<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

Lots of steelheads were fought on the river in the past few days, said Ben from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. The fish weighed as heavy as 13 to 15 pounds, and most came from mid river. Egg sacks, trout beads, egg flies and stoneflies worked well. The river flowed at 750 CFS, a healthy level, for some time now. Quite a few big brown trout swam the river, and Ben saw a couple that weighed 14 and 14 ½ pounds. Big trout! A few salmon held in the upper river.

A bunch of steelheads, even more than during the previous week, were socked on the river with <b>Salmon River Guide</b> from Pulaski, Capt. Shane Thomas said. His trips mostly fished on the upper river, but anglers on the lower river also hooked up, and the steelheads swam up and down the Salmon. His anglers mostly fought the fish on floated trout beads, fishing from the drift boat. But sometimes they wrestled the fish on back-trolled lures from the boat. The number of fresh salmon, mostly kings, increased in the river in the past few days, though the salmon run mostly finished some time ago. Steelheads enter the river in fall toward the end of the salmon run, and steelheads remain in the river all winter long, spawning in spring, before dropping back down to Lake Ontario. November is a prime month for steelhead fishing, though the angling can be excellent the entire winter. The river ran at 750 CFS, a medium level, for a while now, and the weather was warm recently.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Customers said trout from the recent fall stocking mostly pooled up around where they were stocked, said Don from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Ledgewood. So the anglers didn’t need to search for the fish much, and they did catch the fish, and big ones. The fall stocking is known for sizeable trout. Live bait like garden worms were the best producers. Customers tried fishing with spinners, and fly anglers mostly trout fished with nymphs. But Don found that recommending anything but the live baits, the most successful offering, was tough to dispute. On the largemouth bass front, nothing was heard about the big lakes like Lake Hopatcong. The bigmouth anglers honed in on smaller waters, mostly private ponds in Warren County. Don recommended to largemouth anglers that the fish follow baitfish this time of year, and the bucketmouths might swim shallower than in summer. He fished for largemouths at a private pond a couple of times this past week. The angling was slow on one trip, but he plowed 11 largemouths on the other trip on popper lures and Senko worms.

Somewhat more walleyes than before were walloped on the lake during the weekend, said Laurie from <b>Dow’s  Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. Anglers fished for them with herring, jigged ice-fishing Rapalas and blade baits. Roman Pera, Wallington, and friend iced several walleyes in the 4-ound range and some quality-sized yellow perch. John Moran, Hopatcong, honked a 6-pound 10-ounce walleye. Matt Litton, Bedminster, whacked a 4-pounder while fishing with his dad. Hybrid striped bass 5 and 6 pounds were sometimes tackled. The lake level was plenty high for anglers to launch a boat. The shop’s boat rentals will be available through November 7.

Fishing for trout from the recent fall stocking seemed a little slow, and waters were somewhat low, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. The streams were higher than in summer, but lower than average. Customers said they saw the fish, but many refused to bite. Trouting on the Ramapo River seemed especially difficult, but catches from the Big Flatbrook and some other places were a bit better. The fall stocking puts trout in the local streams in October, and that was already done. The winter stocking puts trout in local lakes, scheduled for November. Nothing was heard about the big lakes like Lake Hopatcong and Greenwood Lake. A few anglers said they hooked largemouth bass from smaller lakes and ponds. The Passaic River ran low again, after the level had raised a moment from rains, perking up fishing for striped bass and northern pike. But the fishing turned off again in low waters, and more rains were needed.

Round Valley Reservoir’s shoreline angling for trout was on a tear, said Steve from <b>Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop</b>. The rainbows to 18 and 19 inches were crushed on marshmallow and meal worm combos and Power Baits, mostly in the early mornings and late in the day. Low waters on Spruce Run Reservoir made launching a boat difficult, but when boaters were able to splash the vessels, they found hybrid striped bass biting. While Steve gave this report over the phone, a customer said he axed a 10.2-pound hybrid at Spruce.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

The trout streams were reportedly low, said Burt from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. But he heard nothing about how the angling fared. Customers bought shiners for largemouth bass fishing, but, again, whether they scored catches wasn’t heard. Jose Pedro from Bridgewater weighed in a 7-pound 2-ounce 28-1/2-inch chain pickerel from the Raritan River. Howard Kelly from Hillsborough checked in a 1-pound 2-ounce 13-inch crappie, but the location of his catch was unknown.

