<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

The river’s steelhead anglers had to “pick away,” said Scott from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. But the fish definitely remained in the river. They just began to drop back to Lake Ontario. Steelheads winter in the Salmon, spawn there in spring and return to the lake for summer. The river ran at 1,650 CFS since the weekend, but rain fell Tuesday night, and that probably changed the flow today, but Scott hadn’t checked the level yet, when he gave this report in a phone call this morning. Previously, the river ran at just over 2,000 CFS. On Lake Ontario, brown trout began to be trolled off Mexico. Not a ton were, but the fishing was worth the effort. Fishing for the browns that move close to shore in springtime will become the next focus for customers.

<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

Striped bass were whaled on Delaware River on Saturday, Bill Brinkman from Philadelphia’s <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> wrote on his Facebook page. Lots from 10 to 39 inches were hooked on bloodworms and bunker. But a 42-inch 33-pounder was bunker-chunked. “Seems the big fish are here!” He wrote at the time. Places where many stripers were landed that day, Saturday, included downstream from Tacony-Palmyra Bridge and at Station Avenue in Philly. Afterward, the fishing sounded slow. “Quiet day for reports (on Sunday),” Bill said, and nothing was posted about the fishing on Monday. On Tuesday, Bill fished the river late in the day in strong, 30 m.p.h. winds against the tide. His trip landed a 24-inch striper, two smaller ones and a catfish. The angling was slow, but Bill lost “a monster,” he said, that pulled the hook after a 10-minute fight. “Going back for him (today),” he said. Before Saturday, the most recent time the fishing turned on was Thursday. The fishing that day was “much better,” Bill said.  Photos of seven stripers 33 to 40 inches were seen that day that were caught from the Tacony to Station Avenue. An angler who fished at the Tacony that day said lots of smaller stripers bit, and catfish were mixed in. 

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

Trout fishing was great on streams at the beginning of last week for customers, said Joe from <b>Stokes Forest Sport Shop</b> in Sandyston. A few warmer days raised water temperatures then. But after rain Friday, water temps dropped a little, and trout were still caught, just not as much as before. Rainbow trout were stocked recently, after brook trout were at first this season. Customers mostly trout fish on Big Flatbrook and sometimes on Paulinskill River. On Delaware River, smallmouth bass fishing began to improve, and not many walleyes were hooked. The smallmouths this time of year are usually socked on tubes, like crawfish-colored, or small Mister Twisters. The Delaware’s shad fishing will probably take off locally in 1 ½ or 2 weeks. The shad migration reached as far upstream as Delaware Water Gap. Anglers hope for good shad fishing locally, and water temps will need to reach 50 degrees for the angling to be productive. The river currently was in the low 40s locally and 55 degrees at Lambertville, farther downstream. Fishing was good for crappies and perch on lakes and ponds.

Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> from Montvale banked 22 trout on lures on a trip Monday, he said. Thirteen were reeled in from Pequest River, and nine were tugged from Paulinskill River, all on Rapala Countdown plugs in size CD3. The company came out with new UV colors in orange and green that Dave bought, and the orange tackled some of the fish on the trip. None of the fish was giant, but the streams were alive with trout catches, if anglers worked for them. Not a lot of people fished the streams, and crowds seemed to disappear except around nights when trout were stocked. The Paulinskill ran at a perfect level for fishing, and the Pequest was somewhat low. Trout streams had run very low until rains late last week raised them. On a trip Saturday, Dave plugged 11 trout, including a large brown, on the Paulinskill, also on CD3’s. Dave has clobbered some large trout on recent trips, including a 4-pound brook. He specializes in lure fishing for trout on streams in springtime. The angling is a fun, creative way to catch, and attracts large trout, the size that Dave is after. Large trout tend to feed on small fish the lures imitate. Spring is usually a good time for the lure fishing, because streams can become low in summer. Low water can make lure fishing challenging, because of snagging the plugs on bottom or debris like logs. Dave’s friend Paul, a tournament largemouth bass angler, competed in a bass tournament on Lake Hopatcong, and he and his partner only totaled five largemouths, but some big bags were weighed in. The winning five-fish weight was about 16 pounds, and some other bags were sizeable, like a 14-pounder. Paul found the fish in deep weeds, after he had found them moving shallower previously. Apparently cooler weather made them slip back deep. Spring can be fickle like that, Dave said, and a cold snap can pull the fish back into depths. Dave is sure crappie fishing should be good on lakes now. Looking ahead, an angler had just booked a musky trip with Dave for mid-May on a lake. Another angler and son, who caught walleyes on a lake overnight with Dave last year, just booked another one of the trips for this spring. Those trips begin in May into June. Fishing was great last year for both muskies and walleyes for Dave last year, and he hopes for a repeat. The walleye trips are unique outings that fish in the middle of the night, when walleyes chase baitfish that move to shallows and can be caught on top-water lures for explosive hits. 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.

