New Jersey Fishing Reports

The Delaware River’s smallmouth-bass circus continued to roll, said Bill at Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle in Philadelphia. While fishing the New Hope stretch up to the Stockton Bridge, Bill used Zoom and Berkeley Grubs to tie into 30 smallies and one catfish, and his friend Anthony scored 24 of the bass. White, pumpkinseed and smoke colors did most of the trick on the 6- to 14-inchers. The Yardley Pool section of the Big D was also a good bet, and one customer fished there and caught more than 50 smallies on medium shiners and leeches. A couple of striped bass, catfish, and rock bass rounded out his catch.

NEW JERSEY

North Jersey

Smallmouth bass were “on a feeding frenzy in this section of the Delaware,” said Bill of Bill’s Bait & Tackle in Phillipsburg, and the bronzebacks were slamming Senkos and small crank baits. Also on the river, Randy Taylor hauled in a 7-pound 10-ounce channel cat, and David Dilley pulled up a 4-pound 8-ounce largemouth bass. Chris Farley, 7, hit the river and brought in a 3-pound 8-ounce channel cat, and Jim Johnson’s trip on the Big D produced bragging-sized, 23-pound 6-ounce striped bass.

With nighttime temps dipping into the 50s, stream and lake fishing should begin to engage, and a fall pattern should start to kick in, said Adrian at Fairfield Fishing Tackle in Montville. Customers reported ideal fishing conditions at Lake Hopatcong and Monksville Reservoir, but for stream anglers, the Passaic River was running a bit low. On the lakes, look for largemouths to really get hungry as waters cool, and prepare to throw small crank baits, such as Rapala F5’s.

Stream fishing got a solid injection of activity, said Brendan at Ramsey Outdoor in Paramus. The Big Flatbrook put out a good show of trout that chased down hopper and terrestrial patterns in sizes 10 and 12. At Ken Lockwood Gorge, pheasantails in sizes 16 and 18 worked well, and so did streamers and size 20 parachute Adams flies.

Plenty of walleye and smallmouth bass action was going down at the lake, said Laurie from Dow’s Boat Rentals in Lake Hopatcong. The marble-eyes weighed 5 to 6 pounds, and the smallies were hitting up to 3 pounds, and both species honed in on live herring fished off the points and ridges in roughly 20 feet of water. The ridge by Barnes Bros was a hot spot in particular. Lots of nice crappies and some largemouths to 3-1/2 pounds were also found. The shop will be open with bait and boat rentals until the end of October. On the weekend of September 15 and 16 the Knee Deep Club will hold a Walleye Weekend. The contest will begin 5 a.m. Saturday and will end 12 noon Sunday. The entry fee for club members is $20 and for non-member is $25, and a payout of 80 percent of entry fees goes to the three anglers weighing in the three heaviest walleyes. Entry forms are available at kneedeepclub.org or at the club’s official weigh stations at Dow's and at Lake's End Marina in Landing.

Lake Hopatcong anglers were talking about good largemouth and walleye fishing, said Steve at Meltzer’s Sporting Goods in Garfield. The walleye were chasing down live herring swum off the points and were feeding through the night. Greenwood Lake served up bucketmouths, mostly caught on top-water plugs.

Round Valley Reservoir’s fishing was a little tentative, save for a few smallmouth bass that bit in the coves, said Chris of Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop. Most anglers were heading up to Lake Hopatcong to get in on the excellent walleye fishing. The points and the ridges were holding the ‘eyes, and live herring was the go-to bait. Not only were walleye on tap, but a mixed bag of crappie, smallmouths and largemouths were on the menu. Bonaparte Point and Pine Tree Point were particularly red hot. The Clinton stretch of the South Branch of the Raritan River offered a good shot of smallmouths to 3 pounds that attacked Senkos and small Rapala crank baits.

Stream anglers were delighted with a new surge in trout activity, said Sean at Ray’s Sport Shop in North Plainfield. The Pequest River, Ken Lockwood Gorge and the Big Flatbrook were three productive spots, and early mornings was the time for the most strikes on small nymphs and streamers.

Central Jersey

Round Valley and Spruce Run Reservoirs were in good shape, said Mark at Efinger Sporting Goods in Bound Brook. Hybrid stripers from 2 to 4 pounds were hitting shiners at Spruce Run, and rainbow trout were inhaling herring at the Valley. Stream fishing was still somewhat on the low side, though fly fishers were placing down small, sizes 20 to 24 midges in black, white and yellow and hooking into trout.

Pickerel fishing was the best bet, said Dennis at Murphy’s Hook House in Toms River. The Trilco area of the Toms doled out picks to 2 pounds that were eating up live shiners. The Route 70 bog ponds were also producing the chainsiders, though live killies were working better there. Manasquan Reservoir was holding some largemouth bass, and the method for success was to work over the deep channels with big, 10-inch jelly worms, bouncing them along the bottom structure. The Playground Road section of Lake Riviera was the spot to connect with a few pickerel and largemouth bass that hunted down live shiners.

Largemouth bass fishing picked up at Lake Assunpink and Stone Tavern Lake, said Frank at Harry’s Army and Navy of Robbinsville. The cooler waters sparked the bucketmouths to get active. On the Big D smallmouth bass choked the waters off Bull Island and along the Lambertville stretch, and Yozuri Pin’s Minnows hooked the fish on almost every cast.

Water levels were a little low at local ponds and lakes, said Tony at the Sportsmen’s Center in Bordentown. The best waters to fish included Lake Assunpink for largemouth bass, and that bite was now getting stronger for anglers switching from top waters to deep-diving crank baits. Delaware River anglers were finding smallmouth bass ready and willing to chase crank baits, especially around the Scudder’s Falls area.

South Jersey

Labor Day Weekend saw kids pulling plenty of panfish out of Blackwood Lake, said Ed from Creek Keepers of Blackwood. Meal worms and nightcrawlers worked best, and Gren Loch Lake dished out plenty of large bluegills for fly casters tossing Wooly Buggers. The National Park section of the Delaware River was catfish central, and chicken livers fished on the bottom got the attention of channels to 6 pounds. This part of the Delaware was also a good bet for largemouth bass that weighed 1-1/2 to 2 pounds and were hitting nightcrawlers.

Try targeting largemouths at Malaga Lake and Iona Lake with live shiners or shallow-running crank baits for a hookup, said Lou from Sportsman’s Outpost.

Largemouth bass fishing was somewhat gaining steam during the early part of the week, said Steve from Blackwater Sports Center in Vineland. Senkos and Zoom Horny Toads pulled in bass from Iona Lake, the Salem Canal, Daretown Lake and the tidal portion of the Maurice River. The Maurice was also a hot spot to angle for catfish with cut bunker and stink baits fished on the bottom. Look for Parvin Lake to turn on in the coming days for largemouths as the nighttime temps cool down the waters.

Catfish and white perch were the staple fishery in the Maurice River, said Ki at Huck’s Place in Millville. Catties were eating up chicken livers day and night, and whiteys were sucking down grass shrimp on the higher tides. Striped bass were still being seen jumping out of the waters in the river, and anglers fishing the higher tides with cut bunker and bloodworms were hanging a few throwbacks.