New Jersey Fishing Reports

The river’s fishing for king salmon and Chinook salmon wasn’t even close to beginning, but only a couple of weeks might be left before the start, said Rick from All Seasons Sports in Pulaski. Anglers should be prepared to act quickly, because the run doesn’t last long, and check the tackle, re-spool the reels, and so on. The shop is now open pretty much full time to prepare for the season, and is fully stocked. A handful of Skamania steelheads, Atlantic salmon, smallmouth bass and brown trout roamed the river, probably running at 230 CSF. But too few of the fish were around to specifically target one species. If anglers hook a big fish, fight the catch carefully, or the fish will die in the warm waters. The beginning of the king and Chinook runs depends on the weather. “Pray for rain,” Rick said.

PENNSYLVANIA

Not a lot was available to report in the hot weather, said Bill from Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle in Philadelphia. But smallmouth bass fishing on the Delaware River was some of the best angling around. Minnows worked best, but leeches, crawfish, popper lures, top-water lures, crank baits, Torpedo lures and rubber grubs were some of the other effective choices. Several customers fished the river at Yardley and New Hope at the wing dams, reeling up smallmouths, catfish, striped bass and white perch. Another who fished the river at Lambertville landed 25 to 45 smallmouths and 5 to 10 catfish per trip. One angler who waded the river at Point Pleasant totaled 92 fish, mostly smallmouths but also catfish, sunfish and striped bass, in three trips. He talked with lots of anglers who drifted the river on rafts and tubes, and they said they scored well on the smallies. Smallmouth fishing was also good on the river at the Delaware Water Gap in the fast waters upstream from the I-80 Bridge. Several reports rolled in from the stretch, and most of the anglers hooked 25 to 40 of the bronzebacks per outing, mostly on minnows, shiners, leeches and crawfish. One who fished there at night angled up smallies and walleyes. On the creeks, the Perkiomen served up the next best smallmouth fishing. Some on the Perkiomen connected at the Route 73 Bridge and downstream to Skippack Creek. Another rounded up the fish on the Perkiomen just below the town of Green Lane. Fishing for small smallmouths was good on Neshaminy Creek, despite low waters and algae, at Tyler State Park and Playwicki Park. An angler who had been trying for trout on the creek at Bucks County’s Dark Hollow Road now switched to smallmouths. On the still waters, a customer who fished at Lake Nockamixon put the brakes on plenty of largemouth bass. He and his wife fished the lake before sunrise on a trip, waxing 19 of the bigmouths to 3 pounds in the shallows on buzz baits and Zara Spooks. When the sun rose, they fished deeper waters with jigs and jigging spoons, coming up with five largemouths to 2 pounds and a few crappies. Another angler who fished at Nockamixon had less luck. Fishing from 6 a.m. to mid afternoon, he plucked one largemouth bass, smaller than 12 inches, and 15 bluegills from the lake, using bait and every lure in the tackle box. At Millville’s Union Lake in South Jersey, one angler finally had a good morning on largemouth bass, catching six of the fish to 4 pounds on weedless frog and rat lures, losing a couple of bigger bass in the lily pads. He also drilled a bunch of pickerel. Reports had talked about slower fishing at Union in the heat previously. At Spruce Run Reservoir in North Jersey, a customer plowed a mess of smallmouth bass and crappies one afternoon on minnows. He banged out lots of hybrid striped bass last year, but said whenever bait came to the surface this year, it was too far to reach while casting from the shore.

