<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

Anglers waited for the river’s salmon run to fully bust open, but the fish, kings and Cohos, plenty of them, now swam the waters, said Dave from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. Colder nights could be used to trigger more to shoot up the river, running at 500 CFS, higher than the previous 335 CFS. But good catches were being made, mostly on the lower half of the Salmon. Egg sacks and flies were most commonly fished. A few salmon were boated on Lake Ontario.

Fishing was tough on the river during the weekend because of crowds, but anglers with <b>Salmon River Guide</b> from Pulaski scored okay on those days, Capt. Shane Thomas said. His anglers clocked good catches on Monday, when crowds disappeared. Mostly king salmon filled the river, but a few Cohos were mixed in, and a trip on Friday belted a 17-pound steelhead. The salmon fishing should last until mid or late October, then steelheads will become predominant. Steelhead angling will last through winter until May. Salmon migrate up the river and spawn quickly in fall, then the fishing is finished. But steelheads migrate up afterward, spend the winter, and spawn in spring. Anglers with Salmon River Guide mostly back-trolled the salmon on the drift boat, and sometimes fly-rodded the fish. The river ran at 500 CFS, and was slated to remain that level at least through Thursday. If a change is made afterward, the river will probably be lowered. Rains, if any fell, could keep the level higher, though. The weather beautiful with daytime temps in the mid to low 70s, and the only rains fell on Saturday. Nights dipped into the mid 40s. Lake Ontario’s salmon fishing was terrible, because wind directions kept the waters warm. Salmon River Guide does like to fish the lake when the angling is productive. Space is available for trips on the river throughout the season, and Shane works with a number of guides, so he can almost always put anglers on the waters when they want.

<b>Oswego River</b>

Work on the powerhouse and dam kept the river’s level fluctuating up and down, making fishing slow the past few days, said Larry from <b>Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop</b> in the town of Oswego. The waters needed to be raised a day, causing the fish to swim right up the Oswego. A flow of 3,000 to 7,000 CFS is ideal for the angling on the wide, big river, and it currently fluctuated from 1,200 to 4,000. But all the fish swam the river: king salmon, trophy brown and rainbow trout, steelheads and occasional Atlantic salmon. Coho salmon are uncommon on the Oswego. The fishing was good during the first couple of hours in the mornings and the last couple of hours of the day. Catches were also productive at night along the Night Wall, the name that anglers call the stretch along the wall north of the Utica Street Bridge. During the day the fish bit egg sacks, skein, Crazy Eggs, trout beads, sponges, Hot ‘N Tots, Fast Tracks, Quick Fish and flies including estaz and Wooly Buggers. Egg sacks are individual eggs held together in a sack. Skein are natural clusters of eggs held together by membrane. Skein will fall apart after not too long but are excellent bait. At night the fish bit skein under a float, glow-in-the dark trout beads, glow-in-the-dark spoons, Hot ‘N Tots and Fast Tracks. The river’s salmon fishing should last until mid October or so. Steelheads will begin to fill the Oswego afterward, and November is top-notch for the steelhead fishing. The steelhead angling lasts all winter and is excellent. But the weather begins to keep some anglers from fishing in conditions like piles of snow. But anglers can drift-boat 50 or 60 steelheads a day, awesome catches, through winter. The weather currently was gorgeous with daytime temps in the 60s, sometimes pushing 70. Forecasts called for warmer days this coming weekend, and cooler afterward. The temperature was 42 degrees on Tuesday morning. Salmon fishing was terrible on Lake Ontario, because wind directions kept the waters warm. The shop also features a motel, and only one room was vacant between now and October 1. Book early to ensure accommodations.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

A fairly large musky followed a white spinner at Echo Lake on a trip for Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> from Montvale, he said. But musky fishing was unexpectedly difficult, and the reasons couldn’t be known. Scarce weeds on Echo, caused by treatment, could’ve been a reason. Or maybe the fish were yet to recover from the hot summer. But these could only be guesses. A friend also said Echo’s musky fishing was slow. Dave has always found Echo to be the best place for the angling locally, and he returned to the lake Sunday night, scoring not even a follow from a musky. Dave trolled for walleyes and other fish at Greenwood Lake that day. One smallmouth bass was hooked, and the waters were crammed with pleasure boaters and skiers. After a while, he decided the crowds were too much for fishing, and left. Traffic usually drops off after Labor Day, but the good weather that day apparently drew the crowds. Other fishing also seemed off, and a friend who’s a professional bass angler, a great fisherman, was having a difficult season in the angling. Somebody at the bass tournaments always totaled 12 to 15 pounds for the five fish entered, but otherwise the fishing was sub par. The hope was that fishing will take off when waters cool this season, and Dave will keep angling for muskies and walleyes. A trip that was coming up in the next days might angle for largemouth bass if anything. Dave had a tremendous season for trout catches on the rivers this spring. Great walleye fishing at night followed this summer on his trips. This summer’s notable heat then began, though night trips still pelted walleyes. But currently muskies were skittish. That could change quickly.  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.

