<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

The Delaware River last week served up fantastic striped bass fishing once again, said Bill from <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Philadelphia. He fished the river last week first on Tuesday, initially with frozen herring, wrangling up a couple of stripers and a catfish in the local area. But a customer, fishing nearby with fresh herring, whacked 30 stripers and lots of cats, throwing back fish after fish. The customer gave several of the fresh baitfish to Bill, and Bill ended the day with 15 stripers to 29 inches and six cats, including one cat more than 12 pounds. Bill and nephew headed to the river at Trenton the next day, finding a strong herring run, limiting out on the bait quickly. They motored back down the river to the spot Bill fished on the previous trip, scoring one of the best fishing days he’s had in years. They landed 40 stripers 12 to 27 inches and 15 cats. The same customer said Trenton’s herring run continued strong the next day. “(If) things stick to schedule,” Bill said, the herring migration should last another week or so. Other customers also reported bailing stripers at different locations on the river last week. One who fished upstream of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge last week on Tuesday totaled 25 stripers to 31 inches on bloodworms and herring. Bill never mentioned whether the herring was fresh, frozen or live. Another fished downstream from the Betsy Ross Bridge, racking up 100 stripers throughout last week on fresh clams and herring. Again, whether the herring was fresh, frozen or live wasn’t said. That customer said that on one day, lots of slot fish would bite, and on another, fewer but bigger ones would. His bigger catfish inhaled the clams. Several who fished the river last week at Trenton between the bridges said they averaged five to eight stripers per day, mostly on live herring. One drifted that stretch while casting plugs before daylight and a couple of hours afterward, picking up three to five stripers per drift, and black Bombers, Striper Swipers and pencil poppers worked best. Shore anglers who fished the river at Station Avenue last week landed lots of stripers, mostly under 28 inches, on chunked herring. But when they swam live herring, they sometimes drilled up to 30-pounders. Plenty of stripers were also played last week throughout usual spots on the river down to National Park, and most of the fish were small, biting baits like bloodworms, sandworms, clams and herring. But some of the bigger catfish were walloped on this lower part of the Delaware. A few catfish tournaments in the area last week produced the whiskerfaces 10 to 18 pounds. Most of the giants were hooked on chunked herring, chicken livers or livelined eels. Largemouth bass fishing on the Delaware, catch and release from New Jersey through June 15, picked up each week. One angler and his son jabbed more than 20 of the bigmouths, but mostly under a pound apiece, at Dredge Harbor, tying into them best on plastic worms. Another fished the river at an undisclosed location, sometimes mopping up 12 in a trip, locating bigger ones to 4 pounds in deeper waters on jigged metal. The metal grabbed the bigger fish, but he also had luck on smaller bass on crank baits and Rat-L-Traps. Anglers fishing the river from shore at the marina at Neshaminy caught largemouths on minnows, nightcrawlers and spinners. The river’s shad fishing was best from the Delaware Water Gap to upstream last week, and dropped off downstream from there. One customer beat lots of 3- to 6-pund shad at the Gap on trolled small, 1/16- and 1/64-ounce white and chartreuse shad darts and dead-sticked, small shad spoons that week. Other anglers at the time connected with somewhat fewer of the fish at Narrowsburg, Callicoon, Long Eddy and Hancock, strictly at night. The river’s smallmouth bass fishing really began to gain steam at Lambertville, and most anglers drifted minnows from a boat for the bites, reeling up 10 to 20 of the bronzebacks and an occasional walleye per trip. One angler sometimes caught big, fat, 14- to 17-inch smallies each trip at Point Pleasant on the river, saying bait worked best, but spinners and rubber grubs got smacked, if anglers wanted to fish artificials. Another pelted five smallmouths and a bunch of yellow perch on the river at Bull’s Island. Lots of smallmouths came from the Schuylkill River around Flat Rock Dam; Neshaminy Creek at Tyler State Park and Playwicki Park; and Perkiomen Creek. On the trout front, Pennypack Creek dished out plenty of rainbows at Welsh Road, Rhawn Street, Roosevelt Boulevard, Krewstown Road, Veree Road and Pine Road. In South Jersey, Union Lake anglers knuckled in great catches of pickerel, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, bluegills and crappies. One angler toggled in 10 to 15 largemouths and 10 to 20 pickerel per trip on plastic worms, plastic lizards, Brush Hogs and buzz baits. He also said fewer big bass were around this year, but the mix of largemouths and smallmouths was good.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Twenty-two trout were rounded up from the Paulinskill River on a trip Friday, said Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> from Montvale. The fish, mostly browns, but a few rainbows and a couple of brookies, were swiped on black and silver Rapala Countdowns in size CD3, a 1-1/2-inch lure that weighs 1/8 ounce. Though some were tabbed from the center of the river, Dave noticed that most held tight to the banks. Casting parallel to the shore worked best. The browns probably averaged 12 to 13 inches – fat, chunky, pan-sized trout. His buddy lost an 8- to 10-pound rainbow, the fish of a lifetime, the 65-year-old buddy said, when the trout jumped off at the net on the same day on the river, on a black and gold Countdown. The thought of the fish kept the buddy up at night! A female and a male rainbow were reeled up during Dave’s fishing that appeared to be trout born in the river. They were silvery and bright, and Dave sees fingerling trout in the river in spring. Seems that over the years some of the stocked fish bred and established a non-stocked population.  Dave saw lots of trout rising to a sulfur hatch at one point. He fly fishes but not exclusively, and considers fly-rodding another means of catching, when that’s most effective, like during the heat of summer that causes streams to run low, impractical for lure fishing, and lots of bugs come off the waters. Otherwise Dave loves lure fishing for trout on the rivers, simply because lures usually catch more fish. Anglers can fish with bait for trout with Dave if they prefer, but when he shows them the techniques for lure fishing, they’re hooked. Live to Fish’s trout angling will last only a moment longer, so hit the waters for them now, before the streams flow too low for the best catches, as the season warms up. The rivers already started to drain low and clear, part of the reason Dave uses natural colors like silver and black currently for lures. Earlier in the year, if waters run high and tainted, he works “louder” lures including in chartreuse, or red with a yellow belly. Dave’s trips for muskies are about to kick in. He hunts the whoppers, fish that can grow longer than 50 inches, after they spawn in March and April, and after the weather begins to warm, when muskies become more active. Also coming up, his trips for walleyes begin toward the end of June at places including Greenwood Lake, Monksville Reservoir and Swartswood Lake. Walleyes are a big fish, can average 5 pounds, just the average. They grow much larger, and also taste great, are a member of the perch family. Dave’s trips fish for walleyes at night, when the species moves into the shallows from the deep. Sometimes an angler’s headlight on a trip reveals the fish’s giant eye, adapted for low light, glowing in the skinny waters. The fish bust on bait along the shorelines. Mayhem! Dave’s anglers throw big Rapala lures to plow the catches. Trips also haunt the fishery at night because the lakes are often a zoo of speed boats and jet skis during daytime in summer, and that puts the fish down. Lakes with traffic are often a barren fishery during mid day, and people wouldn’t even know what lurks at night. But at night, the walleye fishing takes off. It might not happen until 1 a.m., but then can go nuts. Live to Fish Guide Service guides trips for trout, trophy muskies, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleyes, crappies, chain pickerel, panfish, yellow perch, white perch, carp and more. Lakes fished include Greenwood Lake, Lake Hopatcong, Monksville Reservoir, Echo Lake, Mountain Lake and Furnace Lake. Rivers fished include the Flatbrook, Pequest, Paulinskill and Ramapo.