NEW JERSEY

North Jersey

Eight walleyes 3 to 6 pounds were creamed in the middle of the night Saturday on one of the lakes with Live to Fish Guide Service from Montvale, Capt. Dave Vollenweider said. That was a good catch, and he sounded excited, especially after lots of other fishing was slow in the heat. A couple of more also broke off, only because a net should’ve been used to land the fish. Something also snapped the line when a big, 3-pound smallmouth bass was hooked. Maybe Dave needed to use 10-pound line instead of the 6- to 8-pound he’d been using, he said. Smallmouths really go wild when hooked, though, he said. They explode, jump sideways, go nuts. The walleye fishing began slowly, and Dave found them at 3 a.m., after the trip began at 9 p.m. One was grabbed at sunrise, too. The moon set soon after the trip arrived, and the fishing is usually best when the sky is darker. Not many baitfish were around, though previously this season walleyes were hooked around herring the fish followed to the shallows in the middle of the night. Lots of the walleyes related to the weed beds as the trip worked a shoreline. Most of the walleyes were pelted on Rapala F18 lures. One 5-pound walleye blew up on a Bomber Badonk-a-Donk lure fished walk-the-dog style, missed the plug, hit it again, and was hooked. The fishing is fun, and walleyes are a big species giving up strong fights, and the experience of angling in the middle of the night is something. Walleyes, a member of the perch family, are great tasting. Dave expects walleye fishing to last into fall, and all fish usually fatten up or feed heavily in fall, preparing for winter. Waters were 77 degrees, cooler than previously, good news after the heat of the height of summer. Dave also had good news to pass along about musky fishing. He’d been fishing for the giant predators through summer, and the heat seemed to slow the angling a lot. But he took two trips for muskies on his own this past week, coaxing five follows from big muskies. That’s good news, because previously none of the fish even followed lures on trips, so muskies currently seemed on the way to becoming more aggressive. One of the keys to musky fishing is finding the fish, because they tend to be homebodies, can usually be found at the same location on a subsequent trip. One of the muskies followed a jerk-bait type of lure that was ripped through waters 5 feet down, paused, ripped again, and so on. A big musky shot up after the lure and missed. Muskies, able to reach 35 m.p.h., sometimes miss a lure like that. Dave is confident a trip will soon hook a musky, considering the fish seemed to be coming out of their mid-summer funk. Musky fishing can be like deer hunting, and muskies are called the fish of 10,000 casts. But once an angler catches one, the angler is often addicted to the fishing, because a musky can be the biggest freshwater fish someone hooks. Musky fishing is Dave’s favorite, and he’ll continue going after them. Live to Fish Guide Service guides trips for trout, 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 Pequest River near the hatchery ran so low that the waters wouldn’t even cover a finger touching bottom when Don from Ramsey Outdoor in Ledgewood visited the river, he said. The Rockaway River and practically all trout streams ran low, and the fishing became impractical some time ago this summer. So most customers fished for largemouth bass at waters known to be better for largemouths, including Shongum Lake and the Randolph Park ponds. Many customers fish for them with night crawlers. But if they want to use artificials, Don usually recommends Senko worms or Keitech soft-plastic lures, because they work best for him. He stopped at Lake Hopatcong, seeing not one boat on the waters. Most largemouth anglers there are fishing from shore or from boats along the shoreline in the shade.

Fishing on the lake somewhat improved after water temps dropped a few degrees last week, said Laurie from Dow Boat Rentals in Lake Hopatcong. That was after she reported slow fishing because of the heat in the previous couple of weeks. The Knee Deep Club’s catfish tournament was held during the weekend, and the winners were: 1st place, Jim Archambault, 16-pound channel cat, $416; 2nd place, Eddie Mackin, 9-pound 14-ounce channel, $250; and 3rd place, Greg White, 1-pound 9-ounce bullhead catfish, $166. The shop is open 5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily until the hours are changed in fall.

Central Jersey

Smallmouth bass fishing supposedly went well on the South Branch of the Raritan River, said Amy from Efinger Sporting Goods in Bound Brook. Chris Redzinski nailed a 5-pound 27-incher, a trophy, from the river. Amy heard nothing else about the river in the past days, but the shop last week reported that two anglers who work at the store cleaned up on the fish on Wooly Buggers and streamers while fly rodding at Neshanic. They saw other anglers mop up the catches on minnows. James Snyder checked in a 4-pound 8-ounce 23-inch rainbow trout from Round Valley Reservoir. No other news rolled in about the rainbow fishing at the impoundment. Many customers targeted largemouth bass at the ponds and lakes. Fishing for them with plastics like Senko worms and Keitechs in the evenings to escape the heat is common.

