<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

Heavy rains made fishing difficult on some parts of the Delaware River, said Bill from <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Philadelphia. But fishing on the upper stretches, especially for smallmouth bass, benefitted from the higher waters. One customer knuckled in 15 smallmouths from 12 to 17 inches while drifting along the ledges off Bull's Island during the middle of the day. He scored the best with Zoom Super Fluke soft plastic lures in chartreuse and pink, but also caught with big minnows, grubs and tubes. When evening came on the fishing picked up, and he landed another seven smallies to 17 inches, five striped bass and two walleyes. Smallmouths also got active along the Route 29 wall for anglers who tossed Senko worms in bright colors. One customer fished the river at Yardley between the islands below the railroad bridge, pulling up eight smallmouths that grabbed fathead minnows. Farther downriver off Fort Mifflin, a customer clocked two stripers to 24 inches, five catfish to 6 pounds and all the white perch he could handle on bloodworms.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Storms often kept anglers at bay, said Bill from <b>Bill’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Phillipsburg, but a handful of customers got out, finding a few fish on the Delaware River. Ray Zepatti tackled a 29.9-pound striped bass, and Josh Mutchler released a big, old, 15.8-pound carp. George Slingland claimed a 6-pound channel catfish.

Larger hybrid striped bass came in from the lake around both the Yacht Club and Sharp's Rock, said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong.  Bill Condon nabbed an 8-pounder, and Tom Facciola caught the brokensiders in the 7-pound range. Good numbers of the stripers, but smaller or 3- to 5-pounders, hung around Great Cove. Tony Farino boated a 6.1-pound walleye that inhaled a nightcrawler, and several other walleyes in the 3-pound range were weighed in. A multitude of crappies were available on the lake, gobbling up bait or smaller jigs, and decent-sized ones were hooked in the Woodport area. Smallmouth bass ran thick off Nolan’s Point, and crank baits hung them high.

Greenwood Lake’s fishing was slow, said Al from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Still, if anglers there are targeting bass, they should get down deep with a drop-shot technique with a Senko. Better largemouth action was had at Lake Hopatcong along the deeper ridges and ledges.

The Round Valley Reservoir trout factory churned out rainbows and browns, said Frank from <b>Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop</b>. Both fish pounced on livelined shiners or herring in 20- to 25-foot depths. Lake trout were targeted with downriggers and live herring in 70 feet and deeper. Decent hybrid striped bass activity went down at Spruce Run Reservoir at dusk, and crappies swiped fathead minnows in Long Cove on the impoundments.

High waters from storms wiped out just about all fly-rodding for trout and even largemouth bass and carp, said Bill Hoffman from <b>Skylands Angler</b> from Clinton. But he expected conditions to improve by later in the week. Flooding because of rains was common on the trout streams this season, but the high waters this summer also kept the streams cooler and healthier, like because of better oxygenation, than usual, whenever they settled down between rains. Normally anglers would be dealing with warm, low and stagnant streams that made the trout sluggish and difficult to catch at this time of the year. But when the waters currently got a break, they fished well, and that should continue. When the streams in the next days at least mellow out enough to fish, patterns like San Juan worms should be a good choice to cast. Worms and terrestrial bugs get washed into the waters from the storms and strong stream flows. During Bill’s last trips he saw lots of baitfish, because the minnows also get tumbled into the middle of the streams during high waters. That’s a perfect time to work streamers. Normally at this time of the year small tricos like size 24 would be a hatch to fish. But in the high waters the trout are unlikely to expend the energy on the tiny meal. Fly-fishing for largemouth bass put Bill’s trips on great catches on the lakes lately. The lakes also got dirtied from the rains, hampering the fishing, but that should turn around. Bill also saw lots of carp around, and that fly-fishing should rebound when waters clear, too. Catching carp on a fly is challenging but rewarding. Now that August is coming to an end, Bill’s looking forward to trips that fly-rod the ocean surf when that action begins to build, leading up to the fall migration. False albacore, drag-screaming, powerful fish, will be some of the first catches. The albies usually invade the surf when baitfish begin pouring out of the bays and rivers into the ocean, normally beginning on the full moon in September, a few weeks away. Once the albies move in, Bill will ply the surf two or three times a week to get on them.  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, so they can even come back and catch on their own. That includes fly selection, how to fish the flies, casting lessons and all aspects. He also offers trips for other freshwater fish, like pike, hybrid striped bass, carp and largemouth bass, if anglers want to fly rod for them. Plus he guides fly trips in the ocean and bay surf during the spring and fall migrations at Sandy Hook and Island Beach State Park.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

