New Jersey Fishing Reports

Striped bass fishing on the local Delaware River was probably coming to a slow end, and all the big bass will have probably departed within a week, said Bill from Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle in Philadelphia. Mostly small stripers were reported caught last week, though a few big ones were walloped early that week. One angler drilled four 36- to 40-inch linesiders to 30 pounds on the river at Rancocas then. Some anglers reeled up 26- to 38-inchers two weekends ago at the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. But most of the fishing guides said each 4-hour trip produced three to five stripers from 22 to 29 inches, smaller fish, along the different bridges, like the Turnpike Bridge. The one angler who tackled good catches fished from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m., boating 10 to 20 stripers 20 to 35 inches, none big, on crank baits, popper lures and large, rubber twister tails. When all the bigger bass are gone, “it will be time to switch over to something else,” Bill said. But herring still migrated in the river at Trenton last week, and on some days anglers crushed them, and on others they worked hard to pick a limit. One angler limited out in an hour last week on Monday, and Bill heard that a pile of the baitfish moved through again that Wednesday. But the river’s shad migration ran strong at the Delaware Water Gap and farther upstream last week. Lots began to be fought at Callicoon last week on small shad darts and small flutter spoons, mostly from 4 p.m. until dark. Smallmouth bass fishing, limited to catch and release in New Jersey through June 15, got better each week on the river, and one would’ve thought last week’s storms would’ve caused high, dirty waters on the river, but the Big D only rose a few inches and came right back down, and waters were only a little tainted. One angler in four days landed more than 50 smallies, including some better-sized from 17 to 19 inches, where Tohickon Creek flows into the Delaware at Lambertville, on minnows, nightcrawlers, crank baits, tubes and twister tails. He also angled up a walleye, six stripers and nine catfish. Another who fished at the New Hope wing dam below the fast waters grabbed plenty of smallmouths, but all under 14 inches. Several customers connected with the bronzebacks farther upstream at Upper Black Eddy. Another who fished at the Water Gap nailed several 2- to 4-pound smallies, saying most smallmouths there hung on the Pennsylvania side. He also said many anglers bailed many walleyes in that stretch of the river at night on minnows, nightcrawlers and jigs. They also waxed a handful of large trout upstream from the I-80 Bridge where the larger streams meet the Delaware, he said. Closer to the shop, largemouth bass fishing, also limited to catch and release in New Jersey through June 15, went great on the Big D. One customer on two trips pulled in five to ten each outing. “He is … fishing the main river with crank baits and Rat-L-Traps to catch these fish,” Bill said. Plenty of largemouths under 2 pounds bit at Dredge Harbor on plastic worms. For trout anglers, Pennypack Creek produced terrific catches, including at the Boulevard, Krewstown Road, Veree Road, Pine Road and along Lemur Park. Anglers said wax worms, meal worms, salted minnows, Power Baits, spinners, twister tails and jigs got smacked. Smallmouth bass and rock bass gave up better angling farther up the creek. Bill talked with nobody who fished at South Jersey’s Union Lake in Millville last week, but he knew that the lake’s largemouth and smallmouth bass, pickerel and crappies put up good fishing.

NORTH JERSEY

The migration of striped bass was under way on the local Delaware River, and the season was still early, said Bill from Bill’s Bait & Tackle in Phillipsburg. One angler and his kid slugged two stripers 27 and 20 pounds on eels at 3 a.m. Saturday in a downpour. The fish like the rough weather, and eeling for them at night is the way to go. Chauncey Mulligan clubbed a 22-pound striper from the river. Channel catfish also ran strong in the river, picking up chunked eels or chunked shad. Chris Bogoly dialed up a 6-pound 10-ounce cat and a 5-pound 10-ouncer. Carp were yet to be seen much in the river, but the season was early for them. Though the local shad migration was dwindling, anglers still tugged them in, mostly good-sized roe fish, from the Delaware. Susan Rayna, 11, won a New Jersey Junior Skillful Angler Award for a 5-pound 7-ounce shad she knuckled in from the river. Merrill Creek Reservoir’s temperatures dropped last week because of the storms, so the impoundment’s fishing also dropped off. But days like this week’s warmer weather will warm up both the waters and the fishing quickly. Bill in the past said the lake is crammed with abundant largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, lake trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, walleyes, pickerel, crappies and yellow perch. He said the fish that are absent from the impoundment are easier to name, including northern pike and hybrid striped bass. At this time of year, many of Merrill’s fish are spawning. Pat Storm released a 5-pound 9-ounce largemouth from the reservoir. Walleyes were on the bite at Swartswood Lake, and Justin Dornblaser, 9, won a Junior Skillful Angler Award for a 5-pound 6-ouncer he pancaked there. One customer mugged a 7-pound lake trout from Round Valley Reservoir, and laker fishing seemed turned on there. At Pohatcong Creek, Mike Werkieser yanked in a 4-pound 10-ounce brown trout, and Peter Moore creeled a 3-pound rainbow trout. Barry Hagen released a 7-pound 4-ounce largemouth bass at a farm pond.

