<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

Salmon fishing just started to pick up, becoming good, on the river, said Eric from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. The first couple of weeks of October are usually prime time, and so is this weekend, for that matter. The fishing started late, though. No huge runs of the fish came up, but catches became better at Douglaston. King salmon were creeled, and Cohos, brown trout and steelheads were in the mix. Those who targeted steelheads connected. Anglers fished everything from weighted and floated egg sacks to imitation eggs to flies. The river ran at 500 CFS, and rains poured Monday and Tuesday morning, and an inch of rains is forecast for Thursday, so the level should rise.

A good run of salmon stacked up at Douglaston, and the fish that had been in the holes began to move around and spawn, and lots of rains fell, said Capt. Shane Thomas from <b>Salmon River Guide</b> from Pulaski. Kings and Cohos were hooked, and a few steelheads were fought every day. Salmon fishing was tougher on the weekend, because of crowds. But Shane’s trips beat especially good catches Friday, Saturday and Monday. They fished from the drift boat, back-trolling the fish but also catching them while the anglers cast natural eggs or fly rodded the fish on flies including egg patterns. Shore anglers also nailed the catches. The river flowed at 500 CFS, not a bad level, though 750 would be better. To give perspective, 335 CFS would be low. The fishing was slower on the upper river, but that’ll change. The fish held in the upper river, but were stale, and a shot of fresh salmon there will help the angling. Salmon fishing will probably be best in the river until mid October or October 20. Some will be hooked into November. Around November, most of the fish will have spawned and died, but steelhead fishing will take off in the waters then. Steelheads shoot up mostly after the salmon run, and steelheads spend the winter in the river until spawning in spring. Trips will fish for them through the whole season. Good salmon catches were also made on Lake Ontario toward the mouth of the Salmon River in the past days. Dates for salmon trips are really filling up, and if anglers want to go, they better call now.

<b>Oswego River</b>

Be careful: Two anglers fell into the river on Tuesday, and one did not survive, said Larry from <b>Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop</b> in the town of Oswego. Wear a life vest, and do not fight the current if you fall into the river, because fighting the current is impossible. The anglers wore waders and no life vests, and waders will sink an angler as they fill up, without a life vest. Some anglers recommend keeping a knife accessible to puncture the waders, but wearing a life vest is essential. Both anglers had died when rescued from the river, but one was resuscitated. Fishing for king salmon, brown trout, rainbow trout, and steelheads improved a lot on the river, was just turning on, and the salmon angling will last three or four weeks. King salmon, no Cohos, make up the catches on the Oswego. After the salmon run, steelheads fill the river, and angling for them becomes great in November, lasting throughout the winter. Winter weather like piles of snow can discourage bank anglers, but drift boating for the fish will whack the steelheads through the cold months, world-class angling. For the salmon, anglers fish with egg sacks, skein, Crazy Eggs, trout beads, sponges, Hot ‘N Tots, Fast Tracks, Quick Fish and flies including estaz and Wooly Buggers. The Oswego flowed at 2,700 CFS, a decent level on the wide, strong river. Rains were often falling this week, so the level will rise. The shop also features a motel, and some room was available this week. The rooms were booked for some time afterward, but cancellations do happen, so anglers can call and check.