The Pequest River is always one of the first streams to clean up after rains, said Nick from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. So that’s where Nick and a few friends drilled scores of brownies and rainbows. Yozuri Pins Minnows and flies such as sizes 14 to 16 scuds, pheasant tails and hare’s ears all produced excellent catches of the trout in the mornings. Largemouth bass smacked top-water poppers at local ponds, especially right before a thunderstorm moved in.

Pickerel were the main affair, said Jeff from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. Lake Riviera and the Trilco section of the Toms River were pickerel producers, and killies seemed to out-fish shiners. Largemouth bass could be latched into at Lake Riviera, an all-day affair on shiners. At Lester’s Lake catfish scrounged up chicken livers from the muddy bottom, and white perch jumped on nightcrawlers hung under a float.

The Delaware River was tough to fish, so more anglers concentrated on largemouth bass and yellow perch at the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area lakes, said Frank from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville. The bass whacked Jitterbugs and Hula Poppers, and the perch chomped fathead minnows under bobbers.

Anglers cleaned up on catches at Manasquan Reservoir, said Carl from the <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. A mix of crappies, yellow perch and white perch eagerly attacked fathead minnows fished in 12- to 15-foot depths along the brush piles. Hybrid striped bass, big brokensiders to 10 pounds, were also on a tear, hammering shiners free-lined in the busting schools.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Large and in-charge carp and catfish hung around the mouth of Big Timber Creek, said Rick from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b> in Brooklawn. Carp to 20 pounds sniffed out Uncle Josh carp dough baits, and catties to 13 pounds wrapped their whiskers around dead herring. On the Delaware River the Concrete Pier and the Gloucester City Pier were also hot spots for carp and cats. Largemouth bass anglers headed to the Cooper River and Stewart Lake in the early mornings and evenings to cast out wacky-rigged Senkos for a hook-up.

Plenty of small largemouth bass and sunfish were snatched from Blackwood Lake and Puppyland Lake, and meal worms got the most strikes, said Ed from <b>Creek Keepers</b> in Blackwood. A 5.8-pound largemouth bass was heaved in from Candle Lake.

Chain pickerel were on the attack, said Lou from the <b>Sportsman’s Outpost</b> in Williamstown. Wild action got shellacked at Franklinville Lake and Malaga Lake, and fishing deep with bait on bobbers was key to hooking into a big pick, because the chainsiders lay low to stay out of the beating sun.

Largemouth bass could be hunted down at spots such as the Deepwater Canal, Davis Mill Pond and Haddon Lake, said Matt from <b>Shag’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Pennsville, and buzz baits and Senkos were top choices. Catfish and white perch swam the Delaware River at Pennsville, and baits like bunker drew in the cats, while bloodworms or nightcrawlers pulled in the perch.

Steady largemouth bass fishing continued, despite the rains, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. The fishing was on fire at the Salem Canal, Union Lake and Parvin Lake. Flip’n Jigs types of lures, Senkos, frogs and rubber worms took the bulk of the fish in the evenings. Catfishing was a solid bet on the Delaware River and the Maurice River, and any stink bait will get a nibble. White perch anglers loaded up in the back creeks and tidal ditches in the Millville area. Bloodworm bits were the most popular bait.

White perch and catfish kept anglers busy on the Maurice River, said Ki from <b>Huck’s Place</b> in Millville. The whiteys ate up bloodworms, and the cats honed in on anything stinky and dead fished on the bottom.

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