New Jersey Fishing Reports

Steelhead dominated catches in the river, said Suzanne at All Seasons Sports in Pulaski. The fishing was a mid-morning affair, and 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. was the prime time for fights with the 8- to 12-pound steelies. Egg sacks in blue, orange and pink worked best, and the upriver stretch from Altmar to Pineville seemed most productive. The river was running at 500 CFS, so both bank anglers and drift boaters could easily get in on the action.

PENNSYLVANIA

Smallmouth bass fishing slowed to a trickle on the Delaware River, said Bill at Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle in Philadelphia. One of the mediocre reports he heard was about a customer who fished Byram and caught four smallies from 12 to 14 inches on a black bucktail tipped with a minnow. But lower river anglers were doing very well on a mix of catfish, small stripers and largemouth bass. Catfish were hitting all up and down the river in 10 to 25 feet, eating up herring, chicken livers, nightcrawlers, shrimp and, believe it or not, bagels. Average catches were 5 to 10 fish per day. Largemouth bass fishing picked up at spots such as Dredge Harbor, Salem Harbor, Neshaminy Marina and Tullytown Cove. One customer fished Dredge Harbor early in the week and picked up 19 bass to 3 pounds on plastic lizards. Another angler called from Salem Harbor on Thursday and said he and his son reeled in 11 bass in four hours on plastic worms around the docks.

NEW JERSEY

North Jersey

The Delaware River’s smallmouth bass action quieted down, said Bill from Bill’s Bait & Tackle in Phillipsburg. But the river’s anglers managed to pull on some bronzebacks and a few walleyes from Phillipsburg to Martin’s Creek. Trout anglers should pound the Musconetcong River and the Pequest River, because the state put in real stocker-sized trout this fall. Bait anglers should cast meal worms, now that the waters were colder.

If you’ve got a canoe or kayak, head to the Passaic River for northern pike, said Adrian at Fairfield Fishing Tackle in Montville. The small-craft anglers were livelining large shiners to find pike from the Two Bridges to the Little Falls section, and patience was a must to find where the pike were hanging. Lake Hopatcong gave up a few good shots of pickerel, and trouters were hammering away at rainbow trout in the Pequest while drifting salmon eggs.

A decent yellow perch bite materialized in the state park cove at Lake Hopatcong, said Kevin at Ramsey Outdoor in Paramus. The barred brawlers were inhaling small, 1/16-ounce jigs tipped with white Mister Twister tails. The Delaware River started to put out a few decent walleyes on nightcrawlers or black, 1/16- to 1/18-ounce jigheads with curly grubs. Trout fishers were hitting the Stevens State Park section of the Musconetcong River to land quality fish to 3 pounds.

Most anglers were finding good numbers of yellow perch and solid walleye activity on the lake, said Laurie at Dow’s Boat Rentals in Lake Hopatcong. The 4- to 6-pound walleyes were taking Gotcha and ice-fishing Rapala jigs, and a few hybrid stripers to 8 pounds were also chasing down the jigs. Popular colors included chrome and blue, black and silver and chartreuse. Lou Marcucci jigged up a nice channel cat that weighed a whopping 13 pounds 6 ounces. Some herring were still stocked for those looking to fish with bait.

Word came in that Lake Hopatcong was offering good numbers of yellow perch from the coves, said Steve from Meltzer’s Sporting Goods in Garfield. The fish were attacking live fathead minnows and jigs tipped with curly grubtails. Walleye were sometimes also coming up on the jigs in the deeper coves. For all interested parties, water was being let out at Greenwood Lake to repair the docks, so largemouth bass might be more concentrated and easier to catch.

Shoreline and shallow-water fishing was now very good at Round Valley Reservoir, said Chris at Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop in Lebanon. Brown and rainbow trout were cruising the shoreline, inhaling marshmallows with mealworms, or M&M combos, drifted a foot off the bottom. The Division of Fish and Wildlife will stock a total of 23 lakes this month, and more than 5,000 rainbow trout will be put in, making trout fishing a No. 1 priority this fall, Chris said. In other news, a sustained smallmouth bass fishery was going on at some of the local, Sussex County lakes and ponds, and small Rapala Countdowns were hooking into good numbers of the bronzebacks.

