<b>North Jersey</b>

A large musky was caught and released at Echo Lake on Saturday with <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> from Montvale, Capt. Dave Vollenweider said. The fish was probably 50 inches, a benchmark for a large one, probably weighing 25 pounds or more. The fish crushed an all-black Top H2O Lure from Lee Lures that was crawled over weeds. A smaller musky blew up on the lure but was missed, and another musky followed the lure but never attacked. In fishing for muskies, the fish of 10,000 casts, a follow is half the battle. So this was a successful trip. Catching a musky is never a guarantee, but anglers fish for them, because a catch can be an angler’s biggest fish. All the muskies were found along weeds, and the fish that was released was tagged by the state. Dave gave the tag number to the state and was waiting for info about the fish. The fish was tagged on the left side, and the state told Dave that meant the fish was a female. The musky was hooked around noontime in very overcast skies that were probably good for the fishing. The lake was 71 degrees, ideal for musky fishing, and this was probably the peak of the angling this season. Many anglers won’t fish for muskies when waters become warmer, because they don’t want to stress the fish. Musky fishing is a specialty for Live to Fish. Dave is also walleye fishing on overnight trips, and one of the guided outings is slated for this weekend. Live to Fish stalks walleyes on lakes in the middle of the night, when the fish move to shallows to forage on herring, and can be nailed on top-water lures. Exciting, unique fishing. The fishing should be good and usually is into July. When the lakes become very warm in summer, Dave switches to other means to catch walleyes, like trolling deeper. 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.

Largemouth bass fishing should be picking up, after the fish finished spawning, said Kevin from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. Bass must be released through Friday, and the fish could probably now be found in open waters, cruising. Kevin at a private lake landed a 23-incher that was only 3 pounds. Many of the fish were probably skinny and hungry after the spawn. Trout fishing went well, including on Pequest River. Small spinners or Phoebes caught them, and, for fly anglers, sulfur hatches were winding down for the season, but were around. Isonychias sometimes came off in evenings. Hybrid striped bass and walleyes were on the bite at Lake Hopatcong late at night. Lures like Zara Spooks or any walk-the-dog types of plugs beat them from 12 midnight to 3 a.m. off the points or around the herring traps.

The lake’s anglers reeled in a mix of fish, said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat  Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong in an e-mail. Chain pickerel were punched on Mepps spinners or shiners. The weed lines around the islands were good places to try for them. Walleyes and hybrid striped bass sometimes smacked top-water lures like Bombers, Knuckleheads and Chug Bugs at night. The fishing usually lasts to the end of June. Hybrids were also socked in mornings off the points on livelined herring. Yellow perch and crappies were plucked on small jigs or fathead minnows. Largemouth bass, limited to catch and release through Friday, began to bite. They grabbed rubber worms or livelined herring along docks and the shoreline. The Knee Deep Club’s Stew Lant Tournament will take place on the lake Saturday and Sunday, June 23 and 24. Cash prizes and rod-and-reel combos will be awarded, and anglers can call the shop for details: 973-663-3826.

Billy Bryus did a job on largemouth bass to 5 pounds at Greenwood Lake on Senkos and Keitechs, said Mark from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Largemouths must be released through Friday. Lake Hopatcong was on fired with walleyes and hybrid striped bass. Mike Myless checked in two of the walleyes to 4 pounds, and landed another he didn’t weigh in, and pulled in all the hybrids “he could shake a stick at,” Mark said. He caught all the fish at night on livelined herring. Trout fishing was good on the streams. Rob Fildin bailed plenty of trout on Ramapo River on dry flies during a hatch and nymphs afterward.