March Browns kept hatching on the trout streams, and sulfurs began to come off, said Don from Ramsey Outdoor in Ledgewood. He claimed trout lately on the Rockaway River, catching on garden worms, meal worms or salmon eggs when fishing bait, and on silver Phoebes when using artificials. Anglers started to talk about banging up walleyes at Lake Hopatcong from shore at the state park at night on top-water popper lures. Boaters on the lake also hooked them while vertical jigging with Rapala Jigging Raps. Trout were also picked up from shore at the state park, and many customers fish there because of easy access.

Livelined herring or even top-water lures dusted hybrid striped bass to 9 pounds in the shallows on the lake, said Laurie from Dow’s Boat Rentals in Lake Hopatcong. Doug Guttridge livelined the baitfish to wallop hybrids 9 pounds, 8 pounds 13 ounces, and 6 pounds 8 ounces during the weekend. Walleyes also favored the shallows, and Jim Davis caught them to a 6-pound 7-ouncer. Lots of chain pickerel were wrestled on Mepp’s spinners, and bass were sometimes mixed in, catch-and-release fishing for the largemouths and smallmouths.

The Rockaway and Ramapo rivers put customers into some of the most catches of trout, said Nick from Meltzer’s Sporting Goods in Garfield. Butterworms cleaned them up best, but meal worms, Power Baits and salted minnows worked. The minnows were popular for the stocked brown trout. Largemouth bass fishing, catch and release, turned solid at Lake Hopatcong, as the fish came off the spawn, moving a bit deeper. Nick planned to take a shot at the fishery soon, and he’d recommend fishing with Keitech Swing Impact rubber baits or with Senko worms fished slowly along the docks. The bass hang out along the docks after spawning. Or the females move to the grass, but fishing along the docks is easier. A couple of the shop’s staff members laid out catch-and-release smallmouth bass action at Greenwood Lake on small Keitech swim baits and Senko’s.

Good catches of lake trout were lifted aboard from 65 feet down at Round Valley Reservoir, said Steve from Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop. Brown and rainbow trout were boated at the Valley close to shore. The shop in the past couple of weeks reported that the trouting had become better from boats than from shore, because the fish moved deeper as the season progressed. At Spruce Run Reservoir, hybrid striped bass, a bunch, slammed top-water lures like Zara Spooks, mostly late in the day or at night. Catfish offered plenty of catches at Spruce, and the reservoir’s carp were spawning, so they were difficult to coax to strike, but at least anglers could locate them. Live herring became tough to obtain for bait, but the shop will stock them when available.

CENTRAL JERSEY

Customers heading to the trout streams kept buying sulfur flies, said Amy from Efinger Sporting Goods in Bound Brook. Most anglers at the shop focused on saltwater fishing, because the spring migration turned out some of the best catches, and rough weather kept many from freshwater fishing in the past week. But the trout streams seemed to flow at a medium level, were maybe a little cloudy, not affected too badly by the weather, because rains fell off and on. Boaters wrenched in lake trout from Round Valley Reservoir from 65 to 75 feet down on livelined herring or shiners. Hybrid striped bass were axed at Spruce Run Reservoir on chicken livers.

Nearly all the trout reports rolled in from the Metedeconk River, said Jeff from Murphy’s Hook House in Toms River. Few talked about reeling in trout from the Manasquan River, and none mentioned the Toms River. But on the Metedeconk, for example, one angler tied into the fish on the South Branch on spinners. Some did say trout cooperated in the Manasquan around Hospital Road in Brice Park. At Manasquan Reservoir crappies hovered around the downed trees, pouncing on killies or jigs under a bobber. Largemouth bass were also caught and released there on shiners and plastic worms. Largemouths, catch and release fishing for them, and pickerel were played at waters including the Ocean County College Pond, Lester Lake and Lake Riviera. Yellow perch were sometimes in the mix, and Jeff hooked all three – the bigmouths, perch and a few pickerel – on the Winding River on worms. Pickerel were on the hunt like always on the Toms River at Trilco or behind the post office. Trilco used to be a lumber yard, and no sign says Trilco or anything, but locals know the area by that name. White perch were on the feed at Forge Pound on bloodworms or grass shrimp.

Whether herring ran well in the Delaware River became difficult to know, because storms dirtied the waters, and nobody really fished in the conditions, said Sean from Harry’s Army and Navy in Robbinsville. He reported last week that striper fishing became slow on the river. The weather put the kibosh on much participation in freshwater in the past week, but panfish could surely be shoveled up from the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area lakes and all the usual haunts. The spawn put a hold on largemouth bass fishing.

