<b>North Jersey</b>

Striped bass were banked from Delaware River, and customers bought eels to liveline for them, said Dean from <b>Stokes Forest Sport Shop</b> in Sandyston. Smallmouth bass are always angled from the river in summer. They’re landed at rapids on anything from shiners and nightcrawlers to Rapala lures. Few fished for trout on streams, typical in the season’s temperatures. Customers who trout fish usually work Big Flatbrook and sometimes Paulinskill River. Lakes fish well for largemouth bass this time of year. Many anglers fish for them in evenings or at night with black or dark spinner baits with a single blade and maybe an Uncle Josh number 11 Pork Frog. Nothing was heard about walleyes from lakes like Swartswood.

Fishing wasn’t on fire, but definitely picked up, and three of four of the past trips caught and released a musky aboard, said Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> in Montvale. The break in weather, after July’s heat wave, and lake temperatures that dropped to 76 and 77 degrees, seemed to make fish feed and become more active, after angling seemed dead during the heat. Dave’s optimistic about fishing this month. On Lake Hopatcong last Wednesday with outdoor writer Lou Martinez, a trip picked up two largemouth bass, a chain pickerel and some crappies and sunnies aboard. Then the trip trolled, and a huge musky, about 50 inches, quickly bent over a rod, swam underneath the boat, and pulled itself off the plug, near River Styx. Though the large fish – “the kind that haunts you,” Dave said – was lost, the hook-up was awesome, showing that the fishing was doing something right, like using the right lure, at the right depth. Dave is working to become more familiar with Hopatcong. On Friday, father and son Charlie and Steven Ronn wanted to fish Echo Lake for bass aboard. They boated a few largemouths and a smallmouth on Cabin Creek jigs and Tequila Sunrise Power Worms. The largemouths gathered around cover like fallen trees, and the biggest became tangled in one of the trees, but was landed by tugging in line hand over hand. The fishing wasn’t tremendous, but Dave could tell the anglers enjoyed themselves. That afternoon, Dave fished Greenwood Lake solo, trolling and releasing a 36- or 38-inch musky, soon after starting to fish, around 3:30. In other news, Dave’s friend Paul Schmidt, a tournament largemouth angler, told Dave that largemouth fishing’s been picking up. His club, the Northeast Bassmasters, held a tournament on Greenwood on Saturday, and the next will be held on Hopatcong on Saturday, August 17. Entrants are welcome, and see the club’s Web site for info. Dave’s friend Pete Planer, from the club Gone Fishing Bass, e-mailed Dave, saying largemouthing began to improve in cooler waters. An eight-fish weight of almost 17 pounds won the club’s last tournament, on Greenwood last week on Tuesday. The club’s next tournament will be held Tuesday on Greenwood. Largemouths have been known to have a virus at Greenwood that can affect fishing for them. But looks like these clubs made some catches. Catch Dave’s presentation on structure fishing at 8:30 p.m. Friday for the Knee Deep Club at Hopatcong Civic Center at 32 Lakeside Boulevard in Hopatcong. 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.

Striped bass were socked from Delaware River where Pequest River and Big Flatbrook enter, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. Lures like number 9 silver Rapalas snatched them up. So did white Clouser Minnow and Deceiver flies. But so did chicken livers. Smallmouth bass were slugged on the Delaware on Mister Twisters or white twister tails on ¼-ounce jigs or Keitechs. Not much was heard about trout fishing on streams. Largemouth bass fishing was alright at Lake Hopatcong. Anything blue like a jig with a blue rubber tail or Keitech seemed to catch, imitating the color of crawfish there. A few walleyes and hybrid striped bass were still hammered at night at Hopatcong on livelined herring.

Not much was going on, Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong wrote in an e-mail. But a few 6- to 7-pound hybrid striped bass and several walleyes were reported caught from the lake. The walleyes were pulled in on nightcrawlers fished along bottom. Christine Eyrich landed a 30-pound musky, probably 48 to 50 inches, her first, on a trolled Rapala Countdown on a trip with her dad, Ed Eyrich. Lots of crappies were cracked on small shiners, small herring or small jigs. Lots of panfish could be nabbed in shallows on garden worms under bobbers. 

