<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Adirondacks</b>

Ice was yet to cover Lake George, but never does until January 15 to 20, said Jeff from <b>FISH307.com</b> in the village of Lake George. But the surrounding smaller lakes and south bay on Lake Champlain held 6 to 10 inches of fishable ice. Lakes that were ice-fished included Great Sacandaga Lake, Saratoga Lake, Eagle Lake, Glen Lake, Trout Lake and Piseco Lake. Yellow perch, northern pike, rainbow trout, brown trout and a few landlocked salmon were pulled in. Customers as usual mostly fished with tip ups and emerald shiners, suckers and fathead minnows, and all these baits and more are stocked. The big snowfall in the Northeast last week fell farther south but not in the Adirondacks. Snow of course is on the ground locally, but is no deeper than usual, no problem. The weather warmed everywhere last week but became seasonable this week. Lake George was 25 degrees at mid day and 17 degrees at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

<b>Salmon River</b>

Trips fished the river all weekend with <b>Salmon River Guide</b> from Pulaski, still beating excellent catches of steelheads, Capt. Shane Thomas said. Anglers aboard – his trips almost always fish from a drift boat – also landed a few brown and rainbow trout. His trips mostly fished mid river, but many anglers fished the upper river, and from what Shane heard, steelheads swam the entire length of the Salmon, running at 500 CFS, the same as last week. Eggs, beads and pink worms all caught. Only a few anglers fished the river during the weekend, probably because of New Year’s on Saturday, so angling pressure was light. Winter is the time to chase the steelheads, fish that stay in the waters all winter, spawn there in spring then drop back down to Lake Ontario for summer.

Anglers kept catching steelheads on the river, running at 500 CFS, said Ben from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. They also banked quite a few brown trout, and he heard about no rainbow trout taken. The river was somewhat slushier than recently, but wasn’t terribly slushy. Anglers mostly hit the upper river to avoid slush, but they also fished the lower. Beads were popular to fish, and fly anglers cast lots of flesh-colored flies and stoneflies. Customers also ice fished, including at Sandy Pond, rounding up lots of yellow perch, and plenty of bluegills at certain locations. Ben was limiting out on perch in 1 ½ hours of fishing. Some of the ice was lost because of the warm spell recently, but the weather was returning to seasonably colder.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

The snowstorm last week then the runoff from melting snow, from the warm spell that followed, put a damper on ice-fishing participation, said Don from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Ledgewood. But many customers planned to return to ice angling today, expecting the return to colder weather this week to make prospects better. Plenty of ice remained fishable on the lakes, but slush on top from the storm then melting snow had made the fishing sloppy. The report from the shop last week talked about customers making catches, mostly white and yellow perch, from the ice at Budd Lake, frozen all the way across, and Lake Hopatcong, fishable from ice in the coves but not on the main lake. A couple of customers talked about banking trout on the Pequest River. The angling sounded slow in the winter conditions, but still seemed to produce a few hook ups. One of the crew from the shop, a trout guide, fished the Pequest with a client. He fishes stretches that most do not, and the client only reeled in five trout, but at least caught some.

Ice anglers fished the lake at Woodport, Great Cove, Nolan’s Point, the state park and River Styx, finding probably 5 to 7 inches, said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rental</b> in Lake Hopatcong. Great Cove in front of the shop turned up healthy catches of yellow perch during the weekend, mostly on jigs with spikes or wax worms. Unfishable skim ice covered the main lake, because of strong winds. Nights are supposed to be cold, so Laurie hopes the fishable ice will hold on. Marie Archambault fished at Woodport, coming in with a 14-ounce yellow perch, a 3-pound chain pickerel and a 1-pound 3-ounce largemouth bass that all grabbed shiners on tip ups. Reports also rolled in about crappies sometimes claimed at Woodport. Frank Mrozek tugged a 6-1/2-pound walleye through a hole off the state park while fishing with a shiner on a tip up. The Knee Deep Club’s first ice-fishing tournament this season is set for Sunday, January 23, and anglers can call the shop for info and to confirm that fishable ice will allow the contest to take place: 973-663-3826. The store is open 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day for ice fishing, fully stocked with ice bait and tackle.

Though the weather warmed a moment, anglers found plenty of ice to fish, including at Budd Lake and Lake Hopatcong, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Like in all fishing, some days seemed better than others. None of the ice was too thick yet, maybe up to 6 inches. Would’ve been nice to have 8 inches to be more confident about fishable ice while enjoying temps reaching 50 degrees that allowed less clothing. Most anglers talked about catching perch, and only a little was heard about crappie catches, and not much was heard about walleyes or other fish. White and yellow perch mostly came from Budd Lake, and yellow perch seemed the main catch at Hopatcong.  One angler reported lifting a walleye through the ice at Monksville Reservoir, but fishing there sounded a bit slow. Most anglers jigged for fish through the ice, including with small Rapala lures, Kastmasters and Swedish Pimples. Though the shop doesn’t carry mousies, it stocks meal worms, garden worms and the full array of artificials, including all those jigs and more. The Rapala sizes that were popular included size 5 for panfish and 9 for walleyes. Kastmasters in 1/8 and 1/12 ounces were popular in colors including silver, silver with blue and bronze. The store also carries the full line of Gulps like green and white maggots and 1-inch minnows in natural and chartreuse. Anglers usually use the minnows for trout fishing, but the bait could probably work through the ice. All the ice-fishing tackle is stocked. The snowstorm last week hammered the local area with 21 to 25 inches, but areas around the ice-fishing lakes farther north only got maybe 6 inches, and anglers said most of that snow disappeared in the warmer weather that followed.  A few customers trout fished on the streams, and one reported scoring well on the Big Flatbrook, and said no other anglers were seen on the waters. He fished with salted minnows with just enough weight to drift the bait along the bottom in the current, saying everyone else usually uses worms.

Many anglers stopped in for ice-fishing tackle, said Pat from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. No results were heard about ice catches, but Pete Simon checked in a 4-pound 4-ounce rainbow trout he netted at the Pequest River. Catch the shop’s 20-percent sale on all fly-tying supplies.

<b>South Jersey</b>

The Trenton power plant on the Delaware River was turned off, not pumping out warm waters, but good catches of smallmouth bass and walleyes were socked there, said Sean from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville. At the lakes ice covered many of the waters, but none was thick enough to fish. Some of the ice had been fishable until the recent warm spell. But the weather should turn cold enough to make ice angling possible within the next couple of weeks.

The lakes were frozen, but not enough to fish, so nobody really wet a line, said Jeff from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Anglers might be able to locate open waters to fish at the spillways here or there. Anglers stopping by to pick up fishing licenses for the new year was about the only action.

Back to Top