<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Adirondacks</b>

The bays were frozen and being fished on Lake George, said Jeff from <b>FISH307.com</b> in the village of Lake George. The ice at Million Dollar Beach in the village was a popular spot. Yellow perch turned up good catches, and quite a few lake trout were axed. For perch, small baits including rosy reds, fathead minnows and small shiners got hits on tip ups, and spikes, mousies or wax worms got attacked on jigs. For lakers, big shiners, live suckers or salted suckers got swiped on tip ups, and jigs like Swedish Pimples or Buck-Shot Rattle Jigs got smacked. The main lake always begins to freeze starting about now, and wasn’t fishable yet, and warm weather with a wintry mix of wet snow and rain came through this week. A friend fell through the ice on the main lake, so stay off. But the weather’s been cold, so the ice is progressing fine for fishing, and the weekend is supposed to be frigid, so the outlook for the coming week looks super. More wet snow and rain is forecast for the moment, and rain would be best, making the snow freeze when the temps plummet. All the other local lakes and ponds were frozen, and ice-fishing was fully under way at all the usual spots. An ice-fishing derby is set for Saturday on Glen Lake, and registration for $15 begins at 6 a.m. at the Docksider Restaurant on the lake. Prizes are awarded to adults for the biggest rainbow trout and pickerel and for youths for the biggest perch and pickerel. Baits at the shop are fully stocked, including three types of shiners, a perch bait mix, live shiners, salted shiners, spikes, mousies, meal worms and nightcrawlers. The shop is loaded.

<b>Salmon River</b>

The river was dropped to 285 CFS from 550 CFS on Saturday, and the weather was very cold, and lots of ice filled the waters, so steelhead fishing was slower than before, said Capt. Shane Thomas from <b>Salmon River Guide</b> in Pulaski. But trips still caught them, landing ten steelheads on Sunday and eight on Monday. That’s not shabby, and, as always, the fish are sizeable and hard fighters. One weighed 13 pounds on Sunday, and most were 7 to 10 pounds. A few 5- or 6-pound brown trout were reeled in each day. Both fish were drift-boated, and bottom-bouncing with egg sacks worked better on Monday’s trip. Bottom-bouncing might’ve begun to be the best way to connect, but the trip Sunday caught equally on floated and bottom-bounced egg sacks. Trips also fished with trout beads sometimes. Trips fished the upper river, because the rest of the river was mostly frozen. The trip on Monday began at 11 a.m., letting waters warm. The previous night dipped to minus 15 degrees. Fishing might stay like this a moment, until the height of winter weather is finished. But winter is the time for the river’s steelheading, and the angling lasts until May, when the fish spawn and return to Lake Ontario. Salmon River Guide usually drift-boats the river. Shane also guides ice-fishing trips, and good catches of northern pike and yellow perch bit through the holes at Sandy Pond, and a few walleyes were rounded up through the hard waters at Lake Oneida. Tip-ups and live bait are usually fished for the picks and perch, and jigging with lures like Swedish Pimples is usually the method for the walleyes.

The cold somewhat slowed the river’s fishing, but steelheads and a few brown trout were angled up, said Dave from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. Mostly egg sacks and stone flies drew strikes, and bouncing them along the bottom scored better than floating them. Anglers fished the pools, and the upper river was best, because of ice downstream. Ice fishing plowed plenty of yellow perch and northern pike on Sandy Pond, especially on Caty jigs. A few walleyes were whacked on Lake Oneida, especially on the new Northland Live Forage Baits. The shop carries the complete array of tackle and bait for fishing the river and ice fishing.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Warmer weather and rains arrived, but anglers ice fished previously, said Don from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Paramus. The weather is going to turn frigid again in the coming days. Customers talked about mostly pulling on panfish through the ice. But sometimes northern pike were punched on Budd Lake. One angler who lives at Landing on Lake Hopatcong saw mostly yellow perch and a few largemouth or smallmouth bass picked up in the area, also saying the ice was 9 inches thick there. Another ice fished at Lake Shawnee in Jefferson, jigging mostly yellow perch but a largemouth and a chain pickerel, too. One customer was headed to the Pequest River to fish for trout, but no results were heard.