Largemouth bass fishing seemed difficult on the lakes and ponds, and all anglers could do was keep trying, and hope water levels rise, said Don at <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Ledgewood. Whether the levels, dirty waters, water temps or something else was the cause couldn’t be known. But several tackle reps told Don the fishing would not begin to improve until the levels began to rise. Don fished two ponds on Saturday with three anglers for 4 hours, and Don was the only who scored a bite, hooking a largemouth that got off when almost landed. The fish bit a Senko, and largemouths were seen rising on some kind of bug. But nothing the anglers fished could coax another strike. A customer who camped at a private lake in Warren County said 10 anglers fished the waters over the weekend, landing only three largemouths, and they used everything imaginable. Nothing was heard about trout fishing, and the streams were low. Anglers wondered whether trout stockings this fall would be placed in the lakes instead of the streams. Customers began to make the trek north for salmon fishing on upstate New York’s rivers like the Salmon. Customers also began to buy gear for striped bass fishing around Sandy Hook. A few of the stripers seemed to begin to bite for boaters and surf anglers from the rivers to the bays to the ocean. Surf rods for stripers became a top item sold.

The lake’s fishing was okay, improved with the cooler weather, said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. Quite a few hybrid striped bass to 7 pounds were rounded up on a trip during the weekend that Stan and Kenny Stelmack Sr. and Jr. took. Jim Welsh wrestled hybrids to an 8-pound 4-ouncer. Walleyes were hung in the shallows at night on small herring or cast lures. Crappies and smallmouth bass hit small herring. The shop will be open through the first weekend in November, closing afterward, but reopening for ice-fishing season.

Lakes were low, needed rains to raise them, so fishing was slow, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. The lakes might be close to turning over in North Jersey, where the waters turn over before the lakes in South Jersey do. Lake Hopatcong was 66 degrees when he fished there on Saturday, and that was a temp where the turnover could be near. Plus he noticed exceptionally clear waters at one place, and the rest of Hopatcong was pea-soup dirty. That was unusual, might’ve indicated that some of the lake already began to turnover. Fishing will be slow during the turnover, but anglers would hope the fish become aggressive and hungry afterward. Water temps dropped quickly from the 80s to the 60s in about a month, not unusual this time of year. Nick was on the lake that day while competing in a largemouth bass tournament, and the angling was tough. He and his fishing partner were the only entrants who caught largemouths. His partner landed three, and Nick reeled in two, and they connected with 4-inch Senko worms, along an edge of weeds that was 150 feet. That was the only place they found bites, and they pounded the lake thoroughly, including at the points and coves. Hopatcong was two feet low, and the low waters limited where anglers could fish. The main lake was deep enough to fish, but many of the coves became two shallow for a boat. That often prohibited fishing along the docks. Fishing the weeds is much more difficult. The fish will be found someplace in the weeds, but finding where requires lots of work. The fish might hold along the inside edges of  weeds, outside edges or in the potholes, and so on. Targeting the docks is simpler. A customer at the shop smoked all big smallmouth bass on Hopatcong during the week at rocky areas on spinners. The fishing was slower on weekends.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Smallmouth bass could be pancaked on the South Branch of the Raritan River at Neshanic, said Ron from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. Flies like Wooly Buggers will cream them. That was about the best fishing, and largemouth bass fishing was slow on the lakes. Trout angling on the streams will become popular when the weather cools and the streams rise this fall. Anglers look forward to the fall trout stocking, featuring lots of large trout. Heads up anglers: The shop is holding a 30-percent sale on waders and wading shoes and 40-percent sale on Orvis waders and wading shoes through the month!

