<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

Lots of steelheads were banked from the river, running at a low 285 CFS for a while now, said Susanne from <b>All Seasons Sports</b>. The angling should last a bit, because the hatchery was yet to release the steelheads back into the river that they used for eggs. When the hatchery will do that was unknown, but Susanne heard rumors that this could happen at the end of the week. Plenty of drop-back steelheads, fish that winter in the river to spawn in spring, were yet to drop back down to spend the summer in Lake Ontario, too. Nigthcrawlers, egg sacks, Wooly Buggers and stoneflies hooked the fish. Atlantic salmon started to be landed on the lower river, and boaters on the lake reeled in brown trout, a fishery that usually lasts from spring until early June.

<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

Trout streams were in great shape, said Bill from <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b>. From 1,800 to 3,200 trout were stocked in Wissahickon and Pennypack creeks last week, and plenty of trout were reeled up from both. Meal worms, wax worms, Power Baits, salted minnows and corn were the main baits that anglers tossed. Spinners, Trout Magnets, Power Bait Trout Worms, spoons and jigs were the lures they usually worked. Trouters at Neshaminy Creek landed the fish but no big numbers. In still waters,  stocking on Saturday at Levittown Lake put anglers into great catches. Fishing for trout was slow at Lake Luxembourg, and a few were plucked, but bluegills crappies, yellow perch and largemouth bass are more common catches there. One angler nabbed a few trout near the bridge, and another, fishing near the dam, said no trout held there, but he pulled in panfish and bass. For striped bass anglers, the Delaware River at Trenton was the top spot, and bloodworms were the bait of choice throughout the river, though sometimes anglers jigged herring for bait to connect. Stripers were still caught farther downstream at places like the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge and off Rancocas Creek and Station and Princeton avenues, but the angling might’ve began to taper off. Still, good catches, including a 36-incher, were socked at the Frankford Arsenal below the Tacony, and Bill and wife Helen hooked three stripers 15 to 20 inches at the Rancocas on a trip last week, and other anglers reported catches from those other spots. Herring were picked from throughout the river, though the main run hadn’t seemed to start last week. The shad run this year was one of the best on the river, and tons were fought at Trenton. Not many were angled farther upstream at Yardley, but some of the most in years were shellacked even farther up the river at Washington’s Crossing and the Water Gap.

<b>NORTH JERSEY</b>

Trout, lots of them, were piled up from the Pequest and Rockaway rivers and the Big Flatbrook, said Don from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Ledgewood. So the fishing went well, and spin fishers scored on Phoebes, Joe’s Spinner Flies, meal worms, garden worms and salmon eggs. One old trick is to chuck pellets from the hatchery in the waters to trigger the trout to feed. Then cast any of the baits or lures in the fray. Fly fishers usually drifted early patterns or nymphs. But one customer waxed the trout on Wooly Buggers. Locales that lake fishers haunted included Lake Hopatcong, and most there tried for stocked trout. Budd Lake was the happening spot for pickerel. The different mining pits, including three or four in Randolph, were beacons for largemouth bass and smallmouth bass anglers, and that angling was going fine.  
 
The weather was a little cool and windy for fishing on the lake, but trout and hybrid striped bass were claimed in the shallow, warmer waters, said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. For trout, fish the backs of coves and along the docks with trolled Phoebes or small Rapalas. Dante DiMarco weighed in a 3-pound 6-ounce brown trout, and Eddie Macken checked in a 1-pound 11-ounce brookie. John Fernandez came in with a 1-pound 10-ounce rainbow. The hybrids, up to 8-pounders, swiped lures or livelined herring in the skinny waters toward Brady Bridge, Landing, Nolan’s Point and Air Castle Isle, “for starters,” she said. Tom Williamson hit the scale with a 7-pound 12-ounce hybrid, and Ken Powley plopped down a 6-pound 10-ouncer. The Knee Deep Club’s pickerel tournament on the lake is set for Sunday, April 25, and anglers can call the shop for info: 973-663-3826. Look for the picks along the weed lines, throwing a Mepps spinner or a Rapala.  