Rivers dished up trout on everything from garden hackles to Hendrickson dry flies, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. Customers mostly trout fish on South Branch of Raritan River, Pequest River and Musconetcong River. One customer talked about seeing Hendricksons hatch last week for the first time this season. A few customers telephoned to ask for shad darts, and Brian heard little about Delaware River’s shad migration, but assumed the fish reached at least as far upstream as Lambertville, if not farther. On lakes, largemouth bass fishing, limited to catch and release since Monday through June 15 for spawning, probably wasn’t great, because of cold waters. But the fish could probably be plucked from warmer shallows. Greg from the shop caught a couple of largemouths and some crappies at Lake Hopatcong on small Rapala lures and Crappie Magnets.

Chain pickerel were trolled on the lake on Phoebes, Thomas Fighting Fish that are similar to Phoebes, Mepps spinners and small Rapalas, Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong wrote in an e-mail. The fish were axed outside weeds in shallower waters, and picks that were caught included Lou Marcucci’s 3-pounder, Dick Pedati’s 2-pound 6-ouncer and Tom Facciola’s 3-pound 5-ouncer. Several sizeable trout smacked the lures trolled for pickerel. Trout caught included Marcucci’s 3-pound 12-ounce brown and 2-pound 5-ounce brook and Jim Smith’s 2-pound 14-ounce brook. Pete Rathjens beat a 1-pound 14-ounce brook, and Marie Archambault smoked a brown that weighed the same: 1 pound 14 ounces. Rathjens also cracked a 3-pound 12-ounce smallmouth bass. Crappies were still pulled from shallows at Brady’s Bridge and Landing on fathead minnows and small jigs. Crappies copped included Joe Chianti’s 1-pound 12-ouncer, Ed Mackin’s 1-pound 11-ouncer, Brandon Schmidt’s 1-pound 7-ouncer, Bryan Collin’s 1-pound 5-ouncer and Casey Christiansen’s 1-pound 5-ouncer. The state would stock more trout this week and just stocked 432,000 walleye fry. Thousand!

Trout were crushed on Ramapo River, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Trouting was also very good on Pequest River, and fathead minnows and butter worms could hardly be kept stocked. Those were top baits on different trout waters, but decent trout catches were made on Wanaque River, and spinners caught better there. Brook trout, stocked first this season, and rainbows, recently stocked, were landed a lot on the different waters. Trouters had to work more for catches at Dahnert’s Lake but caught. Fathead minnows worked there and at Barbour’s Pond. Largemouth bass fishing, limited to catch and release since Monday through June 15 for spawning, was nothing outstanding. Waters needed to warm a little, and no consistently warm, calm weather happened, so water temps were yet to rise. If air temperatures were consistently 65 or 70 degrees, things would be different. Nick competed in a largemouth tournament at Pompton Lake during the weekend, and he and his partner hooked the fish along deeper weeds, finding none in shallows. They and most of the competitors caught on Rat-L Traps. Nick’s partner smashed a 17-pound northern pike on the trip, and Nick also decked a northern. Good northern catches came from different waters lately. Another club held a largemouth tournament at Spruce Run Reservoir, and Rat-L-Traps also caught there. A large, five-fish bag won, and the angler who won jigged fish in deeper water at the first drop off, “dragging” bottom, casting toward shore. A couple of anglers talked about finding a few largemouths and walleyes at Lake Hopatcong. Beautiful pike were sometimes pounded from Passaic River below the falls on shiners. Someone who used to work at the store kayaked a 12-pounder. A few smallmouth bass bit in the Passaic at Garfield. One customer totaled 15 shad on Delaware River at Delaware Water Gap last week on shad darts. That took him all day, so the angler described the fishing as a slow bite, but he did whack 15. 

