<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Salmon River</b>

The river flowed at 900 CFS, not a bad level to fish, and steelhead catches were pretty good, said Eric from <b>All Seasons Sports</b> in Pulaski. Drop-backs were spread pretty much throughout the river, swiping egg sacks, nightcrawlers, streamer flies and nearly anything. They weren’t picky now, Eric said. The fish were returning to Lake Ontario after spawning in the river, and angling for them will probably last another couple of weeks on the Salmon. On the lake, trolling for brown trout was so-so, Eric said. Not a lot swam the area, but that will be the next fishing to take off. The browns were boated in 10 to 20 feet, tight to shore. Lake trout swam a little farther out, in 30 to 40 feet, if anglers wanted them.

<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

Delaware River’s striped bass fishing really picked up through the weekend, Bill Brinkman from Philadelphia’s <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> wrote on his Facebook page. What great days of the fishing on Saturday and Sunday, he said. A couple of 30- and 40-inchers were landed from a boat at Tacony-Palmyra Bridge on Friday night. A 40-incher was banked from shore there then. A striper larger than 40 inches was even creamed at Fortescue, farther south on Delaware Bay, from shore, sometime around Friday. Back upstream during the weekend, lots of “slot” stripers, 20- to 26-inchers, bit in the river near Philadelphia airport. Farther north, on the river at Linden Avenue in Philly, a few anglers crushed nine stripers 21 to 29 inches in a trip. Be sure to follow regulations for the river’s striper fishing. Certain sizes can be kept from Pennsylvania, and the bass must be released from New Jersey, this time of year, and certain hooks must be fished. Lots of small stripers were winged on the river near Rancocas Creek. Even farther upstream, a mess of 24- to 38-inch stripers were honked at Trenton. Shad, plenty, were also fought there. Big catfish were clubbed between Trenton’s bridges. Plenty of catfish were also hooked farther downstream, including at Philly and farther south. When Bill boated the river last Wednesday, he reeled in 13 cats and two stripers 22 and 26 inches. Then he picked up another angler, and they totaled another five cats and six stripers. The stripers were slots and smaller. Had a great day, Bill said. Bunker, clams and bloodworms caught stripers for the river’s anglers.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

<b>North Jersey</b>

 Shad fishing was good on Delaware River through the weekend, said Joe from <b>Stokes Forest Sport Shop</b> in Sandyston. Catches began to slow on Monday through now. Rougher weather starting Monday, and low waters that began lately, were probably causes. But maybe the angling will pick back up in better weather this week. Probably 60 percent of shad were bucks. But fat roes began to be more abundant in the past week. Trout fishing was decent, not super-phenomenal, but not bad, Joe said, on streams. Customers fish for trout mostly on Big Flatbrook and sometimes Paulinskill River. The streams flowed a little low, and customers mostly fished for the trout, mostly rainbows, with salmon eggs and Power Bait. Lakes kept turning out crappies and not too many perch. Largemouth bass, restricted to catch and release through June 15 because of spawning, began to be hooked more often than before from lakes. Most bass were in pre-spawn locally.

On a half-day, 4-hour trip Saturday with two anglers, a whopper rainbow trout, one of 20 trout banked, was slugged, said Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> from Montvale. So the fishing, on Paulinskill River at Blairstown, with Rapala Countdown plugs in size CD3, was good. At first, Dave guided the anglers, Anthony Boukreev from Morris Plains and Yury Basiekiv from Garfield, along a whole stretch they waded, and nothing bit. Dave told them, trust him, and keep walking and casting. Then they began to catch, and Anthony whaled the large rainbow, a 7-pound, 6-ounce, 26-inch monster, his biggest-ever fish. Anthony had boated lots of walleyes on another trip with Dave on a lake last year, and wanted to try trout fishing on a stream with lures, one of Dave’s specialties in springtime. The friend, Yury, on this trip, at first only landed three trout. Then in one spot he quickly mugged seven more. So they totaled 10 apiece, and they and Dave had a good time, Dave said. The water level was perfect for the fishing, and also was on a trip Dave took the previous day, Friday, on the Paulinskill, with friend John Shilstra from Hawthorne, for 4 hours. The river might’ve become higher in rains this week. On that trip, they plugged a total of 10 trout, also on Countdown CD3’s. None of the fish was big, but they had a good time, Dave said. Speaking of trout, Dave, a biology teacher, raises trout in an aquarium each year for his students, as part of the state’s Trout in the Classroom program. They’ll release this year’s 60 large fingerlings, fish they raised all school year, soon, on a river. Dave tries to grow the fish as large as possible for survival. Dave joined a colleague’s class this week who released 30 brook trout they raised for the program. Then the kids fished, catching lots of trout. Dave will keep plugging for trout on streams as long as possible this season, so long as water levels remain high enough. Fishing lures requires some depth to avoid snagging, like on bottom or logs. Lure fishing is a creative and active way to angle, and also ups the chances to catch large trout. The bigger fish are more willing to forage on other fish that lures imitate. Dave’s season’s first guided musky trip is slated to fish a lake May 11, with an angler who caught a musky with him last year. Landing a musky is never a guarantee, but anglers fish for them, because a catch can be one of the biggest in a lifetime. Dave’s walleye fishing on lakes usually becomes good by late May, when alewives begin to spawn. The unique trips fish in the middle of the night, using gear like headlamps. Walleyes move to shallows in the dead of night to forage on the baitfish. Then walleyes can be smashed on top-water lures. 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.

Trout streams generally ran a little low, but still cold, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. Musconetcong River served up the catches, including on gold or silver Phoebes, brown, salmon or yellow Trout Magnets, and Power Bait. Fly hatches, including Hendricksons, should pick up soon. Brian knows Hendricksons should “pop,” he said, when dogwoods bloom, like now. Hybrid striped bass and walleyes were waxed at Lake Hopatcong on white Keitechs or other soft-plastic lures. Walleye season opened today. Largemouth bass, limited to catch and release through June 15, began to dig spawning beds. A customer saw them at the lake he lives at.