<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

Smallmouth bass fishing on the Delaware River was some of the best angling around, said Bill from <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Philadelphia. Customers knocked down the fish at places like New Hope, Frenchtown and Point Pleasant, mostly on minnows, but many anglers who fished with rubber grubs, tubes, crank baits and top-water lures scored just as well. One fared best with Rooster Tail Spinners, landing most of his bronzebacks after casting to dimples seen on the water surface. He totaled 25 of the fish, 12- to 15-inchers, on his most recent trip. The streams turned up okay catches of smallies, but the waters were low and full of algae, and anglers had to fight through rock bass and bluegills. One customer found slow smallie fishing on Neshaminy Creek in the past month, but reeled in lots of panfish. Perkiomen Creek put out somewhat better smallmouth catches, sometimes 20 to 30 fish per angler, among plenty of rock bass and bluegills. Several customers hit the Schuylkill River upstream at Norristown, racking up good numbers of smallmouths and rock bass. An angler who fished the Schuylkill somewhat farther downstream nabbed a few smallmouths but small ones, and the river there was warm with no flow. He thought the bigger smallies swam farther upstream, “just below the fast water,” Bill said. On the lower Delaware River, largemouth bass fishing began to pick up at Dredge Harbor. A customer clocked seven healthy-sized bigmouths there at the lily pads just at the entrance of the harbor on Rat-L-Traps. Another banged out busy fishing with largemouths on the main river just upstream from the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. Seven of the bucketmouths in one trip was his best catch, and he averaged four of the fish, most of them 1 to 3 pounds, per outing. Crank baits and Rat-L-Traps worked best for him lately. Another fished for largemouths at the Trenton power plant, had no luck, moved to the river at the rocks just upstream from the baseball park in Trenton, and landed six largemouths, two smallmouths and a striped bass. Catfish were tugged in from up and down the lower river, and shrimp, nightcralwers, chicken livers, bagels and clams were baits to dunk. Anglers on the river at Linden Avenue in Northeast Philly hung no big numbers of cats, but enough of the 1- to 5-pounders to keep them interested. A little farther downriver at Princeton Avenue, one angler picked up four stripers 13 to 19 inches and two cats 1 to 3 pounds on a trip, fishing with chicken livers. He returned the next day, fishing with bloodworms, and hooked no fish. A little upstream from Linden Avenue, a few stripers 10 to 15 inches were banked at Station Avenue. Downstream at Chester a few stripers in the mid 20-inch range bit, and Bill heard about no keepers from the area since May. Bigger catfish, like three more than 10 pounds that one angler wrestled, were sometimes walloped around Chester on live eels or chunks of herring or mackerel. The angler with the three 10-pounders caught the fish best on live eels, and a 13-pound cat was his biggest lately. In still waters, a customer copped some great days of largemouth bass fishing at Lake Nockamixon. His best fishing there lately came two weekends ago, when he shellacked 32 largemouths, fish to a 6-pounder, during the two days. The rest of the fish weighed 1 to 4 pounds. Jigging spoons were the only lures the fish pounced on during the days, and the fish held in 10- to 15-foot waters. On other trips the fish grabbed plastic worms, spinner baits, suspended crank baits and the jigging spoons. Plenty of small yellow perch and bluegills were plucked from the spillway at Lake Luxembourg in Core Creek Park. But the panfishing also produced in the main lake, and largemouths to 4 pounds were also wrangled up from there. An angler at Falls Township Lake in Bucks County averaged 4 to 10 largemouths per trip. Fall trout stocking is set to begin in Pennsylvania, and dates Bill heard were October 4 at Levittown Lake, October 5 at Wissahickon Creek and October 6 at Pennypack Creek. He heard nothing about a date for Lake Luxembourg but imagined the waters will be stocked on October 4 like Levittown Lake.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

A trip with Justin Gazy and his father at Greenwood Lake targeted smallmouth bass on Saturday with Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> from Montvale, Dave said. But the fishing was tough, just wasn’t happening. Most angling remained difficult on the lakes, for unknown reasons. Maybe waters needed to cool, but the reasons couldn’t be known. The angling might amp up any time with the changing seasons. A largemouth bass tournament the same day on the lake seemed to run into challenging fishing. Quite a few limits of five largemouths were caught. But Dave’s friend, a professional bass angler, competed in the event, taking all day to land his five, and he’s an excellent fisherman. If Dave remembered, the friend’s five only totaled 6 pounds, and the winning total weighed only 11 pounds for five, not big fish. So the trip with Gazy was a bad day. However, Dave took a solo trip to fish for muskies at Echo Lake that might’ve offered positive news. He landed no muskies, but scored four follows, and getting the fish to “move” has even been difficult so far this season, and they seemed in a funk like other fish in the lakes. But the follows might’ve been a sign that muskies started to “go,” Dave said, because of cooling waters. The first fish he raised was a big musky, thick in width, probably a 30-pounder that was 40-some inches long. The muskies liked a Suick lure in chartreuse tiger that Dave worked. When Dave musky fishes by himself, he’s looking for big ones in deep waters. Of course, when he’s guiding trips, the anglers might want to try for any size musky, so the trips do. Like a magazine article he recently read said, when looking for big ones, musky anglers have to expect to go a trip or several trips without a bite. Musky fishing can be like that anyway, and catching one is never a guarantee. But anglers fish for them because a catch can be the biggest fish an angler ever landed. With musky fishing, gaining a follow is half the battle. Gaining a strike is the next step. Musky anglers have to learn to keep calm when seeing a follow. When Dave sees a follow, he often either speeds up the lure or swings the lure left and right, making the fish think the bait is trying to escape, triggering an attack. Musky anglers also say that making a figure 8 at the end of every cast is a good idea, because muskies often hit then. Dave aggressively makes a figure 8, making the waters froth, and that works sometimes. Sometimes anglers will gain a “blind follow,” not realizing the musky is there, because the fish is deep or out of sight, and the figure 8 can help. It can also help when the fish is seen.  Dave’s trips will keep musky fishing, his favorite angling, and the fishing might be improving. He’ll also fish for walleyes this season, and has been catching them on the lakes since summer. Walleyes are a big, tasty fish, members of the perch family, also great sport for anglers. 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.