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Hendricksons began to hatch from trout streams, said Braden from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. Fishing for stocked trout was “basically all-out …” he said. Plenty were creamed from North and South Branches of Raritan River and Paulinskill River. After rains late last week, trout streams cleaned right up, and flowed at a very fishable level. Darrel from the shop fished the South Branch on Wednesday a couple of hours in the afternoon, nabbing three or four trout on pheasant-tail nymphs. He returned to the same area Sunday, pasting 15 or 17. The trout hit pheasant-tail flashbacks on this trip, and that pattern worked for anglers lately. A friend telephoned the store to order a dozen because he used up the ones he had. On Darrel’s trip on Sunday, another angler held up a 5- or 6-pound rainbow trout he wormed, showing it across the stream. Darrel trout fishes away from crowds, like crowds at Ken Lockwood Gorge. The water was perfect, beautiful for fishing. But trout streams will become low and challenging to fish if considerable rain doesn’t fall soon.

Fishing on nearly all ponds was “super good” for chain pickerel and crappies, mostly on bait or killies and shiners, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. A few largemouth bass were managed, all on shiners, but fishing for them wasn’t good yet. A few bluegills and sunnies were nipped on bait, but angling for them was still a little slow. Trout fishing was fairly good, including at Metedeconk River and the Toms River. On the Metedeconk, bait was somewhat more productive, but a few trout were clocked on spinners. On the Toms, the bait-fishing section produced best. Trout fishing went well on Spring Lake, mostly on bait. Abigail Murphy weighed in a 4.13-pound brook trout from Echo Lake. Practically all baits are stocked, including killies, shiners and all the different trout worms.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Striped bass went nuts in Delaware River, and so did shad, said Tom P. from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. Striped bass to 25 pounds were rocked from the river at Trenton, including at Trenton Makes Bridge and Calhoun Street Bridge, and Florence. Cut ocean herring and shad and lures like Bombers, Daiwa SP Minnows and Yozuris caught. Shad were sacked from the river including at Trenton, Bull’s Island and Frenchtown all the way to Portland. Anglers said most were bucks, and a few were fat roes, and spoons out-fished darts probably 9 to 1. Fishing for stocked trout went crazy at Sylvan and Crystal lakes. Trouting seemed good everywhere, and no complaints were heard. Rainbow trout were just stocked and caught, and brook trout were still landed that were stocked previously. A few big, breeder brown trout were yanked from Colonial Lake, mostly on Power Bait, nightcrawlers and shiners. Trout catches were great on Delaware and Raritan Canal on Cocktail Spinners and Trout Magnets. Though largemouth bass fishing was restricted to catch and release since Monday until June 15 for spawning, fishing for them was good, including at Parvin’s Lake, Salem Canal and Assunpink Lake. But crappies were hammered at Assunpink, Rising Sun and Stone Tavern lakes, all at Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. Fishing for chain pickerel, including large to 20-some inches, was outstanding at the bogs near Browns Mills.

Customers seemed pleased with trout fishing at all the different lakes stocked, said Joanie from <b>Creek Keepers Bait & Tackle</b> in Blackwood. Trout weighed in included Jim L.’s 7-pound 1-ounce 25-inch brown from Grenloch Lake on a spinner, Kevin Kennedy’s 4-pound 5-ounce brown from Grenloch on a Roostertail, Tom Flonaker’s 1.13-pound rainbow from Rowan’s Pond on a wax worm, and Tom Gill’s 1.12-pound brown from Grenloch. Many customers bought bloodworms and frozen, salted clams for striped bass on Delaware River. So apparently that fishing was happening. Nothing was heard about fishing for largemouth bass, crappies or anything else, really. Angling was all about trout and stripers.

Iona Lake seemed to top spot for trout fishing, and trout catches seemed decent at the different stocked waters, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. A little was heard about trout from Maurice River and South Vineland Park Pond. Lots of meal worms and Power Baits were sold for trout. Largemouth bass fishing, catch and release by law since Monday until June 15 for spawning, was a little hit or miss. Some days produced very well, and others produced poorly, at usual places like Union Lake. A few largemouth anglers did a number on catches at Parvin’s Lake. A largemouth tournament was held at Salem Canal during the weekend. Senko worms began to grab largemouths, and jigs and crank baits caught them. Striped bass fishing began to kick in a bit on Delaware River and Delaware Bay from shore on bloodworms.

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