<b>NEW YORK</b>

<b>Adirondack Mountains</b>

A little more snow covered ice on lakes than before, but not much ice built, because of warmth, said Tony from <b>FISH307.com</b> in Lake George. Colder weather is forecast for the next days, though. Lakes fished from the ice included Glen Lake and Saratoga Lake. Mostly perch, crappies, bluegills, pike and pickerel were landed. Saratoga is a place for rainbow trout, though. Not a lot of places were fished for trout – rainbows and browns – because those lakes tend to be larger and become fishable from the ice later in winter. Lake George, Schroon Lake and Lake Champlain still held open water, with thin ice in bays. Boaters still fished George, trolling lake trout and landlocked salmon that schooled where smelt were found that the fish foraged on. Baits stocked include shiners and suckers. No hunts and icicles were carried yet, and they usually become available later this month. FISH307.com is both a website and a brick-and-mortar store.

Not a lot but sometimes good-sized walleyes were winged from the ice on Great Sacandaga Lake, said Lou from <b>Fuel-n-Food</b> in Mayfield on the lake. Previously, northern pike were the main catch and walleye fishing was mostly slow. The pike fishing tapered off a little now. Sacandaga held up to 8 inches of ice. The northern end that thickens later held 6 inches. Indian Lake held 10, and Piseco Lake held 7. Not much was heard about trout taken from the ice yet, but those two lakes are known for lake trout and brown trout. But fishing for splake, a laker and brown hybrid, was good on Caroga Lake. That angling is always good in the early ice-fishing season, and will slow down. Baits stocked include fatheads, medium and large shiners, suckers and hunts. Fuel-n-Food includes a gas station, a café and a bait-and-tackle shop. All the tackle for the ice is on hand, from tip-ups, jigging rods and lures to augurs and shelters. The crew from the store can point you in the right direction for the angling.

<b>Salmon River and Western N.Y. Rivers</b>

Salmon River’s steelhead fishing was slowly, steadily improving, said Jay Peck from <b>Jay Peck Guide Service</b>. A consistent, light trickle of the fish migrated to the river from Lake Ontario, and the river’s flow, 335 cubic feet per second, was steady. Anglers could hook four to six of the fish per day. The average angler might think no steelheads could be hooked. But if the right water were fished, with the right presentation, that’s what trips with Jay and his guides could do. He specializes in fly-fishing and catch-and-release, and books trips that fish with conventional tackle with his guides. His guides scored decent catches Monday. Trips with Jay caught on bigger nymphs in sizes 6 and 8 with longer shanks. The bite happened in mornings recently. While trips previously began at 8 a.m., they recently started at 7:30 a.m., tying into steelheads right away. Weather was 40 degrees that day, and last week began to be warmer than before. Cold was supposed to return in the next days. Jay also fishes for big trout that migrate to rivers and creeks farther west in New York, around Rochester, this time of year. That area’s been in a drought that slowed the angling because of low water in the rivers and creeks. Precipitation gave them a little bump of higher water recently, and rain was expected last Monday night and Tuesday. The area just needed a severe wet cycle for a game-changer. Until then, the fishing is hit and miss, picking trout. Visit Jay at his exhibit at The Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, N.J., from Jan. 27-29 at the Garden State Exhibit Center.

<b>NEW JERSEY</b>

Five rainbow trout and five lake trout were trolled from 38-degree Round Valley Reservoir on a trip on New Year’s Day aboard, Capt. Dave Vollenweider from <b>Live to Fish Guide Service</b> wrote in an email. Fishing with his nephew Noah, they clocked the fish on stick baits including Berkley Flicker Minnows. The catch included a double-header of lakers, and another fish was also dropped on the trip. Happy New Year! Dave said.

Some anglers had ice-fished on Lake Hopatcong, said Brian from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Succasunna. That might’ve melted since, but they had been nabbing catches including perch on tackle including small ice-fishing jigs with bait like meal worms or wax worms. A few other customers planned to fish for trout on streams today, forecast to be a relatively warm day, after rain yesterday. This time of year they fish midges including RS2’s. Maybe small blue-winged olives would hatch, and Brian doubted that small early black stoneflies would come off, but one never knows. Nothing was heard about fishing Delaware River for walleyes that can bite in winter or any other catches. Anglers often seemed busy with the holidays instead of fishing recently. But the holidays are finished.

Budd Lake was fished on the ice a little, said Keith from <b>Hi-Way Sports Shop</b> in Washington. The shallow lake seemed the only that built ice that was fished recently. It held 4 ½ or 5 inches, he guessed, and northern pike were cranked in. Considerable cold was forecast for the next days, so maybe more lakes would become ice-fished. An angler this morning bought worms to fish for trout on Pequest River. Not much other news was around.

None of the lake’s ice was safe to fish in recent warmth, said Joe from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. But anglers hoped that colder weather forecast for the next days would build ice that could be fished. Nobody fished from shore, either, because of skim ice.

News was quiet, said Cheryl from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Pine Brook. Anglers were scarce, and nothing was even reported from nearby Passaic River. Catches including northern pike and smallmouth bass can be reported from the river, when anglers hit the stream. Whether the river ran high, low or average was unknown. It had flowed low in the drought this past season, but had begun to flow higher in somewhat more precipitation than before. Customers sometimes, not often, fished saltwater for blackfish. The season’s weather was closing in on that angling, in strong wind on many days.

This was kind of an awkward period, with skim ice on lakes preventing casting, but no ice thick enough to fish atop, said James from <b>Harry’s Army Navy</b> in Robbinsville. Good trout fishing was heard about from steams a week ago farther north, including trout plucked from Musconetcong River on meal worms. Closer to the shop, James saw ice chunks floating in Delaware River at Lambertville during the last cold spell. The river was free of ice currently, but its fishing was sluggish. He measured the water temperature at 39 degrees, pretty cold. Maybe catfish could be hooked along bottom. Or maybe walleyes could be nabbed on drifted nightcrawlers or leeches at Fireman’s Eddy or south of Lambertville, or about mid-river in New Jersey. In saltwater, plenty of throwback striped bass could be found in the surf still. He released eight on Monday morning on Tsunami sand eels. Fly-rodders also caught on chartreuse and white Clouser Minnows.

A customer this week said he still picked largemouth bass and chain pickerel at Rainbow Lake in Pittsgrove and Bostwick Lake in Upper Deerfield, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Suspending jerk baits and shallow-running crank baits could grab largemouths and pickerel at lakes. Minnows are always good for pickerel, too. Minnows were out of stock, but Steve imagined more would be carried. That was about all the angling heard about this time of year. From saltwater, blackfishing was the only angling reported.

Back to Top