<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

Steelhead fishing tied into super catches on the river, said Capt. Shane Thomas from <b>Salmon River Guide</b> from Pulaski. His anglers drift-boated them on pink worms, egg sacks and beads. Eighty inches of snow fell in the past two weeks. That might make fishing from the banks challenging, but will also make drift boating for the fish a good option. The river’s flow was dropped to 500 CFS on Sunday. Steelheading lasts throughout winter and early spring on the Salmon, until the fish spawn in the waters and return to Lake Ontario for summer.

Quite a few fished the river for the time of year, said Ben from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. Lots of steelheads swam throughout the river, and snows finally subsided a moment, creating less slush in the waters than before. Anglers wading the river burned good catches, mostly on beads or egg sacks. Fly anglers scored most on stoneflies and San Juan worms. The river was dropped to 500 CFS this week after flowing at 750.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Fishable ice formed, for sure! said Don from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Ledgewood. Not all lakes held enough for angling, but customers talked about ice anglers spread across Budd Lake in the past days. The hard waters there seemed to average 3 to 4 inches, not too thick. Fish including yellow perch were seen stacked up along the holes. Parts of Lake Hopatcong, like the coves, were covered with enough ice for fishing, but not the whole lake was covered. One of the staff from the shop stopped by Swartswood Lake, and the lake was frozen across, but the ice seemed 2 inches thick, unsafe to fish. The smaller ponds were all frozen, and anglers fished some of them. Customers bought lots of ice-fishing gear including tip ups and augers. Some of the gear was stocked five days ago, and the shop was already ordering more to keep up with demand. Meal worms and garden worms are stocked for bait, and the shop should stock mousies soon.

Ice anglers began to fish the lake during the weekend, said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. Yellow perch and a few chain pickerel and largemouth bass were reeled up. Only parts of the lake held enough ice, and more should become ice-fishable, because the weather is supposed to stay cold. Anglers began to fish the cove at the shop on Wednesday for the first time this season. The lake’s ice angling began earlier than last year, and the first anglers hit the ice last year between Christmas and New Year’s. All the bait including grubs and shiners is stocked, and all the tackle including tip-ups, jigging rods and augers is on hand. The shop is open 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Ice 3 ½ to 4 inches thick formed on some parts of Pompton Lakes, and some of the waters were open, a friend said, but the friend pulled eight or ten yellow perch from the hard waters, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. A customer stopped in to buy ice supplies for fishing Budd Lake, saying ice was fishable there. Lots of ice-fishing gear was sold recently. Though some anglers ice fished, no ice seemed thick, and Nick would be skeptical about fishing until 5 or 6 inches of ice formed. Be cautious! Anglers seemed to head to waters in Sussex County for fishable ice. Temps reached 34 or 35 degrees at the shop, and probably reached 30 or 31 farther north in the state, and, of course, nights were colder, helping to thicken ice. All of December was cold. Most customers stopped trout fishing by now. But Nick’s cousin rounded up good trouting for rainbows and brookies at the Big Flatbrook on garden worms.

Participation was down this time of year, probably because of the holidays and weather, but a few brown and rainbow trout were banked from the shoreline at Round Valley Reservoir, said Steve from <b>Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop</b>. One or two anglers fished the shore per day, and Ranger’s Cove was especially where. Fishing there is available when the state park is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Anglers on one or two boats per day fished Round Valley on weekends, hammering excellent lake trout fishing. A 25-pound laker was checked in from the waters the other week. Fishing at Spruce Run Reservoir was practically nonexistent, and no fishable ice formed there. But lots of anglers talked about fishable ice at Budd Lake, and more about the angling will probably be heard in the next days at the shop. Nobody talked about fishing the trout streams.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Nothing much was heard about fishing in the cold, and nothing was heard about ice that was fishable on lakes, but surely some was around, said Ron from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. News will probably pick up, now that ice anglers should be fishing. Catch the shop’s Orvis sale with 30 percent off on rods and 20 percent on reels. A fly-tying sale will launch during the first of the year.

Most waters were frozen, but one customer picked up a couple of dozen shiners to fish at Lake Riviera, and some areas were open there, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. Chain pickerel or other fish could be willing to bite. Trout should also be willing to chomp, and the Toms River, one spot for trouting, will hold open waters, never freezes. A local fishing club holds a winter trout tournament on the Toms each year. Bait will probably catch more trout than artificials will. But artificials like small Rapala lures can work, and so can live bait like small killies. The shop is stocking shiners, killies and nightcrawlers. The killies and shiners will be carried as long as they can be kept alive this winter, and nightcrawlers should be stocked through the year. The store is holding a big sale featuring 20 to 50 percent off select items through Christmas Eve. The shop will be open through December 29. Afterward the doors will be open sporadically whenever Dennis happens to be there, until regular hours are held again after the height of winter.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Skim ice formed on lakes but was unsafe to walk on, said Frank from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville. So ice fishing was out, and the ice limited options for fishing from shore or boats. But if anglers could find open waters, they should fish with live bait like minnows deep and slowly to search for fish like chain pickerel that stay active in the cold. A few walleyes bit in the Delaware River, and live bait fished along the bottom is probably a best bet. The river level was probably reasonable, and Frank was unsure how much ice flowed down the river from the north. “But it’s coming,” he said. He was unaware whether the Trenton power plant was pumping warm waters into the river. But later in winter anglers fish the warm outflow for fish including striped bass, catfish and walleyes that can gather toward the warmth.

If the weather stays cold, anglers will ice fish for white perch at Collins Cove before too long, the report on <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Mystic Island’s Web site said. The cove, located on the Mullica River just upstream from the Parkway Bridge, might become fishable earlier than usual, and might stay fishable longer than normal. The waters are the most popular spot in the state to fish for the brackish-water perch. Live grass shrimp, the favorite bait, are stocked. Check out <a href="http://www.scottsbt.com/mapchart/collins.htm" target="_blank">Collins Cove info</a> on the shop’s Web site.

Ice covered most of the lakes but was too thin to fish, said Vince from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. That shut down most angling, and the only chance to cast a line was at open waters like at the spillways. Anglers there might try for panfish or chain pickerel. Even the rivers supposedly held ice along the edges.

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