New Jersey Fishing Reports

Slush, ice, sleet, and snow dumped on the area, said Ron from FISH307.com in Lake George. So ice conditions were a bit sloppy, but that failed to stop the fish from feeding. Landlocked salmon were caught off Lake George Beach and the North End at Silver Bay, with shiners attracting them in the 3- to 10-foot range below the ice. Lake trout were taken in the 70- to 120-foot depths, mostly on live suckers and large, No. 7 Swedish Pimple jigs, with the Hearthstone area holding plenty of the fish. Yellow perch amassed in the 30- to 35-foot depths, and small grub jigs tipped with mousies were working well. A few big northern pike to 21 pounds were also drilled in the shallower coves. Right now, a solid coat of 8 to 12 inches of ice was holding strong on the lake, and another 18 inches of slush and crumble covered the top.

Salmon River

Steelhead fishing was an on-and-off proposition day to day on the river, said Eric at All Seasons Sports in Pulaski. The river was running at 900 CFS, and good days were offering up seven to nine steelies per angler, and slow days put out maybe one or two hits. Pink bubble gum worms were now drawing the strikes, and so were 1/16-ounce, white marabou jigs fished on a 2-foot leader underneath a float.

PENNSYLVANIA

The Delaware River was home to largemouth bass and yellow perch biting in the Dredge Harbor section, said Bill from Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle in Philadelphia, and live shiners were best baits. Excellent reports came in from Roosevelt Lake near the airport, where several anglers caught a medley of bluegills, largemouth bass, crappies and even the invasive snakeheads. The bass were picked up on minnows, nightcrawlers and plastic worms, and the snakeheads were aggressively attacking top-water poppers and shallow crank baits. A few customers were fishing the Schuylkill River just below the Art Museum, reeling in small walleyes on rubber sassy shads in white, yellow and chartreuse.

NEW JERSEY

North Jersey

Northern pike anglers were getting ready for the spawn in the Passaic River, said Adrian at Fairfield Fishing Tackle in Montville. The excitement was starting, now that anglers were dialed into the great pike fishery that takes place in the river, and if you could find large, live shiners or suckers, you’d be way ahead of the game in scoring a strike. As the waters warm up this week, as long as the rains mostly hold off, look for the river’s pike to become active.

Lots of trout anglers were out on Sunday, enjoying pleasant weather, and spots such as the Pequest and Big Flatbrook gave up rainbows for fly anglers casting out small, bead-headed nymphs, said Dom from Ramsey Outdoor in Paramus. Some fishable ice was supposedly actually still available on some of the coves at Budd Lake, where perch and pickerel were in the mix. But now the ice is not recommended to fish at all, because it’ll definitely be unsafe by this weekend.

The tiniest bit of ice was still covering the cove near the State Police station, said Jim from Dow’s Boat Rentals in Lake Hopatcong. Anglers were fishing it, but it’ll be gone by the weekend. In the meantime, crappie and perch anglers were heading to the Brady Bridge area to toss small grubs to find hook-ups. Any pickerel or pike in the area will be moving into the Brady Bridge shallows to spawn out in the next few weeks, so anglers should concentrate on casting Husky Jerks or live shiners to put a bend in the rod.

Although it was hard to believe, there was 7 inches of ice on Culver’s Lake, said Tom from Meltzer’s Sporting Goods in Garfield. One customer used live shiners to land a bunch of pickerel and yellow perch there. The lake was fishable as of Monday, but it might be very iffy by the weekend. Trout anglers were gearing up for opening day on April 5, but in the meantime were pulling on occasional holdovers in the Pequest and South Branch of the Raritan rivers.

Round Valley Reservoir served up the most trout activity in the area lately, with rainbows caught from shore near the boat launch, said Chris at Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop. Boat fishers were locating rainbows in the 30- to 40-foot depths as they trolled herring. Look for the rainbows to elevate their feeding, now that the waters were beginning to warm up a bit. Spruce Run Reservoir anglers were gearing up to target northern pike around the creek mouths as the water wolves begin to go on their spawn. Procure large live shiners or suckers for an almost guaranteed hit.

