<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

Winds blew on Lake Ontario during the weekend, while the hurricane passed farther south, affecting king salmon fishing on the waters, messing up the thermocline, said Capt. Shane Thomas from <b>Salmon River Guide</b> from Pulaski. The winds cancelled boating through Sunday, and a trip with Shane returned to the lake Monday. Winds still roughed up waters that morning, but calmed later. Still, the fishing was tough. But the catches will kick back in, and a few waves of kings will yet migrate through the lake. Kings made up most of the catches, but some Coho salmon were around, and a good-sized steelhead, 12 or 15 pounds, was boated with Shane the other day. Kings began to migrate into the lower end of the Salmon River. But the river ran at only 185 CFS, very low. The waters this week were probably going to be raised to 335 CFS, and that’s still low, but typical for the time of year. So Shane will keep fishing the lake for kings some more weeks, before moving to the river for the season for salmon fishing. On the lake, his trips trolled the kings on things like flasher/fly combos or dodgers with attractor flies.

Most fishing remained on Lake Ontario than on the Salmon River, said Ben from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. Mostly king salmon were boated on the lake, though the fishing was slow in recent days, and strong winds seemed to move the fish out. But boaters were now returning to the waters in calmer weather. A few kings began to be banked on the river, mostly on the lower river, but some of the fish pushed upstream a bit. Ben looked for the salmon on the river on a trip, hiking lots of grounds, but saw none. A few anglers were finding the fish on the river. The river ran at 185 CFS and might be increased to 335 this weekend.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

The lakes were flooded because of the hurricane, said Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> from Montvale. He had just driven around Greenwood Lake when he gave this report over the phone from the lake Wednesday, and waters were high. He heard from someone that Echo Lake had been severely flooded, but Dave also stopped by Echo on Wednesday, and the lake now looked fishable, so he was probably going to fish there during the next days for muskies. Fishing had been a washout from the floods until now. Waters like Round Valley Reservoir were reportedly closed because of the conditions. Dave fished for muskies a couple of times last week, and a big musky came in on a Musky Innovations Twin Fin lure without biting on one of the outings. In fishing for muskies, the fish of 10,000 casts, a follow is half the success. Catching one is never a guarantee, and anglers hunt the fish, because a musky can be the biggest catch an angler ever scored. Dave has had luck on muskies already this season, covered in previous reports. A trip aboard with Gerald Aptacker and wife last Wednesday landed a few smallmouth bass, small ones, and some panfish like sunnies. 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.

High waters from the storm washed out fishing, said Chris from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Nothing really happened yet to report.

Everyone since the storm “was just bailing out,” said Amy from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook.

Waters were all fishable, and the area was fine after the storm, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. No damage. But customers were yet to fish after the weather. Previously they caught everything from chain pickerel on the Toms River to bluegills at the Ocean County College pond to a mix of largemouth bass, picks, panfish and catfish at Lake Riviera. Angling covered in previous reports will likely continue when anglers get back on the waters.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Waters were flooded before the storm, so most were now impossible to fish, said Eric from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville. However, some of the smaller waters, like irrigation ponds, were fishable, and anglers took shiners to fish them for catches like largemouth bass. At the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area, Lake Assunpink was unfishable, washed out, but Stone Tavern Lake and Rising Sun Lake, spring-fed waters less affected by run-off, were muddy or off-color, but fishable. The Delaware River ran at way over flood stage. “You want to catch some trees?” Eric joked. “Anything works. Anything with a hook!” Catch this: ***Win a free Penn shirt and hat and a 300-yard spool of Berkeley XL or XT line 2 to 20 pounds***. Simply visit Harry’s Facebook page, like the page, and post on the page: “Fishing Reports Now contest. I am in.” The prize will be drawn after two weeks.

Customers began returning to the shop Wednesday after the storm, said Jim from <b>Sportsman’s Outpost</b> in Williamstown. But none had yet reported fishing. Waters were blown out from the weather, conditions like the flood gates having to be opened at Union Lake, because there was concern the dam would give in.

“It’s been horrible,” said Vince at <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. The lakes were high because of the hurricane, so nobody really fished. “And which dam blew out, which water’s running over the road,” he said. No news was available about catches.

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