<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

Steelhead continued to make the run up the Salmon River, although the numbers decreased in the past week, said Suzanne at <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. The steelies were finding the pools and hunkering down in the river rather than moving around so much. Hot spots remained the Douglaston area as well as the stretch between the Two-Way Bridge and the ball field. Egg sacks in blue and pink worked well, and so did wooly bugger flies. The water was running at a very good 750 CFS, and the sea-run trout should stay through the winter months.

<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

The cold front put the cool-down on the Delaware River, said Bruce of <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Philadelphia, and most fishing was a pick of species. Largemouth bass could be found in the coves and at Dredge Harbor, and catfish were picking up dead herring on the bottom in the Trenton area. A few walleyes were reported taken upriver in the Washington’s Crossing area on small jigs tipped with fathead minnows. Trout fishers were targeting Lake Luxemborg and Levittown Lake for occasional rainbows, and the state was set to stock later this month to give the anglers plenty of holdover fish during the holiday season.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Trout anglers should be hitting the Musconetcong River with small nymphs or should look for walleyes in the Delaware River near the Lambertville area, said Bill of <b>Bill’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Phillipsburg.

Snowy weather got the ice fishing clientele rustled up, and they cleaned the shelves of lots of ice gear in anticipation of an early season, said Dom at <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Paramus. In the meantime, trout fishing was good at the Big Flatbrook and Pequest rivers, and pink eggs and egg pattern flies were scoring. News from Lake Hopatcong quieted down with recent windy weather, but a few reports rolled in about yellow perch, panfish and pickerel lifted from the coves.

A pair of customers jigged ice-fishing Rapalas off Chestnut and Nolan’s points for a catch of ten walleyes: five keepers and five shorts, said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. The 35- to 40-foot depths were holding walleyes, and provided the winds let up, anglers could head out to target these winter feeders.

The Pequest River produced the most trout, said Tom at <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Small stonefly nymphs and streamer flies worked well to fool larger, 2- to 3-pound trout. The Big Flatbrook also held its fair share of trout that chased flies, though most were small to medium sizes. Hit the Pequest for bigger ones and the Flatbrook for quantities, Tom said.

A whopper, 8-pound, tagged brown trout was wrestled from Round Valley Reservoir, said Chris at <b>Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop</b>.  Shoreline fishing at Ranger’s Cove was good for decent numbers, and M&M combos, or marshmallow and meal worms, were the ticket for rainbows, while small shiners on floating jigheads sent to the bottom were best for bagging the brownies. Streams were in perfect shape for trout fishing, and the leaves all fell from the trees now, so there were no drifting ones to snare the line. Large, holdover trout were swimming the South Branch of the Raritan River but were spread out, and anglers had to walk the pools to find where they were holding. Ice fishers will be delighted to know that skim ice was covering some of the Hunterdon and Sussex county lakes and ponds.

Trout anglers should focus on mid-afternoons, when the sun is high in the sky, said Ron from <b>Ray’s Sport Shop</b> in North Plainfield. The Big Flatbrook should be on the hit list, and try tossing small, size-14 Prince nymphs, streamers in sizes 6 to 10 and bead-headed nymphs in sizes 12 to 16. Rainbows from 12 to 15 inches were found along the Big Flatbrook.
 
<b>Central Jersey</b>

Incessant winds kept lake angling difficult, said Mark at <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. But stream anglers hitting the Pequest and Musconetcong rivers were tying into holdover rainbows while casting bead-headed nymphs, Muddler Minnows, Blacknosed Daces or Ghost Streamers. The key was to work the flies patiently along the bottom, allowing a slow, deep drift. But trout fishers should switch to smaller midge patterns, such as blue-winged olives in sizes 18 to 20, from 2 p.m. to evenings, because the hatch tends to happen almost every day at those times.

Walleye anglers were picking away at Lake Hopatcong, said Roy from <b>L&H Woods & Water</b>, and Monksville Reservoir and Greenwood Lake should probably also produce walleyes for determined anglers. Try dropping down smaller shiners on jigheads.

Crappie were on the bite at Lake Carasaljo, especially at the Route 529 Bridge, said Dennis at <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. The slabs were keying in on small, 1-inch, white twister tails fished 2 feet underneath a bobber and twitched repeatedly. One angler said he drilled a 22-inch pickerel there while using this method. The Trilco stretch of the Toms River was the place for yellow perch underneath the Parkway overpass, and live shiners were getting their attention. Persistent anglers could still grab largemouth bass from the banks of Manasquan Reservoir on crank baits. Trout were hitting garden worms upstream of the Manasquan River near the Route 195 overpass.

Largemouth bass were slowly feeding at Lake Assunpink and Stone Tavern and Rising Sun lakes, said Sean at <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> of Robbinsville. Slowly worked crank baits and simple nightcrawlers dropped on or near the bottom off the small ledges or drops were responsible for picking away at the fish.

Customers fishing the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area lakes found a mild largemouth bass feed going on before the winds kicked in, said Tony from the <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. He expected the action to come back once the winds calmed. Some muskies were chasing large spinner baits at Lake Mercer at least a week ago.

<b>South Jersey</b>

<b>Creek Keepers</b> in Blackwood closed for the season and will reopen March 1.

Lou from the <b>Sportsman’s Outpost</b> in Williamstown said things were quiet, and he was going to stop giving reports till spring. But he said chain pickerel fishing was consistent, and try hitting up Malaga Lake or Parvin Lake with live shiners for a hook-up.

Interest in fishing exploded in the past week, for some reason, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Maybe the reason was consistent temperatures for once that stayed in the 40- to 42-degree range. It was cold but finally consistent. Largemouth bass fishing went wild at Cedarville Lake, Sunset Lake and Parvin Lake, and suspended jerk baits such as Lucky Craft Pointers and Rat-L-Traps tricked the bucketmouths to 2 pounds. Crappie were feeding hard at Union Lake and Cedarville Lake, and 2-inch tubes and twister tails fished underneath bobbers pulled away at the fish. Chain pickerel were all over the aforementioned lakes, and CP Swings and floating Rapalas could get the strikes. Trout anglers were hooking up along the Maurice River and Iona Lake, and the fish were of quality caliber, 20- to 24-inchers. Power Bait and Roostertails in white and yellow were the route to success.

More and more stripers were showing up each day at the Maurice River, said Ki from <b>Huck’s Place</b> in Millville. Most of the bass were shorts in the 18- to 24-inch class but a blast to catch and release. The linesiders were eating up bloodworms and bunker chunks on the higher tides. White perch were aggressively biting the bloodworms as well.

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