Trout anglers who fished the Toms River pulled on a few 12- to 14-inch rainbows, fish from the recent fall stocking, on Blue Fox spinners, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. Oddly, they hooked a handful of 5- to 6-inch trout. Whether those fish were stocked or were born in the river was unknown. One trout here, another there, was angled from the Metedeconk River, and Dennis landed two rainbows there on Roostertails. Waters fluctuated up and down a lot on the Metedeconk. Not much was heard from trouters on the Manasquan River, but a few probably fished the river at Allaire State Park, and waters were probably muddy. Not a lot of anglers take advantage of the fall trout stocking, and too many options are available, from hunting to surf fishing. Manasquan Reservoir’s hybrid striped bass and largemouth bass fishing seemed good, started to wake up in cooler waters. A mix of small largemouth bass and small chain pickerel were banked at Lake Riviera on shiners and killies. A new batch of shiners will arrive at the shop on Friday, and shiners are re-stocked every two weeks, and killies are on hand. Bluegill action kept kids busy as usual at the Ocean County College pond. Crappies began to feed more there as waters cooled.

The Delaware River was cooling down, so the river’s smallmouth bass fishing was slowing up, said Eric from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville. Eric guides smallmouth trips on the river for his company On a Mission Fishing Adventures, and he’s finished with the angling for the year. He’ll now turn all attention to chartering coastal trips that are boating striped bass, blues and bottom fish from Belmar. He’s also a surf fishing guide from Belmar, and that angling, fishing for stripers and blues, was about to come into it’s own during the fall migration. But on the Delaware River, a friend hung smallmouths, only a few, four or five, but big ones on a trip. Catfish will nip baits in the river a while yet. Largemouth bass were fought at lakes including those at the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area, the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area and Gropp’s Lake. Crank baits and rubber worms should connect. Crappie fishing usually gains steam at the lakes as waters cool in autumn. Fishing for fall-stocked trout on the northern streams wasn’t a bad option, if anglers were looking for fish to target.

<b>South Jersey</b>

The Delaware River’s largemouth bass fishing turned on well, and many anglers limited out on the fish, said Rick from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b> in Brooklawn. The fishing was successful in a couple of largemouth tournaments on the river from Gloucester City. The river’s largemouth anglers mostly fished with crank baits and spinner baits, sometimes with soft-plastic lures. Hefty catfish were hauled from the river and creeks. One thing Rick didn’t like hearing was that more and more invasive snakeheads were caught from different local waters. Largemouth fishing also produced at the small lakes, often on soft plastics or spinners, and Stewart Lake held the fish. Several of the sand ponds in Berlin gave up some of the better catches. Crappies were clocked on the Cooper River north of Route 130 and at Mantua Creek. Anglers fishing for trout, fish from the recent fall stocking, said they nailed the fish at places like Haddon Lake and Greenwich Lake. Saltwater anglers began to find a few striped bass on southern Delaware Bay while fishing with bunker chunks. No stripers apparently held in the Cape May Rips so far, and smaller stripers seemed to be reeled in from the northern bay. But catches of bigger bass on the southern bay were a start. A few stripers were occasionally beached from the ocean surf. But most of those fish swam farther north, were yet to migrate south. Little else was heard about ocean fishing, and no reports came in about offshore angling for tuna. Autumn weather and winds were closing in. Big Timber carries tackle and bait for fishing on all waters from freshwater to bays to offshore.

Anglers fishing for fall-stocked trout hammered some quality catches, said Lou from <b>Sportsman’s Outpost</b> in Williamstown. One customer, Paul, nailed four trout, including a 4-1/2-pounder, at Iona Lake on a trip. Four or five large trout to 3 or 3 ½ pounds were heard about that were belted at Oak Pond. Anglers at first had difficulty catching trout at Oak. They threw Power Baits, spinners, lures and the usual offerings, but the fish seemed yet to acclimate to the waters. Then anglers fished with salmon eggs and hooked up. The store is loaded with the full supply of trout bait and lures, carrying supplies for fish from trout to tuna. Trout were the main news, and striped bass fishing in saltwater was the other angling that many talked about. Waters were probably a bit warm, and the season was a little early, but a few stripers began to be bagged on Delaware Bay, and the linesiders were occasionally beached from the surf. A 45-pounder and a 27-pounder were reported caught from the surf at Cape May Point.

Largemouth bass fishing had improved on the lakes when the weather cooled, but the days warmed back up this past week, and the angling tapered back off, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Union Lake’s fishing for the bucketmouths and smallmouth bass had been good when the temps dropped, but slowed back down in the higher temps. Smallmouth bass fishing at Lake Audrey, the only other waters that hold smallmouths in South Jersey, was also spotty in the warmer weather. Fishing for trout, fish from the recent fall stocking, on the Maurice River was one of the best bets. Decent catches of the fish were angled from the river on Power Baits, meal worms and in-line spinners. The Maurice seemed the best place for trouting, and not much was heard from other trout-stocked waters like the pond at Giampetro Park. In saltwater, striped bass began to be boated from Delaware Bay on bunker chunks, fishing that seemed to be kicking in.

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