A buddy from Trout Unlimited, who will help with the fall trout stockings starting next week, said the fish will be stocked in the waters, no matter whether they’re low, said Don from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Ledgewood. Eighteen inches will be the smallest trout stocked, the friend said, and the fall stockings are known for big trout. Much more participation in fishing will kick off with the stockings, and not many anglers talked about local fishing at the shop this week. Most customers bought tackle for salmon fishing in upstate New York’s rivers like the Oswego and Salmon rivers. They were already catching the fish, and most said bad trips even produced two or three salmon. Brown trout and steelheads were also banked. The anglers bought egg flies, egg sack patterns, rods 8 ½ feet to 10 feet, and more.

The lake’s fishing became much better in cooler weather, said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. Hybrid striped bass, walleyes, smallmouth bass, chain pickerel and sometimes crappies were dusted. Most anglers latched into the hybrids, fish to 8 pounds, off the pints on herring. Walleyes, none big, but sizeable fish to 3 pounds, came from the same areas. Jan Gorz, Brooklyn, fished near Halsey and Raccoon Island during the weekend, dialing up a 3-pound pickerel and a 3-pound 12-ounce smallie on Mepps spinners. For the crappies, sling out small jigs, Rufus Jr.’s or fathead minnows.

Word was mostly mum on largemouth bass fishing, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Good</b> in Garfield. He reported slow fishing for the bass in recent weeks, and now he hardly heard reports about the angling. Maybe that was because the tournament season was winding down, but the week’s storm probably didn’t help. He will compete in his final largemouth tournament of the season this weekend, and afterward he’ll be able to give an update on the fishing. If anglers fish for largemouths, Keitech soft-plastic baits and Senko worms were killer lures on the fishing all season, and should still be. Catches of small striped bass on the Passaic River in Garfield was some of the only fishing anglers talked about. The river ran low, but the week’s rains must’ve perked up the stripers. When rains fall hard, bait tumbles over the waterfalls, and the stripers move in to swipe them up. When the river really rises, big stripers 15 to 20 pounds move up. But the level was nowhere near that height now. Northern pike fishing also takes off in the river during high waters that are not typically found in summer and early fall like now. Many customers bought tackle for salmon fishing in upstate New York on waters like the Salmon River. The fish began to migrate up the rivers, and the angling will become better while the run lasts the next two or three weeks. The shop stocks plenty of tackle for the fishing, from rods and reels to spawn sacks for fishing with salmon eggs and more.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Trout seemed somewhat more active than before at Ken Lockwood Gorge, and waters probably cooled a little, said Burt from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. He took a trip there, landing a small brown trout on a trico, and saw others catching trout, though he couldn’t see what they used. Waters were low, but he saw a bunch of trout in one pool, and they looked fairly active, like the waters were at least cooler than previously. He wet-waded, though hardly past his ankles, but the waters were warm enough to be comfortable. Trout fishing will draw more interest when fall trout stocking begins next week. Little was heard about largemouth bass fishing, but one customer pulled in four of the fish from a pond at one of the parks near Clinton on Senko worms and curly-tailed grubs. Not much was heard about smallmouth bass fishing on the South Branch of the Raritan River, but the fish should still be biting. One angler said he hit a couple. Customers kept buying tackle for salmon fishing in upstate New York at places like Pulaski’s Salmon River. The fishing sounded like it had begun.