Lots of hybrid striped bass 4 to 6 pounds turned out very consistent catches at Spruce Run Reservoir, said Jody from <b>Lebanon Bait & Sport</b> in an e-mail. The fish were mostly drilled “at the 12-foot range,” Jody said, “on everything from herring (and) extra-large shiners (to) plugs.” Richard Willey landed 18 lake trout, mostly 16 to 23 inches, at Round Valley Reservoir, in depths 95 feet or deeper, on live herring and jigs. At Oxford Furnace Lake, one angler nailed a 42-inch tiger musky, and another whaled a 30-incher. Jack Lally and friend got skunked at Oxford Furnace.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Smallmouth bass, plenty, got winged on Raritan River, including in the towns of Raritan and Manville and at Duke Island, said Braden from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. Smallmouths are required to be released through Friday. Many in the river were nipped on white twister tails. Some anglers fished for them with shiners, and others, looking for large ones, fished crawfish or hellgrammites. Channel catfish were yanked from Delaware and Raritan Canal on chicken livers, cut sunnies or Gulp catfish bait. Hybrid striped bass bit at Spruce Run Reservoir from sundown to the middle of the night, mostly on top-water lures like Zara Spooks, or on livelined herring. Not much was heard about trout in streams. Trout were banked at Ken Lockwood Gorge after waters started to clear last week. Braden saw trout waters Wednesday running low and clear, “down to summertime levels now,” he said. But rains this week would change that.

Waters were warming, starting to slow down news, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. But hybrid striped bass were scooped from Manasquan Reservoir on chicken livers drifted on bottom on size-4 hooks. One angler plugged a hybrid from the waters on a black and gold Rapala near the dam. Forge Ponders kayaked chain pickerel on spinners. They also whacked a couple of trout on the spinners. At Lake Riviera a few small largemouth bass, limited to catch and release through Friday, were shinered from the dock. Catfish were copped from Pineland Park Pond in Manchester on nightcrawlers on bottom below the dam. Shiners ran out but will be restocked Friday. Killies and nightcrawlers are carried. Trout worms are no longer carried this season, now that interest in trout fishing has waned.

Smallmouth bass fishing was picking up on Delaware River from Trenton to Frenchtown, said Eric from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville. They must be released through Friday. Catfish milled about the river. Largemouth bass, also restricted to catch and release through Friday, attacked top-water lures in evenings at Gropp’s Lake, the lakes at Colliers Mill and Assunpink wildlife management areas, and Mercer County Lake. Trout fishing remained solid on streams like Musconetcong, Pequest and the South Branch of the Raritan rivers in the northern state.

Lake Hopatcong’s fishing for walleyes and hybrid striped bass at night was “out of control,” said Tom P. from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown, because herring were spawning. “That’s a dynamic fishery,” he said, and that was the big news. Tom at Round Valley Reservoir trolled 20 lake trout to 5 pounds, a half-dozen brown trout to 4 pounds and seven or eight rainbow trout 12 or 13 inches. A bang-up day, he said, and Meat Heads with half a herring and Sutton Spoons were bounced along bottom on 6-ounce weights. Trout fishing was exceptional at North Jersey streams including Pequest and Musconetcong rivers, even if waters were somewhat up from rains. Don’t neglect smaller streams like Black River and the brooks. Trouting was even good on Toms River. Closer to the shop, smallmouth bass fishing was great on Delaware River from Washington’s Crossing to upstream. Fish small Rat-L-Traps or Yozuri Pins Minnows. Largemouth bass fishing, catch and release by law through Friday, was very good at Sylvan Lake. Bigmouths to 4 and 5 pounds were claimed on wacky-rigged Senkos, sometimes on shallow-running crank baits. Northern pike 22 to 30 inches gave up decent catches on Millstone River on large shiners or ½- or ¾-ounce spinners when waters weren’t up from rains. In saltwater, Tom was grabbing fluke on foot along the sod banks in the Seven Bridges Road area around Mystic Island.

Rubber frogs gained strikes from largemouth bass from the lakes in early mornings and late afternoons, said Vince from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. The fish must be let go through Friday, and South Vineland Park Pond, Parvin’s Lake and Wilson Lake were some of the waters that gave them up. Largemouths really honed in on dragon flies. River2Sea Dragonfly Popper Lures, carried at the shop, worked well. Largemouth anglers also began to use plastics like rubber worms a lot. Union Lake’s fishing for largemouths and smallmouth bass, also limited to catch and release through Friday, was hit or miss. Lake Audrey’s smallmouthing seemed somewhat slow. Nobody reported tearing them up. Chain pickerels, sunnies and bluegills would always bite at the different lakes. In saltwater, summer flounder fishing sounded slow in Delaware Bay. Maybe 1 in 10 was a keeper, and maybe flounder were yet to migrate into deep bays like that. But crabbers talked about good catches of blueclaws.    

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