The Ramapo River was a place for better trout catches, said Al from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Power Baits and salmon eggs were mostly used. Numbers of trout were also pumped up from the Paulinskill River on the same baits. Trout also swarmed Dahnerts Lake and the waters at Cedar Grove Park, and the same baits were popular there. If a load of largemouth bass, and a few smallmouths, are the target, run, don’t walk, to the shores of Lake Hopatcong. The fishing was going off, mostly on jigs or jerk baits, in the shallows. Crappies were also mugged on the lake on small jigs or fathead minnows.

Lots of big trout were pancaked from shore at Round Valley Reservoir, said Steve from <b>Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop</b>. A couple of 6- and 7-pounders were weighed in, and all the catches came on Power Baits. Boaters fishing for lake trout on the “rez” bailed plenty from the 65- to 85-foot depths. The fish were only 15 to 20 inches -- none was large -- but were abundant, pouncing on livelined herring or jigged Crippled Herrings. Live herring are stocked. At Spruce Run Reservoir, the wait was on for hybrid striped bass fishing to take off. Waters were cool, and a stretch of warmer days was needed to make the fish wake up. Meanwhile, good reports rolled in from the shallow, warm waters in the coves. Mean, nasty northern pike to 10 pounds were clobbered there, and so were lunker catfish to 10 pounds. Sometimes anglers limited out on crappies around the same shallows, when they could locate the schools. On the trout streams water levels were perfect. The streams were crowded on weekends but barren with no anglers on weekdays. Think about going then. Live bait such as meal worms or garden worms worked best. But for fly anglers, bead-headed nymphs, any type, but on the smaller side, did the deed. 

<b>CENTRAL JERSEY</b>

The North Branch of the Raritan River put customers into trout, said Bert from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b>. Nightcrawlers, meal worms, spinners and other typical offerings drew bites. Some of the trout checked in from the waters included a 3-pound 4-ounce brookie, a 2-pound 14-ouncer and a 2-pound 4-ouncer. Other anglers from the shop fished the Delaware and Raritan Canal for trout, but walleye fishing might’ve been more popular there. Many talked about lots of action copped on the Lamington River, especially on smallmouth bass. Shiners will nab them.

Customers who tried for trout at Spring Lake the other day saw the fish jumping but only got a couple of small ones to bite, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. The fish seemed reluctant to chew, but when they do, small Rapala lures or Power Baits are effective. Dennis was out trout fishing on the South Branch of the Metedeconk River for inconsistent catches, four on one day, one on another, two on another, and so on. He grabbed them all on artificials including Roostertails and Blue Foxes. A few trout were picked on the Toms River, nothing special. Waters were high on the streams. Pickerel and crappie fishing on any of the lakes pounded out the fast action, if anglers looked for that. Mostly shiners or minnows will do the trick. Largemouth bass entered pre-spawn mode, and they were slow to attack. Some were tugged in here or there. Nightcrawlers, meal worms, garden worms and all the baits are stocked.

The Delaware River was on fire for striped bass fishing between the Trenton Bridge and the Turnpike Extension Bridge, said Frank from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b>. Livelined herring jigged from the waters was the bait, and a pretty good run of herring schooled at Trenton in the past week. Some of the bass had been angled up from the shore at Florence, but that bite was probably ending. That was the first place where large linesiders were drilled. Customers flocked to Lambertville for good shad fishing on the river, typically favoring flutter spoons for a strike. Some fished the spoons behind a Rapala or a Bomber lure. They removed the hooks from the lure, using the plug like a planer to get the flutter spoons down in the water column. Pickerel were active at the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area lakes and most ponds. Little was heard about largemouth bass fishing.