The season’s first striped bass was checked in from the Delaware River last week on Tuesday, and the linesiders had now reached local waters, said Bill from <b>Bill’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Phillipsburg. The 22-pounder – none of the fish was huge – pounced on an eel, and eels are the bait to fish for the stripers while eels are sliding around the river like now. The eels are fished at night, and the river’s anglers during the daylight blistered lots of small stripers on chicken livers. Shad – large roe females – swam the nearby river during the weekend, but whether they currently remain was the question, because they could depart in an instant. Kyle Gilmore, Washington Township, earned a New Jersey Skillful Angler Award for a 7-pound 4-ounce shad he pulled from the river. Fishing at Merrill Creek Reservoir was alive and thriving for all the different fish in the rich waters. Catches there include abundant largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, lake trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, big walleyes, pickerel, crappies and yellow perch. Is almost easier to name the fish that are absent from the impoundment, including northern pike and hybrid striped bass. The largemouths at Merrill lay on the spawning beds, and the angling is catch and release throughout the state until later, but a bunch were reeled in and let go. George Dayton Sr., Easton, released a 5-pound 8-ounce smallmouth at Merrill. Walleyes were seriously on the bite at Swartswood Lake, and three customers limited out on shiners. A few quality trout were clubbed on the Pohatcong and Pequest rivers, but catches seemed slower than usual, and stocking on the waters seems to take a hit whenever political squabbling is going on. Sean Peterson, Phillipsburg, creeled a 3-pound 4-ounce rainbow from the Pohatcong, and Roger Mackey, Belvidere, won a Skillful Angler Award for a 6-pound rainbow from the Pequest. Baits stocked at the shop include eels, shiners, chicken livers, frozen bunker, frozen eels and usual offerings like worms. Leeches, a seasonal bait usually carried until late September, just arrived, and crawfish, a great bait when fished live for smallmouth bass on the Delaware River, are stocked, though the supply lately was difficult. The mud bugs were either particularly small or large.

