<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

The river dropped to 1,800 CFS, after roaring at 4,000 CFS during the weekend, but trips still drift-boated good steelheading during the weekend with <b>Salmon River Guide</b> from Pulaski, Capt. Shane Thomas said. Lots of drop-backs, steelheads that spawned in the river and were headed back to Lake Ontario, crammed the river. “Pretty crazy, really,” Shane said. His anglers smoked the catches on trout beads and egg sacks under floats. Some drift-boaters back-trolled plugs for the fights. The hatchery will probably release its steelheads within a week, and that can add to the catches, but with the abundant drop-backs already swimming the river, the release probably won’t impact the fishing much. The weather was windy for fishing on Lake Ontario but was supposed to calm this week, and plenty of brown trout filled the shallows near shore. They like stirred up waters from weather, so they should be active. Once steelheads all return to the lake for the season, Shane will fish for walleyes and sometimes for the browns. He’ll already mix in brown trout fishing in the next weeks.

The river had been exceptionally high but now lowered to 1,800 CFS, and that was “do-able,” said Ben from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. Plenty of steelheads were netted from shore and drift boats, and the fish pretty much swam throughout the river. Drift-boat guides seemed to fare equally, no matter whether they put in on the upper or lower river. Mostly trout beads and egg sacks were fished, and fly anglers especially used egg patterns. The weather was windy for fishing Lake Ontario, but when anglers fished the lake, they belted brown trout in the shallows. Boaters drilled them, but so did shore anglers. Most boaters fished from Mexico Point. Lake trout and Atlantics were also heard about from the lake.

<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

The Delaware River ran high and muddy in the past days because of rough weather, but good catches of striped bass were pulled from the waters, said Bill from <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Philadelphia on his Facebook page and in the report on the shop’s Web site. The river around the Burlington Bristol Bridge was one of the best spots for shore anglers in the last week. But catches were made at usual spots on the river like at Linden, Princeton and Station avenues in Philly and near the Philly airport. Big perch were also claimed at the airport, though small perch had to be culled through. The stripers from the river were often small, but large ones to 30 pounds were sometimes clobbered. “I can keep telling you the same story over and over,” Bill said. “But to keep it simple, the river is hot.” Many of the catches were hooked on bloodworms in the Philly area. But when anglers could fish with herring, that worked. Livelined herring worked best farther up the river at Trenton. The fish there measured up to 40 inches, and most were 20 to 30 inches. But high waters at Trenton were a mess in the last days, several anglers said. The river there was muddy and high, and trees floated downstream. Anglers expected better conditions by the weekend. Herring were nabbed from the river, and herring catches really picked up at Trenton last week, and boaters limited out, and shore anglers averaged 3 to 8 of the baitfish in a couple of hours. Shad fishing was super on the upper river, and the fish reached the Delaware Water Gap. Trenton to Upper Black Eddy was the best stretch last week, and some guides ran trips that landed 20 to 40 shad. They said spoons caught most, either when fished plain or with a twister tail. Trout fishing was the next best option for anglers in Pennsylvania. Pennypack Creek, Levittown Lake, and the Delaware Canal were some of the top trout locales anglers talked about. Lake Luxembourg at Core Creek Park turned out no big numbers of trout but good catches of three to five fish per angler. Crappies, bluegills and perch also served up action there.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Most trout streams ran high because of rainstorms, but the fish were still caught, said Greg from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Ledgewood. Trouters fished with nymphs or worms, and had to sink the hooks to the bottom of the streams. But the new Fish Creek Spinners stocked at the shop were popular. Not much was heard about success on Power Baits. Greg fished on Lake Hopatcong, reeling up yellow perch, crappies, small largemouth bass and chain pickerel here and there, on small Rapala lures. Waters were cold all around for largemouth bass fishing. The bigmouth angling seemed hit or miss, because Greg heard about tournaments on Hopatcong that produced results ranging from a five-fish weight of only 6 pounds winning to a total of 15 pounds winning. One of the crew from the shop whacked good angling for steelheads on upstate New York’s Salmon River. Reports started to come in about anglers landing striped bass along the coast, like from Raritan Bay.

“The weather is not cooperating,” said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong, but the lake was full of plenty of water for fishing. Trout were trolled on Phoebes, small Rapalas and spinners. “Stick to the shallower water for best results,” she said. Frank Barbire trolled a 3-pound 7-ounce brown trout at Great Cove. Walleyes began to bite off Brady Bridge, and walleye season will open May 1. Tyler Lambert trolled a 9-pound 8-ounce hybrid striped bass off Brady Bridge. Pete Cusick checked in a 1-pound 12-ounce crappie clocked of Woodport. Live herring are stocked.

