<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Adirondacks</b>

Rains and warmer weather arrived for several days toward the end of the week, melting some ice on the lakes, but cold weather now returned, and all of that melt froze up again, said Hank from <b>Fuel-n-Food</b> in Mayfield. The wind chill was minus 15 degrees. A few anglers ice fished on the bays at Great Sacandaga Lake, tugging up a few walleyes, not many. The fishing should pick up and depends on the weather or the barometer. Five or six inches of ice covered the bays near the shoreline, and snowmobiles were driven on the hard waters there. The middle of the lake remained locked up with ice since nine or ten days ago, but not enough to fish on. Another week of cold weather could thicken it enough. Mayfield Lake was covered with 8 inches, and lots of ice anglers fished there for fairly good catches of pickerel, perch and smallmouth bass. Most anglers on both Sacandaga and Mayfield dunked medium shiners for bait. That’s a great bait for the walleyes. Most of ice was clear of snow. Baits including shiners, suckers, chubs and icicles are stocked, and Fuel-n-Food carries a full supply of ice-fishing tackle and gear, probably the largest selection in stock in the area. Plus the shop is a convenience store, serves breakfast and lunch and sells all types of fuel, and is located near plenty of accommodations, not to mention fishing.

<b>Salmon River</b>

Snow melt had steelheads staying more in the upper sections of the river at Pineville and north, said Simon at <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. The river flowed at only 335 CFS, and a good day out tied anglers into six to ten of the fish, smaller ones 3 to 5 pounds on average. Egg sacks in glow roe and sun orange worked best.

Lots of ice and slush tumbled through the river, but steelheads kept getting caught, said Victor from Altmar’s <b>Fish and Ride NY</b>, a rental rancher for anglers. The angling presentation just had to be slowed a bit because of sluggish fish in the cold waters. The better reports came from the upper river from Altmar to Pineville, and the usual baits or trout beads, eggs and egg sacks worked. But so did wax worms and black Wooly Buggers. The river’s flow dropped down to 335 CFS, and a few feet of snow lay on the ground. If anglers hesitated to walk in the snow, the parking lots were plowed for easy access to the river. Fish and Ride NY offers a rental rancher with all the amenities for anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts. Stay the weekend or a week, and the staff can recommend fishing guides and other services.

<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

Lake Luxembourg at Core Creek Park was a decent spot to fish, serving up largemouth bass, crappies and white perch, said Bill from <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Philadelphia. Around the dock at the boat ramp was a productive place to catch, but more of the crappies could be found under the bridge at the creek. Largemouth bass should be willing to chew in the lower Delaware River, especially at Tullytown Cove and Dredge Harbor. Fatheads, shiners and jigs tipped with grubs will get strikes.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Large rainbow trout milled around the pools in the Pequest River, said Kevin from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. Some that were larger than 20 inches wrapped their mouths around red egg flies and bead-headed nymphs, midges and Fire Bugs. Any bright colors such as chartreuse and red seemed to catch best.

Great news! Ice anglers were able to get out on the state park and Woodport areas of the lake, said Lou from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. The ice was barely 4 to 5 inches, but should become thicker by the week’s end, and the main lake was open because of incessant winds. Yellow perch, white perch and pickerel were jigged through the hard waters. The Lake Forest yacht club area also held a portion of semi-walkable ice, and that’s where Jim Archambault landed a bunch of pickerel and perch on tip-ups and live shiners. Budd Lake was reportedly thick enough in some spots. But for all ice, be extremely careful, and it’s probably best to wait until the weekend to see whether the colder weather forms a thicker layer. Your life is not worth risking!

Thin layers of ice seemed to stick on most local lakes, said Al from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Monksville Reservoir held 3 inches, and the Barry Lakes had up to 5 inches, and Green Turtle Pond sported 3 inches. Five inches of ice or more is generally accepted as ice-fishable, so none of that ice was considered safe yet. But with freezing temperatures expected to continue this week, these shallower lakes might become fishable. Do not challenge thin ice, and if you’re unsure, don’t go out! Before the rains muddied up the streams, trout were feeding fairly well, especially in the Pequest and Musconetcong rivers.

Round Valley Reservoir’s shoreline fishing was great! said Steve from <b>Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop</b>. One customer drilled a 2-3/4-pound brown trout, and another tabbed a few 2- to 3-pound rainbows. The best way to score was to cast meal worms or nightcrawlers combined with a pink marshmallow bait, so the meal worm or crawler floated just off the bottom.