Largemouth bass fishing was slowly improving on Manasquan Reservoir, though the waters were 6 feet low, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. Jigs-and-pigs and sometimes tubes caught them among the trees. The reservoir holds quality fishing for crappies, also among the trees, on killies or small jigs under bobbers. Someone reported catching a musky at the impoundment, and muskies are stocked there. A few customers fished the front lake at the three ponds at Lacy Lakes, rounding up catfish and a few crappies and largemouths. The lake known as Deadman’s Curve Lake or Deadman’s Lake on Lacy Road holds lots of trees, and largemouths there jumped on rubber worms, other weedless lures and shiners. The low-pressured lake is best fished from a boat. Lake Shenandoah, though the waters were weed choked, served up a bit of action on largemouths and crappies. Crappies were mongered up from Lake Carasaljo at the Route 9 Bridge on killies under a bobber.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Anglers tore up smallmouth bass catches on the Delaware River, usually from Trenton to upstream, said Eric from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b>.  He guides smallmouth trips for his company On a Mission Fishing Adventures, and his anglers grabbed the fish on curly-tailed grubs, popper lures and Senko worms. Mornings and evenings racked up solid catches, and the fish could be angled during mid day, but the fishing was slow then. Many catfish were clubbed on the river in the Delaware River Fisherman Association’s Big Cat Shootout this weekend. Search out the cats at places like Bordentown and Florence, fishing with baits like herring chunks, chicken livers and stink baits. Largemouth bass fishing began to improve in dropping water temperatures at all three lakes at the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. Work rubber worms or crank baits slowly through the waters. Fishing for crappies was also good there on Trout Magnets or Mr. Twisters. Lots of chain pickerel will clobber live baits like shiners there.

The stormy, overcast weather this week was helpful to anglers, said Rick from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b> in Brooklawn. The weather kept saltwater anglers from fishing in rough seas, but for freshwater anglers, the low-light, cooler weather was a respite from the sun and heat that slowed angling. Catfishing on the Delaware River pounded out lots of the whiskerfaces, and Rick will hold a catfish tournament from his Gloucester City Marina on Saturday. He often holds tournaments there, including many largemouth bass contests, and anglers can call the shop for info about the competitions. He’ll also hold a largemouth tournament at Newton Lake this season. Largemouth fishing on the river somewhat slowed down, and the fish were moving around with the change of seasons. But the bigmouth angling was going well at the lakes and ponds including at Newton Lake, Haddon Lake, Blackwood Lake and the Cooper River. He heard about some big ones taken from Haddon and Blackwood. At the lakes light-colored spinner baits, shiners and creature rubber baits hooked up the most. Crappie fishing on Newton also doled out the catches. Big Timber carries bait and tackle for fishing in all waters from freshwater to the bays to offshore.

Anglers were scarce, and Lou from <b>Sportsman’s Outpost</b> in Williamstown. Maybe the storm was the cause, or maybe this was an in-between season, when kids return to school, and fall fishing is yet to kick in, and many customers are hunting. But the reasons couldn’t be known. Lots waited for the fall migration of striped bass along the coast. Still, anglers will look forward to the fall trout stocking, and <a href="http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/flstk.htm" target="_blank">click here</a> for the schedule. Previously customers landed crappies and yellow perch at the different lakes. Some nabbed crappies and one or two largemouth bass at the DOD Ponds Wildlife Management Area in Salem County off Route 130, Lou said in last week’s report.

Fishing for largemouth bass became a hair better, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Many anglers drop-shotted the fish, and catches on Rat-L-Traps somewhat picked up. The angling had begun to improve after the heat of summer first let up. But the heat returned, and the fishing dropped off, though now catches became a shade better in somewhat cooler weather. Union Lake’s fishing became good for largemouth and smallmouth bass out of the blue this weekend. Sizeable chain pickerel also chomped at Union. A few anglers began to talk about smallmouth bass catches gaining steam at Lake Audrey, and early mornings seemed best. White perch fishing remained solid on the brackish rivers, especially on the Cohansey. Fall trout stockings are slated for local waters during the second week of October.

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