Shad were originally targeted on a trip to the Delaware River that Todd from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Ledgewood took Saturday, he said. But when none of the shad anglers hooked the fish, he nipped his shad dart off the line, and began fishing for smallmouth bass with garden worms and Husky Jerks. He banked five, and his sister slugged five, and his brother-in-law plucked four or five. They fished the worms on size-8 hooks with a small split shot 1 ½ feet above. He heard little about trout fishing, but the streams seemed to flow at a good level. He saw some of the waters on a trip to the state park at Lake Hopatcong. Customers planning to fish for trout buy lots of worms and Power Baits, and they mostly fish at rivers including the Paulinskill, Pequest and Musconetcong. While Todd visited the state park, he watched anglers on Hopatcong catch two walleyes, and the marble eyes seemed abundant. Largemouth bass fishing was slow on many waters because of the spawn.

Anglers in the Knee Deep Club’s trout tournament on the lake this weekend entered 65 of the fish, and most were trolled on Phoebes or Roostertails, said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. Winners were: 1st place, Frank Schweiger, 3-pound 4-ounce brown, $520; 2nd place, Pete Cusick, 2-pound 11-ounce rainbow, $390; 3rd place, Nick Sarinelli, 2-pound 9-ounce brown, $208. Mike Morgan beat a 6-pound 1-ounce walleye in shallow waters on a live herring. Roman Pera used a Rapala to plug walleyes to 7 pounds. Hybrid striped bass to 7 pounds hunted down live herring or top-water lures in the shallows, and pickerel prowled the weed lines, punching Mepp’s spinners.

Trouting’s been good this year, so long as the streams flowed at a fishable level, because of the weather, and they did lately, said Al from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. The Paulinskill and the Pequest rivers fished well in the past days, and the only complaint was that customers said the trout, brookies, were small that were apparently stocked at the Ramapo River. Fishing for trout at the ponds began to taper off because of warmer waters. Trout stocking around the state will last through next week this spring. Solid walleye fishing was axed at Lake Hopatcong and Greenwood Lake, mostly before dark on top-water lures. Anglers usually search out the bait then nail them, and that’s what one customer did. Catch-and-release largemouth bass fishing honked plenty of the fish at both lakes and the different ponds. Anglers fished for them with the same lures during the current spawn as they did at other times: Senko worms, plugs like Rapalas and jerk baits, for example. Senkos worked great on the spawning beds. A couple of customers talked about hoisting sizeable channel catfish 4 to 7 pounds, probably six or seven per trip, from the Delaware River at Lambertville.

Round Valley Reservoir’s trout fishing started to become better for boaters than for shoreline anglers, because the fish began to move deeper, said Dan from <b>Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop</b>. But a few were banked from shore, and medium shiners were the most popular bait, and some used meal worms. Few anglers bought Power Bait for the fishing. Boaters hung brown and rainbow trout from 15-foot depths on livelined shiners or herring or trolled spoons or flies. Quite a number of lake trout were dialed up from 75 feet down or deeper on live herring or shiners or on jigs. Live herring ran out at the shop, but the crew hoped to stock more any time. At Spruce Run Reservoir hybrid striped bass fishing was on the upswing during the evenings and nights. Live herring is always the choice bait, but top-water lures draw attacks at night. Trout catches were on and off on the streams depending on the water flow because of the weather, but were relatively good, and the waters were stocked with a bunch. All the usual baits like garden worms, spinner lures and flies like hackles waxed catches.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

At <b>Efinger’s Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook, trout anglers demanded lots of March browns and sometimes emergers, Amy said. So they seemed effective flies on the streams, and apparently hatches of the March browns lingered around. Caddis also hatched, and Amy came upon a Hendrickson hatch a week ago, landing trout on Hendrickson wet flies. Customers commonly fished Ken Lockwood Gorge, the Pequest River and the north and south branches of the Raritan River. Joe Parvillo checked in an 8-pound, 14-ounce, 27-1/2-inch rainbow trout he wormed on the south branch. The streams flowed moderate to low and clear at the beginning of the week. Customers who fished Round Valley Reservoir claimed trout from shore and boats and lake trout from boats.

