<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Adirondacks</b>

Ice fishing might last another two weeks in the northern Adirondacks, maybe another 10 days locally, said Jeff from <b>FISH307.com</b> in Lake George. Lakes that continued to be ice-fished included Raquette, Pleasant, Loon, Schroon and Brant. The edges were failing at Lake Champlain, and no fishable ice remained on Lake George. Ice fishing was going to end early in this warm winter, but was still on tap. Mostly yellow perch and some northern pike and lake trout were pulled up. All the ice baits except mousies, scarce this season, are fully stocked at the shop. One more load will be stocked, the final for the season. An ice-fishing tournament will be held at Schroon Lake this weekend, so the shop will be open till 6 p.m. Friday and will be opened at 4:30 a.m. Saturday for the event. Excellent deals remain at the shop’s ice-fishing clearance sale, and some prices were reduced even further. The sale is also featured on <a href="http://www.fish307.com/" target="_blank">FISH307.com</a> itself. New products are arriving for spring fishing in open waters in the mountains. That includes Evolve Baits, soft-plastic lures, one of the most exciting. The shop’s Spring Fishing Open House is set for May 5. The Adirondacks offer super fishing in open waters from spring through fall, for everything from largemouth and smallmouth bass to perch, pike, pickerel and trout.

<b>Salmon River</b>

Steelheads were in the river, said Ben from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. Fishing for them wasn’t bad, was slow on a couple of days, but fairly good the last two days. The river ran low at 500 CFS, probably since the last report. Steelheads fresh from Lake Ontario still entered the river, and early spawners also swam the Salmon. Mostly egg sacks and trout beads were used to catch them, and some anglers worked flies, often flesh flies and stoneflies. During some winters ice would currently make boating impractical, but boaters this season already trolled brown trout on Lake Ontario. The fish must’ve swum close to shore, because a few shore anglers reportedly hooked the fish. A few diehards ice fished the local lakes and ponds, but Ben wouldn’t recommend walking on the ice nearby anymore this winter. Fishable ice was more common to the north. An ice-fishing derby will be held on Cranberry Lake this weekend.

<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

Striped bass 15 to 24 inches sometimes hit in the Delaware River at Salem and Marcus Hook, a report on <b>Brinkman Bait & Tackle</b> in Philadelphia’s Web site said. Striper season will open Thursday in rivers and bays. The fish were mostly juveniles that lived in the river, not mature fish that arrived on the spring migration. Still, the stripers were a good sign. The shop’s Facebook page afterward, on Tuesday, said stripers so far were “all … down in Delaware waters, won’t be long … and a fish or two may be caught (this week).” A few bigger stripers 28 to 33 inches were heard about that were landed on Delaware Bay. Bloodworms, a favorite bait for stripers on the river in the early season, were stocked at the shop. Clams, the usual bait for the bay’s stripers through spring, supposedly grabbed the catches there.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Trout fishing on the streams will launch with <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b>, from Montvale, with Capt. Dave Vollenweider, when trout season opens Saturday, April 7. But he dropped an e-mail saying he’ll give a seminar on musky fishing at 11 a.m. Saturday at the World Fishing & Outdoor Exposition in Suffern, N.Y. Muskies are one of his specialties. But so are trout. For the trout, he prefers fishing with lures, like Rapala CountDowns, for big ones. That’s because the plugs are affective on streams like the Paulinskill during springtime. Take a trip to learn how it’s done, enjoy the art of lure fishing, and hope to tackle a lunker. Book preferred dates while available. More about the fishing should be talked about here in the coming weeks. 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.

Yellow perch swam active in some of the ponds, said Kevin from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Ledgewood. Catching them began two weeks early in the mild winter, and small hair jigs tipped with Gulp maggots or 1-inch minnows nabbed them in the shallows. Early black stoneflies were heard about that hatched on the trout streams. Burt from the shop heard from a few who trout fished on the Big Flatbrook. They saw the fish but found them difficult to hook, he said. The shop’s Fly Fishing Day is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 10, featuring a couple of seminars, fly tying, fly casting, probably a giveaway and more.

A couple of customers had just begun to fish for the season, trying for yellow perch on the lake this weekend, said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. Previously the shop reported that skim ice prevented both ice fishing and boating. No results were heard about the perching. But one trip returned with crappies from the shallows at Brady Bridge. The docks began to be installed at the store for the season, and the rental boats will probably be available in a couple of weeks. The store is currently usually open from the mornings until 2 p.m. Shiners, fathead minnows and worms are stocked. Herring are usually carried by mid April. Landlocked herring remain legal to posses, but herring migrating from saltwater became prohibited this year.

