<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

Fishing on the river, running at 500 CFS the past couple of days, was good for steelheads, said Ben from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. The waters ran at 1,800 before that, and were lowered in a day. Steelheads swam the entire river, and no stretch fished better than another. Chartreuse, white and blue egg sacks caught. So did trout beads and a variety of flies. Mad River UV beads worked well. A few big brown trout, not a ton, were banked. Weather was in the mid 30 degrees usually, and a little snow fell.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Trout streams ran low, and rain raised them a little, said Joe from <b>Stokes Forest Sport Shop</b> in Sandyston. But they’ll go up and down, because of weather like that, and are still low. Few fished the streams, but anglers would probably catch the trout, if they fished, because the angling is usually okay this time of year. Customers who trout fish usually hit Big Flatbrook, sometimes Paulinskill River. Delaware River also ran low, and never came up this past season like would be expected. The river’s walleye fishing usually peaks in January and February. Some anglers will start to concentrate on them in December, and will fish for them into March. But that’s the peak. 

Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> in Montvale fished Greenwood Lake several times in the past week, but the fishing was slow, horrible, he said. The lake either turned over or was in the process, he thought. Water temperatures plummeted to 51 degrees. He mostly fished for muskies, hooking none, though his trips for them landed three in a row previously. On these slow trips, a few small crappies were jigged. But he expected this slow down, and fishing on lakes like this always comes to a standstill a moment around the turn over. When fish become used to the low water temperature after a moment, they should bite well. They usually do, apparently feeding to prepare for winter. Dave saw reports about walleyes and a musky jigged from the lake. He’ll probably start jigging like that, after he mostly trolled for muskies before on the lake. When water temperatures drop for the season, fish begin to be marked toward bottom on the fish finder. Then trips can stop and jig for them. Jigging for both walleyes and muskies can be good this time of season. Canadian guides break ice at the boat launch for some of the year’s best musky fishing in fall. Muskies caught tend to be larger in autumn. They’re feeding, becoming heavier, and females have eggs inside. Females are the largest. Dave had said previously that winds in fall help lakes turn over. Plenty of winds blew. The marina that he’d been launching the boat from is closing down for the season on the lake. He’ll have to use another farther north that remains open. Last year, he caught fish after Christmas. He’s caught muskies as late as December 6, and expects to keep fishing a while. Live to Fish Guide Service guides trips for muskies, walleyes, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, panfish, trout, carp and more. Lakes fished include Greenwood, Lake Hopatcong, Monksville Reservoir, Echo, Mountain and Furnace. Rivers fished include the Flatbrook, Pequest, Paulinskill and Ramapo.

Few customers headed out for trout fishing, because streams ran low, said Mike from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. Many bought supplies to travel for steelhead fishing on upstate New York’s Salmon River. On the trout streams in New Jersey, rain raised the waters, but not much. A few anglers geared up for trout fishing at Pequest River. Trout anglers mostly fished small, bead-headed nymphs and egg flies. Lake Hopatcong was almost not fishable, because the lake was lowered for dock repairs for the season, like annually. Sometimes boaters at quarry lakes trolled largemouth bass and walleyes, like on livelined herring.

Passaic River’s northern pike and smallmouth bass are aggressive this time of season, said Joe from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook. Fishing for them was good at the confluence of the Passaic and the Pompton River. Both fish will bite Blue Fox in-line spinners and Senko worms. Nothing was heard about other fishing, like on lakes or for trout. But anglers took trips to upstate New York’s Salmon River for steelhead fishing. Customers buy lots of split shots for that from the shop’s Newark Sinker company, because the weights are more difficult to find near the river.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Trout fishing was very good on South Branch of Raritan River, said Darrel from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. He fished Ken Lockwood Gorge on the river, and waters were quite low. Pockets had to be fished, because of that, but the trout were aggressive, and were spawning. A female he landed released eggs, and he saw males that were spawning. Trouters caught on small salmon eggs, because of the spawn, and small midges, like size 24. Nothing was heard about lakes. Saltwater anglers homed in on striped bass, and the fishing sounded better on boats than from the surf for customers. On boats, they jigged the fish, because sand eels flooded the waters. Stripers were gorged with them, and sometimes the fish were difficult to hook on jigs, because of the abundant bait. The fish had no reason to notice a jig.

From <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River, Jeff cranked in chain pickerel from Winding River, and pickerel and one largemouth bass from Lake Riviera, all on shiners, he said. One angler talked about clocking crappies from the pond at Ocean County College on killies. Pickerel bit in the Toms River at Trilco, the closed building supply. No sign identifies the building, but locals call the stretch Trilco, located near Garden State Parkway. Shiners are stocked, and killies are no longer on hand. Demand drops this season, so no more were re-stocked for the moment. Nightcrawlers and trout worms are on hand.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Crappies at Farrington Lake, around the aqueduct, were some of the fish heard about, said Karl from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. They were plucked on marabou jigs under floats or on shiners. Some good catches of walleyes, including keepers, were socked from Delaware River, at the wing dam at Lambertville, on Rapala Countdown lures and on nightcrawlers, drifted along the current. A few chain pickerel were fought at Lake Assunpink, in the back, at the shallows. Johnson silver or gold spoons in ¼ or 1/8 ounce nailed them well.

Smallmouth bass reportedly smacked mostly Rat-L-Traps and shaky heads at Union Lake, said Rick from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. At tournaments at Salem Canal, largemouth bass entered were no big weights, and the numbers of catches seemed down. An 8-pounder took first place in one. Whether the fishing was slower than before because waters turned over was a question but unknown. Waters all around cooled quite a bit. Rick would probably fish jigs or crank baits for largemouths now. Some anglers mentioned grabbing largemouths on suspending jerk baits at Parvin Lake. In saltwater, a few large, migrating striped bass were boated from Delaware Bay, but better catches had been expected. Weather was difficult, though. Winds often blew strongly, and blew terribly during part of the weekend. Maybe more catches would’ve been heard about otherwise. Striper catches sounded better along the ocean, actually. 

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