New Jersey Fishing Reports

Steelheads 4 to 8 pounds were banked on the upper river, and pink worms and egg sacks connected, but try drifted nightcrawlers as well, said Ritchie from All Seasons Sports in Pulaski. Snows were melting fairly quickly along the banks of the river, set to run at 500 CFS through Thursday. Sandy Pond gave up double-digits of yellow perch, fantastic catches, through the ice on Northland Buck-Shot Rattle Spoons and small jigs tipped with mousies. Twelve inches of the hard waters covered the pond, and ice fishing should last a few weeks.

PENNSYLVANIA

Ice covered most lakes, and ice anglers scored pretty well at Lake Luxembourg at Core Creek Park, said Bill from Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle in Philadelphia. Big crappies 10 to 13 inches, 10 to 25 of the fish per outing, were plucked from the waters along the dam on wax worms, jigs, meal worms and minnows. A few trout were in the mix with crappies in the upper end of the lake. Levittown Lake was a steady bluegill factory, and the panfish and occasional trout pounced on Kastmasters, other jigs, wax worms and minnows. Fishing picked up on the Delaware River in the coves, and several anglers copped solid angling for crappies and yellow perch around the Neshaminy Marina and Tullytown Cove on the high tides. The tides created a 25-foot-wide zone of open waters along the shore, where anglers cast fathead minnows and wax worms. One customer had been fishing off the docks at Dredge Harbor, reeling up crappies and perch on shiners. Walleyes began to wake up in the river near the New Hope wing dam. Walleyes 3 to 5 pounds also gathered at the spillway at Lake Nockamixon, inhaling minnows and nightcrawlers.

NEW JERSEY

North Jersey

Reports finally started to roll in again, because fishing began to pick up on the Delaware River, said Bill from Bill’s Bait & Tackle in Phillipsburg. He was hearing that walleye fishing was coming on strong in the river at Carpentersville and Raubsville, and also upriver in the scenic overlook area. Eric Fistler claimed three walleyes that weighed 3, 3.8 and 5 pounds. Conrad Noble banged out a 6.4-pounder. Ice anglers plied the hard waters for pickerel and largemouth and smallmouth bass. Walt Miller tugged in a 5.8-pound bucketmouth from Delaware Lake, and Sam Jenkins put the brakes on a 5.3-pound pickerel at Hidden Lake.

Trout anglers headed to the Pequest River to fight big, breeder rainbows, said Kevin from Ramsey Outdoor in Succasunna. Fat meal worms grabbed the trout to 4 pounds in the fast waters. Open waters formed on some parts of Lake Musconetcong, and anglers cast shiners from shore to find yellow perch.

Ice fishing was tops again, said Laurie from Dow’s Boat Rentals in Lake Hopatcong. Formidable catches were entered in the Knee Deep Club’s second ice-fishing contest of the season during the weekend. The top three pickerel were Wayne Bryant’s 5-pound 3-ouncer, John James’s 4-pound 13-ouncer and Daniel McCarthy’s 4-pound 11-ouncer. The top yellow perch were Yuri Nowicki’s 1-pound 14-ouncer, Carmen Falcon’s 1-pound 13-ouncer and Greg White’s 1-pound 6-ouncer. In the “all other division,” honors went to Matthew Zmuda for a 4-pound 15-ounce largemouth bass, Carmen Falcon for a 3.5-pound walleye and Eddie Mackin for a 3.4-pound largemouth. Eight to 10 inches of ice formed at Great Cove and off the state park. Other quality pickerel that came in included Jeff Lidzbarski’s 4-pound 10-ouncer, Paul Knappenberger’s 4-1/2-pounder and Al Pallavicini’s 3.8-pounder. Plus loads of yellow perch over the 1-pound mark were caught, and so were quality crappie catches, including Marcin Dolegiewicz’s 2.9- and 1-1/2-pounders and A.J. Lambert’s 1-pound 12-ouncer. Tip ups or jigs fixed with small fathead minnows or grubs took both perch and crappies. Several other largemouth bass were checked in, including Pawel Grel's 2-pound 15-ouncer and Ivan Cupvas’ 2-pound 14-ouncer. Surprise catches of big muskies 15 to 25 pounds were sometimes hammered off Nolan’s Point and Bertrand’s Island on shiners on tip ups.

