<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

Trips boated Lake Ontario every day, walloping king salmon, said Capt. Shane Thomas from <b>Salmon River Guide</b> from Pulaski. “It’s been really, really good,” he said. The fishing was “silly.” Trips would head out, catch, return. Then the second trip of the day would repeat. The lake’s whole population of the fish was now staged in the lake off the Salmon River, about to push up the rivers to spawn. On the lake, trips aboard trolled the kings, 15- to 25-pounders, and the 25-pounders were the occasional bigger ones, and a few Coho salmon, in 80- to 100-foot depths, on things like flasher/fly combos or dodgers with attractor flies, on downriggers and Dipsy Divers. More salmon than before began to swim up the Salmon River, running at 335 CFS. Salmon River Guide will probably fish for them on the lake another couple of weeks, before concentrating on the river.

A few salmon, mostly kings, a few Cohos, and occasional steelheads began trickling up the Salmon River, running at 335 CFS, said Ben from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. But few of any of the fish swam the river yet. Lots of kings flooded Lake Ontario, giving up catches in 80- to 130-foot depths on the troll. Sometimes Coho salmon, brown trout and steelheads were landed on the lake.    

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Capt. Dave Vollenweider, from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> from Montvale, took at shot at overnight walleye fishing Friday to Saturday on Greenwood Lake, he said. He also fished for muskies Wednesday at Echo Lake during the daytime. Trips with Live to Fish have mostly been musky fishing, but Dave had been meaning to try walleye fishing at night. On the overnight trip for them, he fished later in the season than he usually does, and bagged a 4-pounder and snagged another. Maybe the snagged fish swiped at Dave’s lure and got hooked in the body. The fish was healthy and released, and Dave kept the 4-pounder, because walleyes are delicious. So fishing was tough that night, for whatever reason, but those two walleyes let Dave know the fish swam the shallows, where overnight trips plug for them. Walleyes on this September trip weren’t as active as in May and June, when Dave usually runs overnight trips for them, and bait wasn’t as abundant, but some areas held the fish and bait. Because signs were good, he’ll keep going after walleyes. On the musky trip at Echo Lake, a catch was missed when a musky lunged at Dave’s lure during a figure-eight off the boat ramp. Sometimes when a musky follows a lure, the fish will attack if the plug is swum quickly in a figure-eight when reaching the boat. Actually, the musky followed Dave’s Fishtech spinner but refused to attack. He left the area 15 or 20 minutes, returned, swam a Custom Canadian bucktail, and the fish hit but was lost. In musky fishing, if one of the fish is seen but refuses a lure, leaving the area and returning later to try for the fish is a good idea. Leaving and returning during different conditions, like at night or during a change in weather, can work. Sometimes the fish seem to be willing to attack during certain conditions and not others. On this trip, Dave also landed a good-sized, 2-1/2-pound largemouth bass, and some smallmouth bass and rock bass, a mixed bag. A couple of Dave’s friends musky fished in the past days, scoring follows and hook-ups. Landing a musky, the fish of 10,000 casts, is never a guarantee on a trip. But anglers fish for them because the musky can be the biggest catch of an angler’s lifetime. 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 weather was a blow out, said Kevin from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Ledgewood. Rains made the rivers too high to fish, but some of the lakes and ponds could be fished. Sometimes the rains even knocked critters like mice in the waters, making fish like largemouth bass cruise the shallows, aggressively looking to attack. Kevin fished the lake where he lives, lambasting the catches. One customer punched northern pike at Budd Lake, so that action seemed happening. Waters like Lake Hopatcong were under a no-wake restriction, because of high waters, keeping many boaters from fishing.

Few anglers fished the lake after the hurricane, said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. But the no-wake restriction, because of high waters from the rains from the storm, made for good fishing conditions, without speed boats zipping round. The few who fished latched into the usual catches lately: hybrid striped bass, walleyes, smallmouth bass and crappies. Most anglers swam livelined herring at the drop-offs. As the days cool this season, anglers will begin to jig deeper waters with Rapala ice-fishing jigs, Gotcha jigs and different blade baits. The shop will remain open into November sometime, including for rentals boats and bait, before taking a yearly break before reopening for ice fishing. Current hours at 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily. Anglers can call the shop to check on hours: 973-663-3826. The Kneed Deep Club’s Walleye Weekend Contest will be held the weekend of September 17 and 18. Info can be found at KneeDeepClub.org, or anglers can call Dow’s for info.

