. At Ocean County College Pond, mostly sunnies and some yellow perch hit. Plenty of chain pickerel chomped in the Toms River at Trilco. Large snapper turtles stirred around the river there. Trilco is a closed building supply, and no sign identifies the building, but locals know the stretch by the name, located near Garden State Parkway. Lester’s Lake near Ocean County Mall was one of the best places for a mixed bag of fish including yellow perch, small catfish, pickerel and a few largemouths. Fall trout stocking will begin in two months. Virginia looks forward to that, and the stocking is supposed to start on Oct. 11. Murphy’s, located on Route 37, also owns <b>Go Fish Bait & Tackle</b> on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River.

Customer Harold D. banged out four largemouth bass from Daretown Lake on chatter baits, fishing from shore, said Bryan from <b>STC Sports</b> in Gibbstown. His wife on the trip nabbed sunnies, bluegills and yellow perch on nightcrawlers and minnows. Snakeheads, the invasive species, fed aggressively in creeks and ditches off Delaware River. Top-water lures will pound them, especially frogs. Hula Popper and Jitterbug top-waters are popular, too. Nobody mentioned fishing for small striped bass that were reported biting in Delaware River previously. Maybe rough weather including rain this week would push the saltwater line farther downstream that the bass favor.

Ed from <b>Creek Keepers Bait & Tackle</b> was away for a week and just returned to the store, he said. He was yet to hear much news. But customers were stopping in to buy shiners for largemouth bass fishing at lakes. Whether they caught was unknown. Ed was at Whale Beach at Strathmere this past week, and knew that lots of kingfish were plucked from the saltwater surf there on bloodworms. Customers were buying bloods from the store today. Saltwater anglers fished for summer flounder along the coast, mostly hooking throwbacks.

Fishing was alright, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Some fair largemouth bass fishing was scored at lakes. Rainbow Lake fished pretty well for them. Union Lake fished pretty well for both largemouth and smallmouth bass. Chain pickerel fishing was good at Union. For largemouths, rubber frogs were often tossed. Senko worms were dunked, and lots of drop-shot tackle was sold for the bass. That seemed to catch well. Catfish offered up reasonably steady catches on Maurice River. In saltwater, some great summer flounder catches were boated at ocean reefs and Delaware Bay. A good bite.

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