Trout streams were clean and clear in the Warren County area, said Ron of Ray’s Sport Shop in North Plainfield. He was able to get out and cast size-14 Lime Trute flies to release eight native brookies and rainbows from an unnamed stream. With almost perfect trout temps in the rivers, fall trouting should be peaking soon.

Central Jersey

A formidable trout fishery was stirring up the shores of Round Valley Reservoir, said Jim from Efinger Sporting Goods in Bound Brook. Rainbow trout were cruising the shorelines near both boat launches late into the night, and M&M combos were getting bitten as the trout passed through. The M&M’s keep the bait off the bottom and in the trout’s feeding zone. Mike Kolodjziek made the trip to New York’s Salmon River to fight steelhead to 12 pounds on egg patterns.

Decent trout activity was going on at the Manasquan River, said Andrew at L&H Woods & Water in Wall, and nymphs, streamers and egg patterns were fooling rainbows in the upper stretches. The Toms River was giving up a good share of trout, and customers were coming into the shop to buy 3-inch Storm Shads. They were heading to the Manasquan Reservoir to cast to smallmouth and largemouth bass.

With cold temps that moved in, chain pickerel got on the feed, said Dennis at Murphy’s Hook House in Toms River. The chainsiders were found hitting live killies in the Trilco section of the Toms River and under the Parkway Bridge. Manasquan Reservoir anglers should be tossing jig-n-pig combos and crank baits for largemouth bass as well as working Senko worms around the tree stumps. Trout were active in the Manasquan River, especially along the Allaire section, where one customer latched into six chunky rainbows to 1 ½ pounds on spinners.

Crappie were on an aggressive tear at Gropp’s Lake, said Eric from Harry’s Army and Navy of Robbinsville. Two-inch Berkeley Power Grubs in pink or white were hooking the panfish around the stick piles and near the ends of fallen trees. At the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area Lakes largemouth bass were hitting slow-trolled spinner baits on the surface. Lake Mercer kept giving up occasional muskellunge, and big, bright Mepps spinners and Creek Chub plugs in bright yellow with black polka dots were attracting the strikes. Small striped bass were choking the waters on the Delaware River near the Trenton Bridge, and small Bomber plugs were working best.

Largemouth bass anglers were buying up shiners like crazy, said Tony at the Sportsmen’s Center in Bordentown. Lake Mercer and Stone Tavern Lake were the two most talked about places for bigmouths, and the 1- to 3-pounders there were caught on the shiners, mainly in the mornings. The Delaware River’s smallmouth bass fishing slowed down, but customers were still finding fish while retrieving crank baits in the Milford stretch.

South Jersey

Chain pickerel took over largemouth bass as the primary feeders at local lakes, said Ed from Creek Keepers in Blackwood. Lake Worth doled out solid pickerel fishing on live shiners. Grenloch Lake and Oak Pond were both holding quality trout fishing, and sometimes limits were bagged for customers casting out meal worms or nightcrawlers. The trout were the healthy sized, 15- to 18-inch stockers, and plenty were swimming the lakes for real fun.

Trout were all the rage since the state’s stocking, said Lou at the Sportsman’s Outpost in Williamstown. Iona Lake offered up big breeders to 5 pounds for the Avis brothers, who practiced catch and release all week, using Blue Fox and Roostertail spinners. Meal worms and garden worms were also working well in all the trout-stocked lakes, and the fish should be on a solid feeding streak in the coming weeks.

A fall pattern set in for bucketmouth anglers, said Jeff from Blackwater Sports Center in Vineland. Waters such as at Sunset Lake and Parvin Lake were clear, making “clown-colored” plugs with red heads and clear bodies the best to throw. Rat-L-Traps and jerk baits were also putting some largemouths into the boat, though anglers should be using a stop-and-go type of retrieve for fall. Trout fishers were claiming a good number of fish from the Maurice River as well as Iona Lake, and Power Baits or spinners were working best.

More small stripers to 27 inches were moving into the Maurice River this week, said Ki of Huck’s Place in Millville. The linesiders were inhaling bloodworms, and the bloods were also connecting with a steady pick of white perch in the river. Bank anglers should see larger stripers making their way up the river in the next three weeks, and there’s always a shot at catching a keeper, Ki said.