<b>SOUTH JERSEY</b>

Freshwater fishing was getting better every day, said Rick from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b> in Brooklawn. The migration of striped bass put up lots of catches from the Delaware River, mostly at National Park, but also at other areas with access, including River Winds in West Deptford. Some could still be claimed as far downstream as the Salem River. Use bloodworms. Big carp were wrestled in from the river in Salem County. Large catfish began to be hoisted in more frequently up and down the river. Either fish was willing to Hoover up smelly baits from dough balls to chunks of oily fish like herring or bunker. Crappie fishing was on a fair roll at the Cooper River and Newton Lake. Largemouth bass often came from Sunset Lake or the Salem Canal. The private ponds that require permission to fish also turned up big bass. But the largemouths were responding, and this was a good time to get after them. Most customers fished with crank baits, rubber baits or soft plastics for them. Trout continued to be stocked, and Rick saw big ones checked in from Grenwich Lake, Grenloch Lake and Haddon Lake. Big Timber stocks an extensive supply of bait and tackle, not only for freshwater, but also for the bays and even offshore.

Big trout, 4- and 5-pounders, were hauled from Grenloch Lake, said Ed from <b>Creek Keepers</b>. They chomped meal worms and Roostertails, and trout were also taken from Oak Pond, usually on meals or trout worms. Blackwood Lake turned out small, 1-1/2- to 2-pound largemouth bass, mostly on shiners. Anglers looking for a fight with a chain pickerel could head to New Brunswick Lake, floating out a minnow under a bobber. Large and small shiners, minnows, meal worms, nightcrawlers and Nitro Worms, nightcrawlers that turn green because they’re fed green food, are stocked. Nitro Worms did a job on largemouths at Hammonton Lake.

Customers clocked trout at the stocked lakes such as Iona, said Lou from <b>Sportsman’s Outpost</b>. Bruce Wilson, 12, plowed a 3-1/2-pounder and a couple of smaller ones from Iona toward the end of the week  Waters in  the lakes were somewhat cool for largemouth bass fishing, so fish slowly with choices like crank baits or jig-and-pigs. For faster action, go for crappies and yellow perch on Wilson Lake. Striped bass to 42 inches were nailed from shore on the Delaware River, mostly on bloodworms, sometimes on clams. Any of the places that offered access, including Penns Grove and Pennsville, doled them out. But the upper stretches gave up more of the fish by now, as the fish swam upstream to spawn. However, the linesiders were also hung from the lower river, including below the Salem River, where they could be kept. The fishing is catch and release above the Salem. Herring began to migrate up the Mullica River and the creeks at Batsto. Meal worms, nightcrawlers, bullhead minnows and other baits are stocked. Sportsman’s also carries frozen baits for saltwater.

A few largemouth bass began to spawn, but good catches were nailed from the lakes, even if the weekend’s cold front didn’t help, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b>. Senko worms really shellacked them, and Zoom lizards also cleaned them up. But other lures like a jig-and-pig or a flipping bait also hooked up. For the spawning fish, any soft-plastic dropped in the spawning bed can coax the fish to hit, trying to remove the bait from the bed. Smallmouth bass fishing was the hot story, though. Lake Audrey and Union Lake shoveled out loads on ½-ounce Rat-L-Traps, rubber crawfish and Senkos. Audrey, located near the bridge over the Maurice River, is the lake newly opened in January that was stocked with smallies, specifically intended to harbor the fish. Both lakes are the only two in South Jersey that are home to the bronzebacks. Crappie fishing was also on a tear at Union on minnows, 3-inch twisters or 2-inch tubes. For trout fishing, Iona Lake was a decent producer. The Maurice River ran a bit high for the best trouting, but okay catches were made. Power Baits or Roosetertails will work at both. Striped bass began to be played on the tidal Maurice and all the creeks such as Menantico Creek a week and a half ago. But the Delaware River was the place for awesome striper fishing. Cast bloodworms from shore at spots including Elsinboro Point, Salem, Pennsville or National Park. Minnows, nightcrawlers, meal worms, trout worms and other freshwater baits are stocked. The shop is trying to stock bloodworms. Frozen baits for saltwater are also carried, including bunker, peanut bunker and squid.

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