SOUTH JERSEY

Plenty of striped bass were rustled up from the Delaware River, including at National Park and north of the Ben Franklin Bridge, said Rick from Big Timber Bait & Tackle. Boaters pumped them in on chunked bunker, clams and eels. Livelined white perch also worked well. Lots of big catfish roamed the bottom of the river, including at the deep sloughs, along the piers in Philadelphia and at the mouth of Rancocas Creek. Raccoon Creek also harbored the whiskerfaces. The cats sniffed out fresh cut baits like bunker or herring or stink baits. Largemouth bass could be caught and released at the creek mouths on the river on plastic creature baits, Senko’s, Zooms and Visions. Newton Lake and Stewart Lake also served up largemouth fishing on top-water lures or plastics. Crappies swam in population at Stewart and also at Wilson Lake. In saltwater news, Rick heard about stripers to 40 inches beached from the Cape May surf. Stripers were also boated on Delaware Bay, from the southern bay all the way up to Ship John, and quality catches of drum were hauled aboard off Delaware’s Slaughter Beach on the bay. Anglers will see how flounder fishing goes when the season for them opens Saturday. All the freshwater baits are stocked, including nightcrawlers, meal worms, trout worms, crawfish and minnows. The full selection of saltwater baits – for angling from the bays to offshore, such as flats of sardines and butterfish – are on hand. Tackle for every type of fishing from freshwater to offshore is carried.

Trout fishing was slower than a few weeks ago, when the fish were stocked, but some bit, and one customer booted-them-up from Rowan Pond and Oak Pond, said Ed from Creek Keepers Bait & Tackle in Blackwood. Others placed trout on the stringer at Grenloch Lake. Big pickerel were on the prowl at Grenloch. One was hooked on a trout that an angler had caught and reeled in. Small largemouth bass could be caught and released at Kirkwood Lake, Lake Rene and Blackwood Lake on anything from shiners to rubber worms and frogs. Ed always sends kids to the spillway at Blackwood Lake or Puppyland Pond for fun with bluegills and sunnies on baits like nightcrawlers, garden worms or meal worms. A trout was landed at Blackwood’s spillway, and one always shows up here or there that travels from the creek from Grenloch. Large and small shiners, minnows, nightcrawlers, Nitro Worms died green and meal worms are stocked.

Fishing for trout was winding down after stocking ended in local waters, but some were socked, and customer Ron Schmidt beat the fish at Oak Pond on meal worms and minnows, said Lou from Sportsman’s Outpost in Williamstown. Lou heard nothing about trouting on Iona Lake anymore. One father and son team, both named John, were hitting Wilson Lake, doing a job on pickerel and largemouth bass on crank baits, and crappies and yellow perch on minnows. A group of customers piled up white perch from the Maurice River a couple of times a week on minnows and grass shrimp. Striped bass were mainly mauled from saltwater now, instead of the freshwater rivers, where they spawned earlier. A few were hung from the surf at Cape May, including Poverty Beach, and Delaware Bay around the Villas. Good numbers of drum, but smaller fish, were boated on the bay off Delaware’s Slaughter Beach. A few drum to 80 pounds were taken from the New Jersey side at places like the Pintop and Tussy’s Slough. Anglers looked forward to the opening of flounder season Saturday. Frozen saltwater baits including squid and mackerel for flounder are stocked. Freshwater baits at the shop include minnows, nightcrawlers and meal worms.

Catch-and-release fishing for largemouth bass was on a tear at Rainbow Lake, said Steve from Blackwater Sports Center in Vineland. Rubber frogs, jigs-and-pigs and Senko worms gained whacks. The bass there and at all local waters were mostly finished spawning. Customers honed in heavily on hook-and-release smallmouth bass fishing at Lake Audrey and Union Lake. But probably an equal mix of smallmouths and largemouths were the game at Union, though the smallies were more active than the bucketmouths at Union earlier in the season. Nothing much was heard about trout fishing anymore, and that angling was practically finished for the season. Pickerel fishing was slower than earlier, now that waters became warmer. The water wolves are most active in colder waters. Striped bass fishing also sizzled compared with before, and many of the linesiders migrated away. But resident stripers could be plugged on the Maurice River on Rat-L-Traps, Bombers or Rebels, and the river at Millville is a popular place to look. Also on the river, certain white perch anglers loaded up, and others couldn’t buy a bite. That seemed to mean anglers had to find the holes where the slabs gathered. Bloodworms or grass shrimp will win the nibbles. Delaware Bay’s drum fishing picked up through the past week but wasn’t as good as it probably will be. But good catches were boated off Delaware’s Slaughter Beach. The opening of flounder season this Saturday was all the talk, and customers geared up for the fishing. Catches should be hopping at places like Delaware Bay, and the shop is stocked up on flounder baits including minnows, mackerel, Pro Cut squid and Gulps.