Much fishing was slow in the hot weather, but hybrid striped bass were pulled from Manasquan Reservoir, said Dennis from Murphy’s Hook House in Toms River. Chicken livers fished on the bottom with a weight dialed up most, but some anglers trolled the fish. Largemouth bass were only picked at a couple of tournaments for the fish, and the angling was nothing good in the high temps. The weather somewhat cooled but was often hot. Just before dark was one of the best times for largemouth fishing, and buzz baits, spinner baits and popper lures were some of the best choices for catching. Pickerel could be clubbed in the cool waters of the Trilco section of the Toms River. Most anglers swam killies for them, but some used shiners. Trilco is the area of the river at the town of South Toms River around Route 166 to the Garden State Parkway, and is named for a building supply shop that no longer exists. No sign identifies the waters as Trilco, but locals know the stretch by the name.

Catfish could probably be scratched up from the Delaware River, said Frank from Harry’s Army and Navy in Robbinsville. Baits from nightcrawlers to chunks of baitfish like herring to hot dogs fished along the bottom could draw a bite. Waters were warm and low for largemouth bass fishing at waters like Gropp’s Lake and the lakes at the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. If anglers look for the bass, try fishing with live bait in the deep, cool holes or with rubber worms or soft plastics on jigs in the holes. Nobody was heard talking about smallmouth bass fishing on the Delaware River at spots like at Lambertville and farther upstream, where the fish are typically fought in summer.

South Jersey

Fishing for sunnies that kids did at Puppyland Pond, the spillway across the road from Blackwood Lake and Grenloch Lake was the main action going on in the summer weather, said Ed from Creek Keepers Bait & Tackle in Blackwood. Not a lot else was heard in the warmth. But one angler scored chain pickerel at the cranberry bogs at Dock Road toward Atsion Lake. Minnows are definitely a top choice for pickerel angling at waters like that.

Kids with their grandpop sitting at the lakes trying for sunnies or an occasional pickerel on worms was basically what fishing was like, said Lou from Sportsman’s Outpost in Williamstown. But other catches were had. One angler fished at Malaga Lake from a kayak, busting a 6-1/2-pound largemouth bass. Not too shabby. He fished with a white spinner, also clocking several chain pickerel. A youngster at Iona Lake, trying for sunnies with bait on a small bobber with friends, hooked a 15- or 18-pound carp, fighting the fish 15 or 20 minutes, until the monster broke off, when almost landed. Big carp roam most of the local lakes, but are difficult to hook. Anglers try for them with baits like corn or homemade dough balls. Little was heard about saltwater fishing, but one customer said a Fortescue captain told him 180 croakers were bagged on a trip on Delaware Bay.

Okay fishing for largemouth bass was slugged at Rainbow Lake, said Steve from Blackwater Sports Center in Vineland. Fair fishing, mostly for the bigmouths, came from Union Lake. The heat often hindered fishing everywhere, but some places like these put out. Senko worms and rubber frogs were top choices for largemouth angling at the two lakes and others. A few largemouths were subdued on the Maurice River, and so was decent catfishing. Work Senko’s, crank baits or jigs-and-pigs for the bass in the river. Steve wasn’t asked what to use for the cats. White perch fishing was a shining light in the summer doldrums. Plenty were pummeled on the Cohansey River and surrounding tidal ditches. Bloodworms will gain a nibble, and customers bought loads of Gulp artificial bloods for the fishing. If grass shrimp could be obtained, they were a great perch bait. On a side note, Lake Audrey’s smallmouth bass fishing was probably 1 ½ or 2 months away from kicking in. The angling was superb for the cold-water fish before summer during this first year that the lake was open. The state specifically developed Audrey for smallmouth fishing, one of only two lakes, Union being the other, that harbors smallmouths in South Jersey.