Not much happened in the weather, and the shop was even closed Monday because of the storms, but one angler kept banking trout on the Pequannock River at a couple of spots, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. The angler had been landing the fish all season, though few anglers fish for trout in summer’s warm waters. A friend took a kid fishing at Barbour Pond, and they bailed 25 or 50 sunnies, hooking up as fast as they could toss nightcrawlers for bait. Nobody fished the Passaic River. It was raging.

Not much happened in the weather, and the shop was even closed Monday because of the storms, but one angler kept banking trout on the Pequannock River at a couple of spots, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. The angler had been landing the fish all season, though few anglers fish for trout in summer’s warm waters. A friend took a kid fishing at Barbour Pond, and they bailed 25 or 50 sunnies, hooking up as fast as they could toss nightcrawlers for bait. Nobody fished the Passaic River. It was raging.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Freshwater started somewhat to recover last week from  the effects of the hurricane, then this week’s rains piled on, said Burt from  <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. Waters became flooded again, so nothing was doing with fishing. One customer who reported beaching a striped bass from the Sea Bright surf was about the only angling news. The customer is a bait angler, probably dunking clam for the catch.

Chain pickerel could be played in the Toms River toward the Parkway Bridge, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b>. That’s the stretch locals call Trilco, named for the building supply located there that’s now closed. A few kayakers caught and released small striped bass 8 to 13 inches along the channel in the river on small Rapala lures. Stripers live there all summer, and must’ve been becoming more active as the summer heat waned. A few white perch were plucked from Forge Pond when anglers sank nightcrawlers to the bottom to try for catfish. Catching pickerel was a given along the back of the pond along the channel and structure. Ocean County College pond had been dirty from the hurricane, but cleared a lot, and this week’s rains probably wouldn’t hurt fishing there. A few bluegills and some catfish and carp were angled from the pond.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Rains and floods knocked out fishing, but catches remained okay at some of the lakes, including some of the ones at the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area and Prospertown Lake,  said Chris from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville. Self-contained waters, or waters with no inlet, like some of those lakes and some of the farm ponds, were a place to fish, because they were less affected by flooding. Waters with inlets like creeks that flowed into them could get blown out from all the waters rushing in. But fish like largemouth bass definitely ate at self-contained waters, that were now oxygenated and cool. Fishing on the Delaware River, like for smallmouth bass, had been just coming around, after flooding from the hurricane. But the Delaware now was flooded again.  Catch this: <b><i>***Win a free Penn shirt and hat and a 300-yard spool of Berkeley XL or XT line 2 to 20 pounds***</i></b>. Simply visit  <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Harrys-Army-Navy/205104827807" target="_blank">Harry’s Facebook page</a>, like the page, and post on the page: “Fishing Reports Now contest. I am in.” The prize will be drawn after two weeks.

Some fishing on the lakes rebounded well after the hurricane, while other lakes, like in Salem County, took a hit from conditions like dams that were knocked out, said Rick from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b> in Brooklawn. But some of the smaller ponds –
affected less long-term by stormy weather than larger lakes connected to bigger water systems – gave up good largemouth bass fishing. So did some of the lakes, including Haddon Lake and Stewart Lake. A few largemouth catches were heard about from Wilson Lake and Blackwood Lake. The largemouths were socked on lures like chatter baits and creature baits in dark colors like black, purple or green pumpkin. Plenty of catfish were pulled from the Delaware River, but not much was heard about fishing for anything else on the river, like striped bass, because of high, dirty waters and floating debris. From saltwater, news was even scarcer than from freshwater, because of the effects of the hurricane, like stirred up bays from freshwater runoff. A few summer flounder were boated at Reef 11, and kingfish, croakers and blues were beached up and down the surf. Big Timber carries bait and tackle for fishing on all waters from freshwater to the bays to offshore.

Fishing was washed out because of the rains, said Jim from <b>Sportsman’s Outpost</b> in Williamstown. Anglers had just started to fish again last week after the hurricane, but now the current storm rolled in, keeping them at bay.

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