One angler boated Round Valley Reservoir, leaving the dock in 30-degree air in the morning, two weekends ago, Jody from <b>Lebanon Bait & Sport</b> said in an e-mail. The waters were 40 degrees, and he trolled the pines in 70 feet with Sutton spoons and flies, with three planer boards and lead core fished at different depths – “at 2, 3 (and) 5 color,” Jody said – and four downriggers at 30, 40, 50 and 60 feet. He trolled a 21-inch lake trout and a 16-inch rainbow trout on the Suttons, “on 3 color,” Jody said. He landed a 17-1/2-inch laker on a Sutton on a down rigger at 40 feet. He returned to the dock at 3 p.m. in 51-degree air. Another angler at the Valley trolled a 16-inch rainbow on an orange Reaper fly at 3 colors on a planer board. He trolled from the boat ramp to Ranger Cove from 8 to 9:30 a.m., before the wind chill, unbearable, made him return. The air was 34 degrees, and the waters were 38. Mark Modoski last week walloped a 36-inch musky at the 37-degree Oxford Furnace Lake, at a 5- to 10-foot drop-off over a weed bed, on a 6-1/2-inch Phantom in perch color. Another angler that week crushed a 30-inch northern pike and a 25-1/2-incher at Spruce Run Reservoir from shore on large shiners. In moving waters last week, Andy Still reeled in a 4- to 5-pound brown trout from the Delaware River at Easton and Phillipsburg, and another angler banked a 16-inch rainbow at Ken Lockwood Gorge, on a pink Trout Magnet. Rob Jasonek last week kayaked the Passaic River, trying for pike, with no luck. But he was surprised to catch a 17-inch smallmouth bass 10 feet from shore in 4-foot depths on his Fire Tiger Rapala Jerk Bait. The river was 42 degrees.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Burt from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook put customer Keith on the phone for a report, because Keith’s been trout fishing. Fishing for trout on the Pequest River “is on fire,” Keith said. He began seeing large trout, four or five, on a trip to the conservation stretch, “from the bridge up,” he said, two weekends ago. By this weekend, he saw probably a dozen of the large fish on a trip. They seemed “on the move from somewhere,” he said. “All midges,” he added. Trout in all the streams usually could be angled on midges and held in deep holes. Chimarra caddis larva flies worked well. For bait anglers, trout were taking eggs. Keith showed Burt photos of a 6-pound brown and five or six rainbows about 25 inches apiece he landed from the Pequest. Keith was fishing the South Branch of the Raritan River for trout that a fly shop stocked and holdover trout that the state stocked earlier. Fishing deep holes with midges on mostly 7X and 8X tippets again worked. On the Musconetcong River, Keith totaled 11 trout, mostly rainbows, on Monday. He lives on the Pohatcong, and, again, deep waters were key for trout there.

White and yellow perch and chain pickerel, and a few largemouth bass, small ones, bit in the Toms River at Trilco, said Jeff from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. Trilco is a building supply that closed down, and no sign identifies the building by the name, but locals know the stretch of river along the Garden State Parkway as Trilco. Bloodworms will catch both perch, and killies will sock the picks. Shiners or killies should pick up the bass. Or rubbers worms will usually attract them to strike. Pickerel and largemouths were tugged from Lake Riviera on shiners. Murphy’s has been open Fridays to Sundays but might start opening daily this weekend. Bloodworms, nightcrawlers, shiners and killies are stocked.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Crappies, chain pickerel and a few largemouth bass were plucked from the usual lakes, like at the Assunpink and Colliers Mills wildlife management areas, said Eric from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville. Shiners rounded up all of them, and live bait was the choice this time of year. But sometimes the picks will swipe an artificial like a spinner. Catfish could be cracked from the Delaware River. The river’s walleyes were spawning, reluctant to feed. Striped bass season will open in the river Thursday. “So if guys are catching them, they’re not telling you,” he laughed. Word about stripers would have to wait.   

In low water temps, largemouth bass anglers fished slowly with Senko worms and suspending baits, or slow-rolled, small spinners, said Steve from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. Or they fished “good, old shiners,” he said, catching on “the top of the lift.” Chain pickerel, active in cold, were on a tear in the lakes. Lots were punched on shiners. Shiners also clocked bowfins at the lakes. Many talked about fishing for crappies on waters like Assunpink Lake, Stone Tavern Lake and Carnegie Lake. Customers kept asking for fathead minnows for the fishing, but fatheads aren’t stocked until trout season, so they bought shiners instead. One angler lifted a couple of small muskies from Lake Mercer. Another managed a couple of walleyes on the Delaware River at one of the wing dams on nightcrawlers with a spinner, “just holding it in the current,” Steve said.  The angler saw another release a 29-inch striper that jumped on a small, swimming stick bait with a split shot. Striped bass season will open on the river Thursday, and small stripers gathered at the yacht club at Bordentown. Jigs, twister tails and shiners should honk them. Small white perch swam the same area.

<b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b> in Brooklawn was opened back up for the season, Rick said. Rumors were heard about striped bass in the Delaware River, but none that Rick could trust. But striper season will open Thursday in rivers and bays, and the catches could begin early, because of the warm winter and waters. Winter was also mild to the north, and snow was scarce there, so runoff from melting snow should hardly be an issue in the river, unlike some springtimes. Bloodworms, a favorite bait for the river’s stripers, are stocked, and so are fresh clams, shiners, nightcrawlers and all the supplies. “Ready to roll,” Rick said. Largemouth bass were already bonked in the lakes. Suspending jerk baits in light colors, tiny jigs with trailers and sometimes lures like Aruka Shads and Rat-L-Traps slugged them. “And plastics will start soon,” Rick said. In saltwater, cod and ling were boated. Farther offshore, tilefish were pumped in. Big Timber stocks bait a tackle for fishing on all waters from freshwater to bays to offshore.

Chain pickerel, crappies and largemouth bass were crunched at all different waters, said Vince from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Many fished for them at South Vineland Park Pond and Alloway Lake. Minnows and worms copped the pickerel and crappies, and are stocked. Rat-L-Traps, jerk baits and redeye shads nipped the bass. Striped bass season will open Thursday in bays and rivers. Heard about stripers, like along Delaware River? Vince was asked. No, he said, because of the closed season. But stripers swam the lower Delaware Bay, “from what I hear,” he said.   

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