<b>North Jersey</b>

Four walleyes to 3 pounds were plugged on one of the overnight trips for the fish this past week with <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> from Montvale, on Greenwood Lake, Capt. Dave Vollenweider said. A few smallmouth bass were also landed and released, and the walleyes bit as soon as the trip reached the fishing grounds, after the boat was launched at 10 p.m. Bait was immediately heard splashing in the dark, and walleyes were heard crashing the forage, and the marble eyes smacked a Reef Runner lure shaped like a banana bait, wobbling when reeled in. A Rapala lure was also fished, but the Reef Runner drew all the strikes. The bite lasted until maybe 12 midnight, then entirely shut off. The trips haunt the night hours to find the bite that will only last a certain time. On this trip, the moon hung in the sky when the walleyes fed, and the fish disappeared when the moon did. That might be opposite of usual, and walleyes are light sensitive, sometimes avoiding the light of the moon. The trips fish in the middle of the night because walleyes then move into the shallows to crash bait, and can be plugged then. But the outings also fish at night because of daytime boat traffic on multi-use lakes like Greenwood. Sometimes the waters only calm long after watercrafts like jet skis are gone, like maybe at 1 a.m. If anglers are serious about catching in summer on lakes like this, they must fish the “non-human hours,” Dave said. Then the lake takes on an entirely different character. The overnight trips are an experience. Good sport. Greenwood was brown and not good-looking. The surface was 79 degrees, getting warm. Dave fished solo for muskies last week on Echo Lake, seeing none of the fish, and waters were 85 degrees. Might be time to start fishing deep to find the thermocline. Look for Dave’s photo on the cover of The Fisherman magazine in the July 30 issue for a story he’s featured in about musky fishing. Dave was considering fishing at Lake Hopatcong at night this week, after he gave this report over the phone, because he heard about walleyes and hybrid stripers that bit there in the dark. He also took a trip on Round Valley Reservoir at night this past week with a friend’s uncle who invited him. They crushed 30 rainbow trout mostly 15 to 20 inches, mostly releasing the fish, but Dave kept a limit of two, according to Round Valley’s regulations. Dave normally fishes with lures, but the uncle showed him how the trout jumped all over Power Bait and meal worms while the trip chummed with corn under a light, over 40-foot depths. Dave tied on a lure and tried jigging, but the trout, beautiful, silvery fish, looking similar to steelheads, mostly big, only grabbed bait. Tiny minnows could be seen schooling under the light, and one of the trout could be seen darting through them once in a while. Though the trout acted like stocked fish, only gobbling bait, their flesh was orange like wild trout, Dave saw when he cleaned them. Round Valley, one of the state’s trophy trout fisheries, is a deep impoundment – as deep as 190 feet, Dave thought – with crystal clear, blue waters, covering even farms that existed before the lake was created. Dave soon was going to travel to Sweden, and booked a guide to fish for northern pike and zanders, similar to walleyes, in brackish waters among thousands of islands in the fjords in the Baltic Sea. 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.

The heat was an issue in the past days, said Don from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Ledgewood. Not many headed out in the warmth. But Greg from the shop on Monday kayaked a dozen smallmouth bass, none big, at Split Rock Reservoir in the early morning. Don was unsure what he fished with, but Greg usually tosses Husky Jerks and Keitechs. By 10 a.m., in building heat and also winds, the fishing seemed to shut off. Smallmouth fishing can come on along the Delaware River this time of year, and the river ran high in recent weeks, making the fishing difficult. Don saw the river a few times in the past week, the last times on Saturday and Thursday, and the waters were a little high, not muddy, but a “tea color,” Don said. Improving, but not clear. One kid picked up garden worms for bait, saying he’d been catching panfish at a lake in Randolph. Many customers stopped by for tackle for fluke fishing at the shore.

Hybrid striped bass, lots of them, averaging 3 to 5 pounds, were tackled on the lake, said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. They were nailed on livelined herring, and bigger hybrids were weighed in. They included Gary Bruzaud’s 9-pound 3-ouncer and Alain Simoes’ and Tara Harriett’s 8-pound 4-ouncer, 8-pound 2-ouncer and 7-pound 8-ouncer. Walleyes were beaten at night on the lake. Paul Grel top-water plugged walleyes to 8 pounds 11 ounces at night. Roman Pera at night put up several walleyes to 7 pounds. Piotr Ploucha hung a 4-pound 11-ounce largemouth bass on a herring livelined near Raccoon Island. Panfish could be played in the shallower waters on worms under a bobber or small rubber jigs.

Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield’s club won a largemouth bass tournament at Greenwood Lake during the weekend, he said. But the tournament’s anglers worked hard to catch, struggled. Nick managed four of the bass, working for them, finally locating the catches down 20 feet in deep waters off points. He cast 4-inch Keitech Swing Impacts on 3/16-ounce Mega Strike jigs toward the points, pulling them back into the deep. He must’ve cast to 100 docks with no success. Deeper seemed the trick. The waters looked terrible – pea-soup green – for unknown reasons. Plenty of rains would’ve seemed to fall this season to keep the waters from looking that way. No weeds really covered the lake. A friend landed largemouths at Pompton Lake on Senkos in the evening. Loads of trout were socked on the Wanaque River, and butter worms, though difficult to find this time of year, walloped them. Butters ran out at the shop. An occasional northern pike could be wrestled on the Passaic River on large shiners. The fishing wasn’t slamming like in June, but produced a few. 

<b>Central Jersey</b>

The weather was hot, and nothing was heard about smallmouth bass fishing on the Raritan River, said Pat from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. But now is the time of year for the angling, and catches should be great as temperatures drop this weekend like forecasted. The cooler nights should help oxygenate the waters. Nothing specific was heard about largemouth bass fishing, but customers bought rubber frogs more than usual for largemouthing. Hardly anyone fishes for trout on the streams this time of year, and many anglers discourage landing the fish in the heat, because the trout can die. Many anglers at the shop were interested in fluke fishing, like on the Raritan Bay party boats, saying the fishing was going well. Rigs with a jig on the bottom and a teaser tied above with a Gulp were popular for fluking.

A few anglers fished on Lake Riviera, reeling in a token largemouth bass and some crappies, chain pickerel and bluegills, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. No great catches of any of the species happened, but anglers caught. One angler bought killies to kayak for pickerel at Lake Horicon, a good pickerel lake. A few panfish and largemouths, not many, swam the lake. Kids banked loads of bluegills at the Ocean County College pond. A few carp milled around the pond, and lots of carp roamed the Toms River at Trilco, the building supply that closed down, near the Parkway. Pickerel definitely held in the Toms at Trilco, a given. Many customers concentrated on other action, like fluke fishing and crabbing, having lots of choices like that. So the shop will stop carrying shiners for freshwater for the moment, because of lack of demand. But other baits like nightcrawlers are on hand.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Waters were all muddy from downpours last week, said Eric from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville. Before the rains, a few largemouth bass were plucked from waters like the three lakes at the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. But he drove past Gropp’s Lake in the past days, and the waters looked like mud. Trout anglers on the streams in the northern state liked the high waters from rains. They usually deal with low, warm waters in summer.

Largemouth bass and panfish were a focus for customers, said Dom from <b>Barracuda’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Riverside. But customers also flocked to the shore for summer flounder fishing. Olympia Lakes were mostly fished for the bass and panfish. For the bass this time of year, anglers often work plastics like Senkos, looking for deep holes or shade, because of the heat. The bass practically needed to get beaned in the head with the plastics, because they were reluctant to move. Many anglers will switch to catfishing on the Delaware River in the height of summer. Cats usually stay active no matter the heat. The flounder anglers usually traveled to the bay toward Long Beach Island or Manahawkin. About 10 percent of the fish seemed to be keepers, and pink and green seemed the colors to fish. Gulp swimming mullets in green, like a chartreuse color, were picked up lots at the shop. Finding a good drift of the boat that produced the catches, carefully marking the drift with GPS or landmarks, and repeating the drift was key.    

Big largemouth bass were sometimes clocked at the private Victory Lakes, said Jim from <b>Sportsman’s Outpost</b> in Williamstown. Day passes are available for $5 to fish the catch-and-release lakes, and one customer landed a 6-pound largemouth there on a scum frog. Scum frogs or any rubber frogs were top choices for largemouth fishing at all the lakes. Anglers threw them near the lily pads to get the frogs banged. Iona Lake harbored a healthy population of largemouths, mostly small, but occasional larger ones to 5 pounds. Small bass were knocked down at Scotland Run or Wilson Lake. Lots of kids reeled in crappies from there on meal worms. Wilson’s pickerel fishing slowed a little in the heat.  

Fishing for largemouth bass early and late in the day was the only “safe bet,” said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. That’s because of the heat. Top-water lures worked great then, and rubber frogs and Senkos were choices for the mid-day bassing. Or some tossed Power rubber worms in the middle of the day. Waters everywhere were muddy because of rains last week. But Crystal Sandwash, at South Vineland Park, turned out super fishing for largemouths. Parvin Lake seemed okay for largemouth fishing. Catfish were copped on the Maurice River. In saltwater, the number of keeper summer flounder kept growing a bit on Delaware Bay, so the fishing kept improving, but wasn’t gangbusters, because of abundant throwbacks.

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