Trout 2 to 4 pounds were trolled from the lake’s shallower waters on small Rapalas and Phoebes, Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong wrote in an e-mail. Lots of chain pickerel were pounded the same way. John O’Neill checked in a 3-pound 9-ounce brown trout. Crappies were sometimes still angled near Brady Bridge on fathead minnows and small jigs. A 2-pound crappie was largest for Bryan Collins. Walleyes smacked small stick baits at bridge areas in evenings. Floating Rapalas, Husky Jerks and Bomber lures whacked them, and walleye season opened today. Hybrid striped bass were reported to just start hitting livelined herring. The Knee Deep Club will hold a pickerel tournament on Sunday. Info is available on the club’s Web site or by calling the shop at 973-663-3826.

Fishing for trout was good nearly everyplace, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Angling for other fish, like largemouth bass, took work on cold waters, but anglers caught. Trouting was tremendous on Ramapo River, mostly on fathead minnows and butter worms. Wayne Pfeiffer smoked a 10-pound rainbow trout, a beautiful fish, on Big Flatbrook on a Zug Bug. A customer scored well on trout at Dahnert’s Lake on meal worms 24 inches under a bobber. Barbour’s pond fished well for trout on fatheads. Northern pike fishing improved a little on Passaic River, because waters warmed somewhat, mostly on large shiners. A buddy totaled nine largemouth bass, required to be released through June 15, on Lake Hopatcong, 10 to 15 feet from shore, on Senko worms and Rat-L-Traps. Largemouth bass were staging to move to shallows. All that was hard about Greenwood Lake was that good catches of crappies were mugged. At Lake Waywayanda, a friend scored okay on 3- and 4-pound largemouths, close to shore, not all the way in the shallows, but getting there. He threw Senkos and jigs. Nick tackled five largemouths, none big, at Woodland Park at a small pond on size-8 Rapala X-Raps in ghost color. A largemouth tournament at Connecticut’s Candlewood Lake drilled a slough of largemouths and smallmouths, including a largemouth topping 7 pounds that was biggest. Jerk baits often caught. That’s a great lake for fishing, Nick said. Plenty of shad were fought on Delaware River from Delaware Water Gap to Dingman’s Ferry. Most were bucks, but the fishing was good.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

North Branch of Raritan River’s trout fishing lit up during the weekend, after it was slower before, said Braden from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. Butter worms, silver Panther Martin spinners and silver Mepps spinners caught. But rain browned the waters this week, and gold would probably work then, though the river should clean up quickly. Smallmouth bass were tugged from the river from the town of Raritan to the fish ladder on Mister Twisters, especially white, and crawfish. A customer this morning landed a 6-pound largemouth bass at Spruce Run Reservoir on a shaky-head jig. Be sure to release smallmouths and largemouths through June 15, according to law. A customer beat good fishing for shad on Delaware River at Delaware Water Gap during the weekend on flutter spoons. A nearby fly angler caught well on black-bodied, green-headed streamers.

Largemouth bass fishing picked up a lot, because of warmer waters, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. The bass must be released by law through June 15, and customers bought shiners to fish for them more frequently than before. The bass were bombed at the ponds at Toms River industrial park, on the border of Toms River and Manchster. The waters at Pine Lake Park in Manchester churned out mostly chain pickerel and a few largemouths. Ocean County College pond’s fishing began to amp up. Bluegills were plucked from the pond on worms, and a few largemouths began to be grabbed there. But cold waters kept trout fishing slow on Toms River, though anglers picked away at them. Meteconk River, both the north and south branches, fished a little better for trout. Most trout were hooked on bait in the rivers because of the cold. White perch fishing was super at Forge Pond. Eric Stout checked in a 1.6-pounder.

<b>South Jersey</b>

For customers at <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown, fishing was mostly about Delaware River’s striped bass and shad, Tom P. said. They bought bloodworms and frozen ocean herring for the stripers. River herring are prohibited, and anglers must be able to show a receipt for the ocean herring. They purchased darts and spoons for the shad. One customer said shad ran up and down the river from Trenton Makes Bridge to Lambertville. A few anglers poked around for walleyes on the river, but not much was heard about the fishing. Nothing was heard yet about anglers fishing for the river’s smallmouth bass. Not a lot was reported about largemouth bass fishing on lakes, and the angling is catch and release only through June 15. A customer bought size-4 Mepps spinners for chain pickerel fishing. A few customers trout fished on Delaware and Raritan Canal. One angler, English Mick, the resident carp expert, Tom said, heaved in carp to 20 and 30 pounds from the canal at Wilburtha Road on corn and a special bait Mick wouldn’t reveal.  People began bow fishing for carp on Delaware River. White City Lake in Trenton gave up bowfins 5 and 6 pounds on shiners.

Lots still fished for trout, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. The fish were stocked some weeks ago, and many limits were still hung from Maurice River. Trout were reported from Iona and Swedesboro lakes. Many anglers fished meal worms and Power Bait for them. Largemouth bass were frequently spawning, and they must be released through June 15, but fishing for them was good. They moved to shallows on beds, and began to be landed on Senko worms and soft-plastic lures. Chatter baits were a hot seller for largemouths. In saltwater, fishing for striped bass was turned on at Delaware River and Fortescue, on Delaware Bay, for sure. Bloodworms and clams caught. Actually, the river is both salt and freshwater, depending on location. Some anglers headed for stripers that bit from the ocean surf at Sea Isle City, Ocean City and Brigantine on clams. 

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