A couple of largemouth bass tournaments were held on Lake Hopatcong, and many of the anglers caught pretty well, said Nick from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Some decent weights were entered, and most competitors caught on drop shots at weeds, points and islands. But a bunch of the fish were beaten at docks on jigs. Nick and Al from the shop fished Pompton Lake, totaling 12 largemouths, including eight or nine keepers, all close to shore, in 1 or 2 feet of waters. They fished with rubber frogs and Senkos, casting toward land. But after that failed to go well, Nick began slowly dragging and twitching the line parallel to shore, behind the boat, almost dead-sticking, in those waters, and that caught well. A buddy dragged in largemouths from Barbour’s Pond on frogs in the “slop,” Nick said, and on Spit’n Image lures along the edge of the slop. Another friend wrestled northern pike, none gigantic, but catches, on Passaic River on extra-large, huge shiners. Another angler fought 10 smallmouth bass, one after another, on the Passaic from Elmwood Park to Garfield on spinner baits, when he saw bait busting.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

Trout streams became a little cooler, because of milder weather, and the trouting was good, said Angelo from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. Anglers should still fish for them in mornings and late in the day, to avoid stressing and killing the fish in the heat. But the cooler waters probably extended the fishable time, like maybe in the morning until 11 o’clock, and in the afternoon starting at 3:30. Musconetcong River was 68 degrees last week on a trip Angelo took. The waters probably became 67 now, and streams might not become cooler, but probably won’t become warmer. Lots of blue-winged olives and midges came off. Isonychias and pale morning duns, a few of both, not a lot, began to appear. Pheasant-tail nymphs in sizes 6 to 10 imitated them. Many tan caddis, a variety of sizes from 6 to 20, hatched. Streamers caught, because of rains and cooler waters. Trout seem to forage on baitfish that streamers imitate when rains create more debris in waters and when streams aren’t so hot that only tiny bugs attract bites. Trout jumped on Wooly Buggers and Muddler Minnows fished like streamers.  Both largemouth bass and smallmouth bass fished well. They feed in summer, and spinner baits and Senkos were often tossed for the largemouths. Top-water fishing for them was turned on, like with rubber frogs like Scum Frogs in the lily pads in evenings. Smallmouth bass are also warm-water fish, and are eating crawfish. Lots swim both the north and south branches of Raritan River and the Delaware River. Even small creeks hold them. At Round Valley Reservoir, rainbow trout bit at night on bottom, down 40 or 50 feet, on shrimp. Anglers buy shrimp at the market, boil them slightly 30 or 45 seconds, until they turn a little pink, in a little garlic. That helps keep them on the hook, then the shrimp are trolled along bottom. One angler fished for catfish along bottom of the reservoir, but a big fish took off with the line and was lost. Maybe lake trout are feeding. But to catch any trout on Round Valley now, nighttime must be fished.

Not a lot of customers fished freshwater, but two bought shiners and killies to fish the Toms River, where the river is like a pond, near where the river runs underneath Lakehurst Road, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. They landed crappies and chain pickerel pretty steadily. The crappies were on the shiners, and the picks were on both baits. One angler boated hybrid striped bass at Manasquan River in the deepest water, near the dam, on drifted shiners. Kids like usual nabbed bluegills at Ocean County College Pond. Carp grabbed the baits once in a while but weren’t hooked on the tiny panfish hooks. Shiners, killies and nightcrawlers are stocked.

<b>South Jersey</b>

A small blitz of customers headed to Farrington Lake and Carnegie Lake for largemouth bass fishing, said Tom P. from <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. Some pounded away at the bucketmouths at Lake Assunpink, Rising Sun Lake and Stone Tavern Lake, all in the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. They fished with Senkos or other weedless worms or baits and top-waters like buzz baits and poppers, like Rebel Pop-R’s. But one angler fished exclusively for channel catfish at Lake Assunpink. One kid pulled a 4-pound largemouth from Amwell Lake. Delaware River anglers catfished, including at Florence and Trenton upstream to Washington Crossing. Bob Attics from the shop whipped a few smallmouth bass and largemouth bass at Delaware and Raritan Canal on soft-plastic lures. Trout were tugged from Pequest River’s Trout Conservation Area. Tom yanked in four trout on the lower Musconetcong River near Riegelsville, and fishes hellgrammites this time of year. One of the trout was a large, breeder brown, and the others were 12-inch stockers. The river’s flow was good.

The DOD Ponds shoveled up some big largemouth bass, said Rick from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b> in Westville. Greenwich Lake and Logan Pond produced largemouths. Newton Lake and Haddon Lake were fished for them. Mostly soft-plastic lures were cast for largemouths, worked through grass and weeds. But rubber frogs and popper lures smashed them in mornings and evenings. Crappies were around in lakes. Big snakeheads to 10 and 12 pounds were fought at Newton Lake, Mantua Creek and along Crown Point Road.  On Delaware River, catfish, not huge, but 6 and 7 pounds, were nightcrawlered or caught on nearly any bait with odor.

Largemouth bass were latched into at Lakeland Lake, said Ed from <b>Creek Keepers Bait & Tackle</b> in Blackwood. One customer tied into them well at Puppyland Lake on shiners. But customers fishing for largemouths dunked nearly any bait, including minnows, shiners, worms and even hot dogs. Plenty of the bass were drilled at Medford Lakes on shiners and hot dogs. Snakeheads and catfish were eased in from the spillway across the road from Blackwood Lake.

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