Rains and snowmelt raised water levels on the streams, maybe even making them dangerous for wading, said Bill Hoffman from <b>Skylands Angler</b> from Clinton. So fishing on them was out for a moment, but when the levels drop, maybe by the end of the week, trouting should be good on the waters. Midges, fished either dry or underwater, will be a key choice for the angling at this time of year, and prolific hatches could be seen on the warmer days. A midge like the size 16 or 18 pattern featured in the fly tying section of <a href="http://skylandsangler.com" target="_blank">Skyland’s Web site</a> is an example. Bill often likes to fish a black midge with silver flash but also uses other colors. Black with gold ribbing can be highly effective, and so can red with gold ribbing, and so can tan or olive midges. Midges look black in nature, but the fish do prefer certain colors on certain days, for unknown reasons. Fishing for all kinds of species can often be like that. Even tuna can prefer one bait or jig over another on a given trip for no apparent reasons. So be prepared with a variety of colors. The midges can be fished alone, or they can be fished in tandem with a dry midge as the main fly and either a dry or an emerger midge as a dropper. Some anglers like to fish a tandem set up with a larger fly like the bright-colored Royal Wulff as an attractor or as merely a strike indicator with a dry or emerger midge as the dropper. Generic nymphs like Hare’s Ears could work in winter and during any time of year, especially when higher waters knock around the rocks and such, tearing the nymphs off the structure. Or streamers could even work during the cold months, but should be fished quite slow for the sluggish trout in the cooler waters. But midges are a go-to choice during this season. Winter is also a great time to hone up on fly tying and casting. Bill always makes it a point to tie at least a couple of flies daily for practice, and he also practices fly casting indoors with Tim Rajeff’s Echo Micro Practice Rod. The rod really does work, and Bill even does stuff like he tries to create casting errors like tailing loops he sees his clients do, so he can better teach casting. Skylands Angler guides fly-fishing trips for trout on the Musconetcong and Pequest rivers and Ken Lockwood Gorge. Bill aims to teach anglers, whether beginners or advanced, how to fish the rivers, even so they can come back and catch on their own. That includes fly selection, how to fish the flies, casting lessons and all aspects. He also offers fly trips for other freshwater fish, like pike, hybrid striped bass, carp and largemouth bass. Plus he guides trips in the ocean and bay surf during the spring and fall migrations at Sandy Hook and Island Beach State Park with both conventional and fly tackle.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Good numbers of rainbow and brook trout were the story at the Pequest River, said Amy from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. Anglers there worked caddis and midge flies to angle trout to 4 pounds in the deep-water runs. A good bet now was also to try Ken Lockwood Gorge for trout, because the Gorge roads were shut down recently because of snow, and the area hadn’t been fished much in quite some time.

Pickerel anglers pulled on the chainsiders on the Trilco stretch of the Toms River, swimming out shiners for bait, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. Trout could be hung at Lake Shenandoah on Power Bait or nightcrawlers, and a variety of catfish, crappies and perch roamed the Ocean County College ponds, nibbling on nightcrawlers.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Skim ice covered much of Lake Assunpink, said Eric from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville. But a few anglers hit the open waters around the dam to cast shiners under bobbers for bigmouth bass and perch. Trout fishing was strong up north at the Musconetcong River, but the streams won’t clear up from recent downpours until week’s end. The Delaware River ran high and unfishable, but one angler there did reel in a 15-pound flathead catfish last week before the rains.

Two-thirds of Lake Assunpink became freed from the ice lock because of the warmer weather toward the end of the week, said Steve from the <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. Anglers then tangled with largemouth bass and crappies on shiners around the dam, where waters were especially open. The ice on the lake now was probably re-forming because of the cold. Waters at the bridge abutments at Farrington Lake were also clear of ice, holding scores of crappies and yellow perch. Drop in a fathead minnow for a tug. Trout fishing was fairly strong at Ken Lockwood Gorge and the Musconetcong River, and sizes 16 to 18 sucker spawn and egg flies got inhaled.

The deluge of rains during the weekend really flooded out all the lakes, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. All waters became extremely muddy and high, but they might be completely cleaned up for pickerel action by the weekend. Barring anymore rains, one of the best shots at a hook-up was to head to the Maurice River, tossing grub jigs and minnows to pickerel, crappies and white perch.

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