<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

Plenty of steelheads swam the river, said Eric from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. No one stretch, like the upper, middle or lower  river, seemed to hold more than another. The fish seemed spread throughout the river, running low at 335 CFS. Brown trout also bit, and no salmon really remained in the waters. The steelheads were swiped on trout beads and egg sacks.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Crappies were slammed on four trips to Greenwood Lake Thursday to Saturday with <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> from Montvale, Capt. Dave Vollenweider said. The fish were mugged down 25 to 30 feet on drop-shotted fathead minnows. Dave prefers fishing with lures or other artificials, but when waters cool, bait becomes best. A walleye was whacked on one of the fatheads in the same depths on a trip Saturday. Winds gusted to 30 or 40 that day, but crappies still pounded the baits. A musky grabbed one of the crappies that Paul Schmidt, a tournament largemouth bass angler, reeled aboard. The big fish broke off the light line, and that was not the first time a musky grabbed one of the crappies on Live to Fish’s recent crappie trips, covered previously in this report. Both walleyes and muskies were around, in addition to the crappies. Dave saw a photo of 7-1/2- and 8-pound walleyes from Greenwood that were apparently jigged. Greenwood was 52 degrees, and the lake had now turned over. So waters had become a uniform temperature from top to bottom, and while in summer no fish hugged bottom because of lack of oxygen, the bottom now offered oxygen that fish could hold in. Live to Fish will keep sailing until the weather becomes rough as winter approaches. Waters at Greenwood began to be gradually lowered 5 feet so people could work on docks, and that will probably prevent boat launching soon. So Live to Fish will likely no longer fish there while the waters are lowered. Dave will begin to check out fishing on Monksville Reservoir and Lake Hopatcong. Monksville will surely hold enough waters, because the reservoir is downstream from Greenwood. A friend’s been trolling good catches of smallmouths at Monksville down deep. The depths become a place to catch different fish in cooler weather. But shallows then can also harbor fish like muskies. 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.

Trout anglers banked good catches on the Pequest River, often on zebra midges or egg flies, said Kevin from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Ledgewood. Waters were high and “moving,” he said, almost spring-like conditions, but that could bode well for an awesome winter fishery. Nothing was heard from the Delaware River, and the season was tough on the river, raising the waters, making them unfishable much of the time. A few yellow perch and some crappies were angled on the smaller lakes on suspending baits like Husky Jerks that worked well. Smallmouth bass hit at Split Rock Reservoir on livelined herring or shiners.

Trouters hooked fish on the Ramapo River, mostly on salmon eggs, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Some targeted trout on the Pequest River, using power baits and trout worms. Fishing spinners and lures was difficult because of leaves in the waters. Barbour’s Pond will be stocked with trout on Tuesday. A few anglers fished the Passaic River, buying shiners for bait, but no results were heard. Previously catches of northern pike and smallmouth bass were reported from the river. Customers traveled to Catskill Creek, a tributary of the Hudson River that drains the Catskill Mountains, landing mostly smallmouth bass but sometimes largemouth bass. Some fished live bait, and others worked drop-shots like small Keitechs. The anglers said the creek was relatively warm, in the 40s, so the smallies were yet to stack up. Nick fought small largemouth bass on Dahnert’s Lake on small, 3-inch Keitechs. Tons of leaves littered the surface. A friend smoked walleyes, lots, on Greenwood Lake on jigs. Nothing was heard about Lake Hopatcong.  

“Finally, a decent report from Spruce!” Jody from <b>Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop</b> wrote in an e-mail. Anglers on a trip at Spruce Run Reservoir whaled 11 hybrid striped bass to 8 pounds, mostly 3 ½ to 4 pounds, and two sizeable smallmouth bass 2 ½ pounds. “They put their time in, fishing the whole day,” Jody said. Round Valley Reservoir turned out good catches of rainbow trout and some chain pickerel for anglers fishing from shore. The trout were clubbed on Power Bait and meal worms, and the pickerel were punched on shiners. Largemouth bass were landed from shore at the swimming area. A 3-pound smallmouth bass was socked on the South Branch of the Raritan River on a shiner.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Rainbow and brown trout bit at Round Valley Reservoir for Braden at <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook, he said. He fished from shore, grabbing the bites at sunrise and sunset on shiners, and had to fish with light leaders. Small Yozuri minnows also hooked up for other anglers. A few customers nailed walleyes at Lake Hopatcong off the points on jigs or live bait. How were the trout streams flowing? Braden was asked. He saw the Paulinskill River on Tuesday, he answered. The flow looked perfect for the time of year, easily fishable, but not too clear and low, and leaves that were previously difficult for fishing were clearing off well from the river. A few trout catches were heard about from the North Branch of the Raritan River, mostly on spinners, especially silver-bladed Roostertails, and Rapala lures.

Jeff from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River angled a few white perch on the Toms River at Trilco on nightcrawlers, he said. Trilco is a building supply that closed down near the Parkway, and no sign identifies the building, but locals know the stretch of river by the name Trilco. He also beat two chain pickerel on Mepps spinners on the trip. At the Winding River Jeff reeled in a couple of pickerel on killies, two small largemouth bass on shiners and some yellow perch on worms. Anglers who fished Lake Riviera banked pickerel and largemouth bass on shiners and sunnies on worms. Nothing was heard about trout, and nobody talked about the reservoirs.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Fishing picked up from the recent warm spell, maybe a final shot of great action before cold weather, said Chris from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville. Good catches of smallmouth bass were picked from the Delaware River upstream from Scudders Falls. Largemouth bass fishing was hopping at the lakes. Muskies followed lures at Lake Mercer. Trout fishing was reportedly spectacular at the northern state’s streams.

The lakes and ponds fished well for largemouth bass on shiners, said Steve from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown.  Catches of them and other fish were especially happening at the waters at the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area, since the fish from Prospertown Lake were transferred to Colliers when Prospertown’s dam failed earlier this year. A 14-pounder was supposedly the biggest largemouth transferred, and was yet to be caught, apparently. Trout fishing doled out healthy catches from “a little of everywhere,” Steve said. The catches seemed “pretty well spread out,” he said. Customers mostly headed to fly-fishing stretches, casting bead-headed nymphs, scuds and Wooly Buggers. Those were the best sellers, and waters fished included Ken Lockwood Gorge, the Pequest River and the conservation stretch on the Musconetcong River. Nobody mentioned fishing the Delaware River, and the flow seemed normal, but that could change overnight, like from rains from the cold front currently forecasted. Steve this season fished upstate New York’s Salmon River on five trips, and the fishing was great. He returned from the last trip last Wednesday, landing steelheads and a few large brown trout 7, 8 or 9 pounds. He landed five fish the first day on flies. On the next day, he switched to egg sacks, doubling his catches, because that allowed him to cover more waters, reaching more eddies where two seams converged, where the fish held.

Solid catches of trout were sometimes heard about from Iona Lake, said Jim from <b>Sportsman’s Outpost</b> in Williamstown. Chain pickerel and yellow perch were wormed at Wilson Lake. Not a lot was heard about freshwater fishing, but that news came in.

Few fished, except in saltwater, but chain pickerel should be active, liking cooler waters, said Jeff from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Nobody even mentioned fishing for trout that were stocked this season. None talked about fishing on Union Lake or any lakes. In saltwater, good catches of striped bass seemed to be boated at the Cape May Rips.

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