Large muskies to 20 pounds, nailed on big shiners, were hauled through the ice at Greenwood Lake, said Nick from Meltzer’s Sporting Goods in Garfield. Fishing the deeper waters was key. Yellow perch fed hard under the ice at the Highlands Lakes, and small jigs tipped with mousies worked best. Trouters worked over the Rockaway River and the Pequest River, locating rainbow trout and huge chubs to 17 inches that both ate up baby nightcrawlers.

Bill Hoffman from Skylands Angler from Clinton took advantage of the weekend’s warmer weather to return to trout fishing on the streams, he said. And he scored: He got into fairly good dry-fly fishing with midges and blue-winged olives. If anglers can fish warmer days on clearer waters like the spring creeks, they should be able to locate such hatches. Otherwise generic nymphs should hook up, and streamers will be a choice in high waters, if this week’s rains raised the stream levels. Streamer fishing’s been effective this winter, and the high waters seem to knock around baitfish that make the trout hone in on streamers. The winter’s been a tough one for trout fishing, because of the cold and the tons of snow. But the tide might be turning, because the weather might no longer be as severe. The season is probably too early to consider surf fishing, but striped bass season opens in the bays and rivers on Monday. Waters are probably awfully cold, but anglers might convince a resident striper to bite at places like Raritan Bay or the rivers if they can discover the holes where the fish hold, working the areas slowly. Chances aren’t great, but the angling’s worth a shot. Substantial catches might not begin until late March. 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.

Some serious trouting was going down at Round Valley Reservoir, said Steve from Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop. Shore-based anglers at Ranger’s Cove cast shiners to hang browns and lakers to 5 pounds. The Round Valley Trout Association stocked 140 golden, tiger and brown trout 5 to 10 pounds all through the reservoir. Dale Banko tied into a 6-1/4-pound golden while trolling streamer flies. Ice anglers who fished at Mountain Lake shellacked a few muskies on jumbo shiners. Catching one musky makes a good day, but one angler reported releasing three in one day this past week.

Customers ran to the trout streams and found their fare, said Nick from Efinger Sporting Goods in Bound Brook. Browns and rainbows swam prevalent in the South Branch of the Raritan, the Pequest and the Musconetcong rivers. One customer was landing the fish on a three-way tandem fly rig with a Wooly Bugger, a bead-headed nymph and a scud.

South Jersey

Walleye fishing gained steam big time in the Delaware River, said Eric from Harry’s Army and Navy in Robbinsville. The stretch from Trenton to Upper Black Eddy put out daily catches of up to 15 to 20 per angler. Shiners on small jigheads, Rapala X-Raps and chartreuse and white Mister Twister grub tails all worked. Occasional smallmouth bass were also angled from the Big D. Pickerel fishing was solid in the open waters at Lake Assunpink for shore-bound anglers casting shiners. Ice covered part of the lake.

Lake Assunpink became half open waters, and crappies were clocked on fathead minnows or shiners tossed from shore, said Carl from the Sportsmen’s Center in Bordentown. Walleyes began to strike in the Delaware River on shiners, and the warm waters at the Trenton power plant were a top spot.

The rains this week were expected to remove most of the thin ice on the lakes, said Steve from Blackwater Sports Center in Vineland. So the waters should open up for largemouth bass and pickerel fishing. The Maurice River was almost completely clear of ice, and white perch could be drilled from the banks on grass shrimp and small hair jigs. Here’s some of the best news of the winter: Striped bass season opens in the rivers and bays on Monday, and the Maurice River should offer resident stripers willing to chase Rat-L-Traps, small soft-plastics and crank baits.