Fishing generally picked up a little, and the weather became somewhat cooler, after the brutal heat of summer, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. A few largemouth bass were jigged-and-pigged on Manasquan  Reservoir in the trees, and crappies were also claimed around the trees. Half-ounce black jigs with black-and-blue pork rinds grabbed the bass, and Mr. Twisters under a bobber hooked the crappies. Hybrid striped bass were boated on the reservoir, mostly on chicken livers on the bottom or on trolled, deep-diving plugs.  Lake Riviera dished up largemouths and chain pickerel for shoreline anglers tossing shiners. Chain pickerel bit like usual on the Trilco stretch of the Toms River. Trilco used to be a building supply store that no longer exists. But locals know the stretch, located around the Parkway, by the name. The front lake at the three ponds at Lacey Lakes held catfish willing to chew nightcrawlers. A few white perch were bucketed at Forge Pond, and pickerel were fought mostly by kayakers back in the reeds there.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Though the Delaware River ran low, and no rains raised the level from summer, smallmouth bass fishing produced on the waters, said Eric from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville. Eric guides on the river for his company On a Mission Fishing Adventures, and a trip he ran Friday afternoon waxed 15 or 16 smallies, a solid catch, some of them healthy sized, 16 inches. The trip fished the river at Bull’s Island and Frenchtown with popper lures and Yozuri Pins Minnows. The smallie fishing currently was best in the evenings and mornings. Catfish were toggled in from the river at Bordentown and Florence. Catch the <a href="http://www.drfishermen.com/
" target="_blank">Delaware River Fisherman Association</a>’s Big Cat Shootout on Saturday on the river at Lightening Jack’s Marina. Cooler nights began to cause largemouth bass fishing to improve a bit at lakes like those at the Assunpink and Colliers Mills wildlife management areas. The fish began somewhat to bite during daytime, after only pouncing during low-light hours previously. Crappie fishing became good at waters like those because of cooler nights.

Smallmouth and largemouth bass shoveled out good catches on the Delaware River, and the Pennsylvania side seemed better, said Rick from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b> in Brooklawn. Places like the mouth of the Schuylkill River and the mouth of Chester County’s Ridley Creek attracted them. Lots of big catfish were tugged from the river, and walleyes even hovered along areas like the piers, the ship yard and the mouths of Mantua and Woodbury creeks. Was uncommon for walleyes to swim this far downriver this time of year, including because the river was low, and the salt line was far upstream, but the fish were there. Rains would help all freshwater fishing. In other waters, plenty of largemouth bass came from Newton Lake and the Cooper River. Spinner baits fished deep worked in the Cooper on most days. In saltwater, croakers and kingfish roamed southern Delaware Bay close to shore from the Concrete Ship to 60-Foot Slough to Bug Light. Bluefish swam everywhere from the bay to 40 miles from the coast. False albacore held along the ocean humps and ridges like 5-Fathom Bank and Sea Isle Ridge. News was scarce about offshore fishing for tuna and big game, because winds kept boaters from sailing the waters. Big Timber carries tackle and bait for fishing on all waters from freshwater to bays to offshore.

Anglers landed crappies and yellow perch at the different lakes, said Lou from <b>Sportsman’s Outpost</b> in Williamstown. Some who stopped at the shop nabbed crappies and one or two largemouth bass at the DOD Ponds Wildlife Management Area in Salem County off Route 130. Many customers waited for the fall migration of striped bass to begin in saltwater. Waters were warm, around 70 degrees, and will need to dip into the 60s before the linesider fishing begins. Some customers were heading north to Montauk for stripers, and the migration sounded like it was already happening there.

Angling was mostly poor, for some reason, remained that way since the brutal heat of summer, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Anglers had expected catches to pick up by now, but they didn’t. This seemed a transition period, and fishing will certainly gain steam, but “when” was the question. Largemouth bass fishing at the lakes was horrible, and anglers wondered why. Again, they had thought the fish would become more active, now that days were cooler than during the height of summer. Largemouth catches will improve this season, but the time when that would happen remained the question. A few customers hit occasional smallmouth bass at Lake Audrey early and late in the day. Top-water poppers or small prop lures were a choice to throw. But once the sun came up, lures like tubes or shaky heads were probably key. Nothing good was heard about fishing at Union Lake, and catches seemed dead. No other waters seemed to offer fishing that could be called better than at other places. White perch fishing was good on the brackish Cohansey River and tributaries. Customers who fish saltwater mostly waited for the fall migration of striped bass.

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