“Not much going on over the weekend,” said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong in an e-mail. But plenty of ice covered the lake, and lots of anglers ice fished. Some on Saturday wrangled up decent yellow perch catches and a few pickerel at the cove off the shop. But Sunday’s and Monday’s fishing was slow. “Not much else to report,” she said.

No matter the warmer weather this week, ice fishing should last a while this winter, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Budd Lake served up productive ice-angling for northern pike and yellow perch, and anglers said jigging seemed to catch more than tip-ups did. They jigged lures like Rapalas, or Kastmasters tipped with mousies. No huge pike seemed caught, but maybe 14- to 16-inchers were. Lake Hopatcong ice anglers, mostly nabbing perch and crappies, often fished off the state park 100 or 200 yards. A couple of anglers reported fishing the main lake in the deep, only coming up with a couple of small perch. Not much seemed to bite along the deep. Another angler bailed a load of perch off Bed Bug Island on the lake, but the fish there move around. No guarantee they’ll be there another day. Crappies were copped through the ice at Pompton Lakes along “the river part,” Nick said. Little was heard about Greenwood Lake’s ice fishing, he was surprised to say. But some customers said they fared poorly at Greenwood, but heard about two muskies beaten on tip ups on the New York side. That side is usually a place muskies roam in summer, he said, so he guessed they’d hang there in winter. News about trout fishing on the streams dried up since a few catches were heard about a couple of weeks ago on the Ramapo and Big Flatbrook. The full array of ice-fishing tackle is stocked. The gear flew out the doors this weekend, and might have to be re-stocked soon. But supplies are still on hand.

Ice fishing was reportedly productive in the northern state, but not much was heard about the angling, said Mark from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. Staff member Amy from the shop banked a couple of rainbow trout on the Big Flatbrook, probably on sizes 18 to 20 Zebra midges. Little else was heard about fishing during this height of winter. All the ice fishing gear is stocked, including tip-ups, jigging rods, lures, ice-fishing lines, augers, spare auger blades, auger-blade sharpeners, safety picks, and spikes for shoes. Catch the shop’s annual fly-tying sale through the month. All tying supplies are discounted 20 percent for all customers and 30 percent for Trout Unlimited members.

<b>SOUTH JERSEY</b>

Though rains fell on the ice at the lakes this week, anglers traditionally say a shot of fresh waters through the ice-fishing holes is good for the angling, said Frank from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville. Whether that’s an old wives’ tale is unknown, he said, but the fishing does actually pick up after rains, in his experience. Before the rains, ice fishing was good, especially for chain pickerel, at waters including Prospertown Lake and the lakes at the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. Ice-fishing tackle is stocked, and so are shiners. Mousies for ice fishing were scarce throughout the state, but the shop is expecting mousies to be stocked from Wisconsin in a day or two. On the Delaware River, the Trenton power plant pumped warm waters, after the plant had been turned off. So fishing there perked up for smallmouth bass and catfish, not great catches, but some. The river was still 50 degrees or cold. Shiners grabbed bites from the smallies, and Frank wasn’t asked about baits for catfish, but the usual stink baits or such should work.

The lakes had been frozen enough for ice skaters, though warmer weather and rains surely thinned the frozen waters this week, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Still, nobody mentioned ice fishing, and anglers seemed to lay low, waiting for better weather. The weather was brutally cold before the mild temps this week, and is supposed to become even colder this weekend. If anglers don’t want to ice fish, or if the ice is too thin for fishing, they could try fishing at the open waters at the spillways, maybe for panfish or pickerel. Steve in a previous report said live bait like minnows or artificials like small jigs might be choices.

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