<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

The river’s steelhead fishing went well on some days, and anglers had to work for the catches on others, said Eric from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. The angling was so-so, he said. He couldn’t know a reason, but said the river’s flow remained steady at 900 CFS, but weather was “back and forth.” Most anglers landed the fish on the upper river on usual things like trout beads, egg sacks and stoneflies. As water warms, larger things like Wooly Buggers and leach flies will catch. Steelheads were spawning, but a few fresh fish swam the lower river. A few customers bought supplies for ice fishing, but nothing was heard about results.

<b>Adirondack Mountains</b>

Fishable ice remained, including on Lake George, but rains poured Monday night and continued on Tuesday, said Tony from <b>FISH307.com</b> in the village of Lake George. Two inches were supposed to fall, so anglers would see how that affected ice. Ice-fishing was good during the weekend on Lake George, mostly for yellow perch and lake trout. No snow except drifts was left on ice on lakes by Tuesday. “The season’s winding down,” Tony said, and that was usual for the time of year. A few types of ice-fishing bait are still stocked, and the shop is holding an <a href=" http://www.fish307.com/bbicefishing.aspx" target="_blank">Ice-Fishing Clearance Sale</a>.

Ice-fishing shanties are required to be removed from lakes no later than on Friday, and the seasons will close on Saturday for walleyes, chain pickerel and northern pike, said Lou from <b>Fuel-n-Food</b> in Mayfield.  Fishable ice covered lakes including Great Sacandaga, and trout season will stay open on that lake and Indian Lake. Brown trout fishing was good on the waters. Northern pike fishing somewhat slowed, and any that were caught were mostly small. Walleye fishing slowed, though it would normally still be good. Trout season on other waters, including streams, will open on April 1, and anglers will hone-in on that. Small suckers are left for ice bait at the shop, and other stores sometimes still carried hunts and shiners. Lots of spring fishing supplies are being stocked at Fuel-n-Food. The store features tackle, bait, a convenience store, fuel, breakfast, lunch and beer, and is located near lots of fishing. The staff can point anglers in the right direction.

<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

One customer reeled in four striped bass 22 to 30 inches from Delaware River on Saturday downstream from the Philly airport, said Bill Brinkman from <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Philadelphia on his Facebook page. Those were the season’s first stripers reported nabbed from the river at the store. Plenty of anglers began trying for them. Bloodworms started to be carried for bait for the fishing last week.  One more striper was reported landed “outside” the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on Monday, Bill said. Netters supposedly found lots of small stripers in catches on Delaware Bay. Anglers caught stripers 22 to 30 inches on the bay, Bill said, but he didn’t mention where or whether from boats or shore. Anglers fishing the river snatched up a few catfish.
<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

A few trout were rustled up from streams, said Kevin from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. Many fished for them on Pequest River, including with size-18 blue-winged olives. Nobody mentioned seeing early black stoneflies, but the stoneflies could come off on warmer days. That probably wouldn’t happen in the cooler next days. Don from the shop fished Rockaway River during the weekend, hooking yellow perch, but no trout, he said. The water level was healthy but probably became high in this week’s rains. Greg from the store plucked yellow perch from Lake Hopatcong. Perch were spawning.

<b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> exhibited at the World Fishing and Outdoor Exposition in Suffern, New York, two weekends ago, Tony said. So the staff was mostly busy with that, and now was busy preparing to exhibit at the Saltwater Fishing Expo this weekend in Somerset, New Jersey. Little was heard about fishing, except Tony heard striped bass were socked from Hudson River. He saw anglers fishing Passaic River, but didn’t know what they caught. Northern pike was a guess. More should be heard about fishing when the store is finished exhibiting after this weekend.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Waters were cold, despite warmer weather, said Angelo from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. That kept fishing slow, but any trout that were caught were reported from Pequest and Musconetcong rivers. Angelo saw lots of black stoneflies coming off when he trout fished Sunday. Fish sizes 16 or 18 stoneflies or 12 to 16 pheasant-tail nymphs for trout on streams. Midges will always work, especially this time of year. Trouting was slow on the South Branch of the Raritan River, because the stream was cold, probably in the high 30s. The season was probably becoming late for brown trout and lake trout to cruise the shoreline at Round Valley Reservoir. But customers continued to buy shiners to fish for them, and were excited. They fished the baitfish under slip-bobbers.

Chain pickerel and largemouth bass were tugged from Lake Riviera, said Jeff from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. He yanked pickerel from Winding River on Mepps Black Fury Spinners. Nothing was heard about pickerel fishing on the Toms River or trout fishing anywhere. Small striped bass were caught and released from saltwater on the Toms. Plenty, including keepers, were axed from Oyster Creek, the warm-water discharge from the Forked River power plant. Small stripers were pulled in along Route 37 Bridge on Barnegat Bay. Shiners, killies, bloodworms, nightcrawlers, garden worms, meal worms, fresh clams and frozen baits are stocked. Murphy’s is open Wednesdays through Sundays.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Crappies, lots, were clobbered from Rosedale Lake, Lake Mercer and Delaware and Raritan Canal, said Tom P. from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. On the lakes, they were nipped on hair jigs under floats, either worked slightly or “let ripple,” Tom said. On the canal, “shiners, shiners, shiners,” he said. A bunch of customers began fishing for striped bass on Delaware River, but none seemed to catch yet. Customers started catfishing on Crosswicks Creek from Groveville to Bordentown with Power Bait liver chunks or Gulp chicken liver chunks. Not much was reported about trout fishing, except sometimes customers trout fished on Pequest River on warmer days. That can be an easier type of trouting, near the hatchery. Or at least lots of trout can be seen, and anglers seemed to like that. Tom favors trout fishing elsewhere, and plenty of trout could be caught. Local ponds gave up largemouth bass on shiners.

Quite a few largemouth bass were cranked from Wilson Lake during a tournament on Saturday, said Vince from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Jerk baits, square-bill crank baits and Rat-L-Traps caught, and a ton of chain pickerel also hit. “Boat loads and boat loads,” Vince said about the picks. Pickerel are active during many times of year, but this is one of them, especially. Crappies and yellow perch are especially active in lakes now, too. Largemouth fishing was fairly slow at Rainbow Lake in a tournament this weekend, though lots of the bigmouths were smashed there earlier last week.

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