Trout streams probably ran high from rains, because the Passaic River was raging, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. But trouting was excellent at Dahnerts Pond on Power Bait Nuggets and fathead minnows and Barber Pond on the same baits plus spinners. He heard about no huge trout but good catches. Trout fishing sounded slow on the Ramapo and Wanaque rivers. A few of the fish were still lifted from there, but not catches like on the two ponds. The Big Flatbrook reportedly fished well for trout before the high waters, and many anglers said meal worms scored there. In general, Power Bait Nuggets and Paste and butter worms seemed hot tickets for trout, because they were top sellers. Little was heard about largemouth bass fishing, because lakes were cold. The bass “weren’t even thinking about (spawning),” Nick said, because of the cold. The Passaic River, again, was high, so northern pike fishing was out on the river, though the water wolves were beaten when the river ran lower. Striped bass were yet to be reported caught from the river this season, apparently because waters were cold.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Stormy, rough weather made fishing a little slow, said Burt from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. Trout streams flowed high for fishing, and a customer said the South Branch of the Raritan River flowed fiercely over the dam at Clinton early this week. But Burt was on the South Branch on Friday, seeing probably eight trout banked, including one large one, and a hatch of probably Hendricksons at 3 p.m. Some dry fly activity seemed around. Still, most fly anglers bought nymphs for trout at this time of year. Bait anglers bought meal worms, butter worms, garden worms, Power Bait and salmon eggs for trout. Dennis Mulligan weighed in a 6-pound 8-ounce rainbow trout from the Big Flatbrook on Saturday that gulped a salmon egg.

Trout were stocked on the Toms and Metedeconk rivers this week, and the waters ran a little dirty, but not terrible, and a few of the fish were creeled, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. More of the trout grabbed bait than spinners in cold waters. But Dennis picked up two trout on spinners on a trip. Though stream conditions weren’t impossible, the weather wasn’t easy on trouting this season. Largemouth bass were nipped on live bait on all the ponds, even if nobody whaled them. Fishing for chain pickerel and crappies, cold-water fish, was a bit better than largemouth angling. Yellow perch were swung in from Forge Pond, mostly on worms, and some days were better than others.

The Delaware River would probably become fishable by this evening, after high waters from rains, said Chris from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville. Striped bass fishing was super on the river, “unbelievable,” he said, before the weather, but got put down once the waters came up. Some anglers were headed to try the fishing Tuesday evening, but chances of good angling seemed questionable. Herring were caught on the river that day, though, and herring were around lately. Customers, when the river was fishable previously, mostly hooked the bass on chunked herring. Shad were around on the river, but little was heard about shad. Storms and winds kept anglers from fishing the lakes, but lake fishing must’ve been productive by this time of year. Largemouth bass were probably getting ready to settle on the spawning beds in the lakes, and shiners or any jerk baits are the choice to hang the fish around that time. Trout fishing was mostly blown out from the weather since trout season opened two Saturdays ago. But some talked about scoring well on trout since then. Colonial Lake and the Delaware and Raritan Canal were some of the waters customers trout-fished since the opening. Some of the latest gear to be stocked at the shop includes Red Gill Lures and Aquaskinz clothing. Check it out.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Striped bass got shellacked on the Delaware River, said Rick from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b> in Brooklawn. The storm Saturday kept anglers at bay, but the bass were waxed again Sunday. Places to catch included National Park, West Deptford, the mouth of the Schuylkill River, the DOD and the flats toward the Commodore Barry Bridge. Anglers fishing from the banks mostly connected with bloodworms. But boaters on the river clammed the fish. Largemouth bass fishing served up pretty good catches at waters including Sunset Lake and Rainbow Lake in Bridgeton, the private Bells Lake in Turnersville, and Newton Lake and the Cooper River in Camden County. Small jigs and drop shots mostly worked. Trout fishing was slow, for whatever reasons. Cormorants actually ate lots of the trout. But customers fished for trout at spots including Haddon Lake, Greenwich Lake and Mullica Hill Pond. All the baits including bloodworms, trout worms and nightcrawlers are stocked. Big Timber carries bait and tackle for fishing on all waters from lakes to bays to offshore.

Like usual, trout anglers who knew what they were doing beat quite a few of the fish, said Ed from <b>Creek Keepers Bait & Tackle</b> in Blackwood. Rich Daisy, experienced at the fishing, put up quite a few trout at Oak Pond on meal worms. Veteran trouters scored about the same on Rowan’s Pond in Clementon. Ed’s son turned up a few trout at Mullica Hill Pond on Saturday, and the son’s friend limited out on the fish a the pond that day. Ed didn’t ask what his son fished with, but the son usually tosses meal worms, wax worms and Power Bait. All those and the full array of trout supplies are stocked. Not a lot was heard about trout success at Grenloch Lake. Trout were the target for customers, and nobody talked about fishing for largemouth bass or other fish, really. Catch the shop’s <a href=" http://www.creekkeepers.com" target="_blank">15th Annual Catfish Tournament</a> on Saturday, May 14.

Anglers on the Delaware River banked good catches of striped bass starting again Sunday, after the rains Saturday and flooding that followed, believe it or not, said Wade from <b>Shag’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Pennsville. One angler said grass was heavy, but the fish were caught through the debris, biting aggressively. Sandworms and bloodworms were the baits, and sands worked a little better. Both are stocked, and sands are currently at a special price, because they live a limited time, and plenty were left at the store after fewer anglers showed up this weekend in the weather. Fresh bunker usually arrives every day or two at the shop. Anglers pumped in the bass at usual places customers fish, like on the Delaware from the Salem River to the DOD. Striper fishing was mostly what customers talked about, taking advantage of the angling while it lasts.

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