Largemouth bass bedded down to spawn big time at Manasquan Reservoir, and anglers saw them, but had difficulty coaxing them to hit, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. They had to tease the heck out of the fish with lures like tubes and plastic lizards, eliciting a reaction strike. But crappie fishing was on a roll around the stumps at the reservoir on killies or jigs fished under bobbers. Pickerel could also be pancaked in the waters, but crappie fishing was best. A couple of customers who fished the Ocean County College pond said largemouths also spawned there. Mostly panfish like bluegills and sunnies were collected. Nobody happened to talk about Lake Riviera, but anglers there always catch something. The lake offers lots of different depths, holding a variety of fish, including largemouth bass, pickerel and panfish. Pickerel fishing on the Toms River at Trilco is non-stop at this time of year. The water wolves will slam almost anything, including shiners, spinners and Rapalas. Dennis’s nephew had fun fighting the brawlers on small popper lures before dark on trips. Trilco used to be a lumber yard, and no sign or anything now says Trilco, but the stretch of river is located behind the post office, and is known to locals. Good pickerel fishing was had at the back of Forge Pond on killies, but lots of white perch were on a tear in the brackish section, the main attraction for anglers. Bloodworms and nightcrawlers got nibbled. Trout, decent catches, were netted on the north and south branches of the Metedeconk River on spinners and nightcrawlers. Trouting was very slow on the Toms River, and nobody mentioned fishing for trout on the Manasquan River. Shiners are re-stocked every week at the shop, and baits also include killies and all the worms.

The Delaware River’s striped bass fishing dropped off locally, said Sean from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b>. The spring migration seemed finished, but lots of herring continued to run the river. Catfishing kept anglers catching on the river on cut baits like herring or shad, if anglers could run across those baits. Otherwise bunker, mullet or mackerel could be chunked for the fishing. The cats will also scarf up chicken livers or worms. Largemouth bass were more concerned with spawning than jumping on a hook. But panfishing, including for crappies, could be booted up at places like the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area lakes.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Spring trout stocking was finished, but the fish were angled from Grenloch Lake, often on meal worms and Power Baits, said Ed from <b>Creek Keepers</b> in Blackwood. Anglers in the know could limit out on the fish every morning. Oak Pond and Rowan Pond also waffled out a few trout. Small largemouth bass were caught and released at New Brooklyn Lake on minnows. New Brooklyn is always an excellent producer of pickerel, and swim a shiner to bust one. Largemouth bass 1 to 2 pounds were tossed back at Blackwood Lake on shiners. Ed always sends kids to the spillway at Blackwood for fast action with sunnies, a few largemouths and good-sized yellow perch. Large and small shiners, minnows, nightcrawlers, Nitro Worms died green and meal worms are stocked.

Trout fishing might’ve slowed a bit since stocking ended for the season, but the fish were still dusted up from waters including Oak Pond and Iona Lake, said Lou at the <b>Sportsman’s Outpost</b> in Williamstown. Father and son Ricky and Palmer looted 30 smallmouth bass in three trips at Lake Audrey on slowly trolled minnows. The lake, South Jersey’s only waters besides Union Lake that hold smallmouth bass, was stocked with the fish, and was opened to angling for the first time this year. Located in Cumberland County, south of Millville near the Maurice River Bridge, Audrey was hopping with the catches. Though largemouth bass fishing is catch and release because of the spawn, some of the fish began to become active again. Quite a few of the bass to 2 pounds became willing to strike at Sunset Lake in Bridgeton. Pickerel were eager to pounce at nearly all lakes, giving up good action this year. Use minnows for a sure bet. On Delaware Bay, boaters began to tackle drum starting on Thursday through the weekend. Some charters hauled aboard 10, 12 or 15 per trip, smaller fish. They marked bigger boomers that might’ve been spawning. Striped bass, fish that were spawned out, began to be found in the bay, apparently returning from breeding in the Delaware River. They were boated south of the number 1 buoy toward the end of the week, but the angling was slow on Sunday. Baits stocked for freshwater include minnows, nightcrawlers and meal worms. Frozen baits for saltwater are also carried.

Angling for trout surprisingly seemed to improve, probably because of cooler weather, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b>. One normally would expect trouting to begin to fade, but he heard about better catches including 3- and 3-1/2-pounders from the Maurice River. Some said they especially locked up on a chew at Hammonton Lake. Usual baits including Power Baits were tossed, and Rooster Tails sold quickly. On the tidal Maurice catch-and-release largemouth bass fishing was gaining steam, and fishing for smaller, resident striped bass was coming to life like typical at this time of year. Fishing for larger, migratory stripers on the river was about finished this season. A few reports rolled in about upticked largemouth bass action, catch and release, at Rainbow Lake. Very, very good smallmouth bass fishing was pummeled at Lake Audrey. Steve keeps expecting the fishing to slow down, but it keeps getting better. Anglers often drop-shot or fish tubes or shaky heads for the bronzebacks. More of a mix of largemouth and smallmouth bass now turned out tugs from Union Lake, though previously smallmouths overshadowed the catches. In Delaware Bay drum began to be boated off Delaware’s Slaughter Beach, not gangbusters yet, but some good catches. Nothing was heard about drum pelted on the Jersey side so far at places like Tussy’s Slough, a place to try for them if anglers wanted to scope out waters closer to home.

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