Most folks were shopping around for flies, said Ron from Ray’s Sport Shop in North Plainfield. The fly fishers should concentrate on tying up black stonefly patterns in sizes 14 and 16, the predominant hatch through the month of March. Trouters should focus on hitting rocky-type streams, such as Ken Lockwood Gorge on the South Branch of the Raritan River, where the stonefly patterns will work great.

Central Jersey

A whopper, 23-inch, 4.2-pound rainbow trout was checked in, said Ron from Efinger Sporting Goods in Bound Brook, and John Markulin used Power Bait to trick the fish in the South Branch of the Raritan River. Another customers was also out trout fishing in the discharge section of the Pequest River, casting bead-headed nymphs to pull on seven rainbows. Stop at the shop to steal the deals on lures that are 30 percent off, waders and wading jackets that are 20 percent off and Barefoot Rods that are 40 percent off. The store has begun to stock nightcrawlers and meal worms for trout fishing.

The weekend’s warm weather seemed to make lots of anglers buy up meal worms and nightcrawlers to cast a line in Spring Lake, said Andrew from L&H Woods & Water in Wall. They were probably pulling on trout from the shoreline as well as crappies from the northern part of the lake. The Allaire Road ponds were the place for consistent pickerel and crappie fishing. Stop in to check out the store’s newly expanded fly-fishing section.

Lake Riviera was a hotbed for chain pickerel and yellow perch action, said Jeff from Murphy’s Hook House in Toms River, and live shiners were fooling both. The southern Toms River was holding a good show of pickerel, and yellow perch there could also be found inhaling grass shrimp and nightcrawlers. White perch began to invade the river’s brackish waters off the bulkhead at Island Heights, and grass shrimp were also a best bet there. Crappie were chewing on nightcrawlers in the Ocean County College ponds, and the middle of the day was the best time to fish for them.

South Jersey

A mild smallmouth bass bite was going on at the Trenton stretch of the Delaware River, said Eric from Harry’s Army and Navy in Robbinsville. Try working small crank baits on a slow retrieve to get a whack. Catfishing was hot and heavy in the Big D all along the shoreline from Trenton southward, and the 3- to 5-pounders were chomping down on dead baits and stink baits. Lake Assunpink and Gropp’s Lake were super hot for larger crappies on ¼-inch, white grubs on 3/16-ounce jigs or on shad darts tipped with meal worms. At Gropp’s Lake largemouth bass were chasing slow-rolled spinner baits.

The Scudder’s Falls section of the Big D gave up a few walleyes, said Carl from the Sportsmen’s Center in Bordentown. The marble-eyes attacked marabou jigs tipped with dead shiners and bounced along the river bottom. Carnegie Lake was a crappie, white perch, and yellow perch fiesta, and monster yellows to 15 inches were taken on small hair jigs jigged underneath a bobber float. Anglers fishing Sylvan Lake grabbed largemouth bass that sucked down live shiners, and that fishery should get better by the day as the waters warm up.

Pickerel season was in full force, said Dick at L&H Woods & Water in Waretown. Most anglers were saying the Route 72 ponds were home to the most pickerel in the area. Both live shiners and small stick baits were raising the fish in the shallows and around the shorelines.

It was a week of fair fishing, said Steve from Blackwater Sports Center in Vineland. The best action was with chain pickerel in Arbor Lake, where in-line spinners such as Mepps, CP Swings and Roostertails were hanging pickerel to 4 pounds. Largemouth bass anglers should concentrate on the shallower lakes, such as Cedarville Lake, to find early season bass on the feed. Rat-L-Traps and Husky Jerk plugs will be the most productive lures to toss out for the bucketmouths. Yellow perch and white perch were becoming pretty active in the Maurice River, and grass shrimp will draw their interest.

No reports came in about striped bass catches yet, but some activity with the fish should start this week in the Maurice River, said Ki from Huck’s Place in Millville. Short stripers will inhale grass shrimp and bloodworms on the higher tides, and water temps were around 41 degrees and should jump to 44 by the weekend. The warmer water might open up the mouths of the stripers by then.