New Jersey Fishing Reports

The Delaware River was now putting out quality catches of larger striped bass and a mess of catfish, said Bill from Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle in Philadelphia. He fished the Trenton area and pinned down 16 catties, including four that weighed more than 5 pounds apiece. The river’s striper anglers were first heading to jig herring for bait off the Bordentown boat ramp, near the marina at Trenton or up at the Trenton bridges. At Trenton the livelined herring picked up lots of 22- to 30-inch bass upriver from the bridges, down in front of Katmandu, in front of the ball park, at buoy 80 and near the Turnpike Bridge. One customer fished along the Trenton bridges on Sunday to boat six bass to 30 inches and missed a dozen smaller fish. A 43-incher was the largest striper reported caught so far and swallowed a herring chunk dunked off Camac Street just above Station Avenue. What’s more, the river’s shad catches were the best that Bill could remember, with action from Trenton all the way upriver to the Water Gap. Trenton, Yardley, New Hope, Lambertville, Bull's Island and Upper Black Eddie were the hot shad spots, and shad spoons and 1/8-ounce darts in chartreuse, white, pink and orange worked best.

NEW JERSEY

North Jersey

Trout anglers were far scarcer than during recent years, for some reason, said Bill from Bill’s Bait & Tackle in Phillipsburg. But the ones who were fishing were scoring above average catches. The Musconetcong River, the Pequest River and Pohatcong Creek were supposedly stocked with loads of good-sized trout. On the Musky, Pete Luzzo, Martins Creek, nailed a 4-pound 8-ounce brownie, and Gabriel Ibarra, Bethlehem Township, banked a 3-pound 12-ounce rainbow, and Sean Lutz, Phillipsburg, took a 4-pound rainbow. Jim Mullen, Forks Township, fished the Pequest for a 4-pound 3-ounce brown, and Chris Steineot, Easton, hit Lopatcong Creek for a 3-pound 12-ounce brown. At Merrill Creek Reservoir Tony Morello, Alpha, scored a 4-pound 9-ounce brown. On another front, Sammi Donaldson, Phillipsburg, battled a 15-pound carp from near the Columbia Dam.This week’s rains were expected to fill up streams a little, so long as the downfalls didn’t pour too hard and wash them out, said Adrian from Fairfield Fishing Tackle in Montville. The Flatbrook and Pequest rivers were in perfect trouting shape and doled out lots of quality fish. Pike anglers were finding strikes on the Passaic River, though fishing from a boat elevated the chances. Be sure to stop by the store and pike up a Passaic River Pike Map.

Dingman’s Ferry to the Water Gap was the most prolific area for shad that infiltrated the Delaware River, said Dom from Ramsey Outdoor in Paramus. Spoons and darts fooled the fish. Stellar trout fishing came from the Black River, where small, bead-headed, caddis nymphs were the flies to toss for 10- to 12-inchers. A wild walleye chew was put out at Lake Hopatcong, but contrary to conventional thought, the ‘eyes hit surface plugs instead of feeding deep down. Dusk until the midnight hour was the best time. Hybrid stripers began to get active and were jumping in the dusk hours.

Trout anglers were slamming catches while trolling or casting Rapalas, spinners and Phoebes on the lake, said Laurie from Dow’s Boat Rentals in Lake Hopatcong. Adam Kasica connected with two big browns while fishing from a dock: a 5-pound 11-ouncer and a 5-pound 9-ouncer. Jim Smith beat a 6-pound 6-ounce brown, and Mike Santolli creeled a 4-pound 10-ounce brown, and Don Golembek dusted a 6-pound 2-ounce brown. Sizes 5 or 7 Rapalas in silver, chartreuse and different trout colors were all hooking the brownies. Stripers and walleyes were also on the feed, and live herring attracted both. Make a note that walleye season opens back up tomorrow, May 1. Bill Hand and son Liam weighed in a 15-pound 13-ounce channel cat, a whopper, that sucker punched a shiner off their dock.

Stocker trout were all over spinners and nightcrawlers, said Al from Meltzer’s Sporting Goods in Garfield. Best spots to fill a stringer included the Ramapo and Wanaque rivers, with brownies the main catch on the Ramapo, and rainbows predominant fare on the Wanaque. Ramapo Lake gave up a surge of largemouth bass activity, as 4-pound fish were caught and released. Pickerel to 24 inches were also taken from the lake.

Stocked rainbows and brook trout nailed Hare’s Ears and caddis nymphs on the South Branch of the Raritan River during the daytime, and focused on Hendricksons and caddis hatches in the evenings, said Chris from Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop in Lebanon. The South Branch also offered up largemouth bass, though the females were on the spawning beds and had lockjaw, while the buck bass were chasing down Senkos off the beds.

Both the North Branch and the South Branch of the Raritan were productive trout spots, said Ron from Ray’s Sport Shop in North Plainfield. Light Hendricksons in size 14 were the key dry flies. The Clinton stretch of the South Branch was a top trout producer, but Mepps size-0 gold spinners worked best here. The Big Flatbrook held its fair share of trout that were played.

Central Jersey

The Pequest River was a place for whopper trout, said Mark from Efinger Sporting Goods in Bound Brook. A 6-pound 6-ounce rainbow smacked a Rapala for Dave Barrett, who also tallied a 3-1/2-pounder. Farrington Lake got up on a good pickerel chew for water wolves to 2 1/2 pounds that sneaked up on Senkos and live shiners. Forrest Black took a trip to Spruce Run Reservoir to angle for black crappie, maxing out with a 2.3-pound slab.

Trouters pulled away at two to six fish a day on the Manasquan River, said Andrew from L&H Woods & Water in Wall. Power Baits and nightcrawlers took the bulk of fish. Largemouth bass fishing was gaining steam on Manasquan Reservoir, but few customers were fishing the impoundment yet. Big carp milled around Spring Lake, and Eric Olsen wrangled in a 16-pound beast on canned corn.

Opportunities for a catch abounded in the local area, said Dennis from Murphy’s Hook House in Toms River. On Forge Pond plenty of herring and white perch pounced on shad darts, and the perch also grabbed bloodworms fished on the bottom. Lake Riviera held potential for catches of bucketmouth bass that would inhale shiners and killies, especially near the dirt road access area. Lake Horicon in Lakehurst was a go-to locale for a solid pickerel party, and so were the Presidential Lakes. Bass fishing was still slow on Manasquan Reservoir but should begin to improve on any given day.

The South Branch of the Raritan River seemed a source of a never-ending supply of stocker trout, said Eric from Harry’s Army and Navy in Robbinsville, and simple garden worms fished on split-shot rigs gained limits. Lake Assunpink was responsible for good crappie catches on small grub tails. The Delaware River drew an influx of larger striped bass lately, and live herring fished on incoming tides banged the linesiders to 22 pounds in the Trenton area.

All the local lakes were pretty much holding action, said Tony from the Sportsmen’s Center in Bordentown. Lake Mercer was a best bet, because both crappie and largemouth bass were on tap. Carnegie Lake rationed out a mild feed on both species. The WMA lakes at Assunpink and Colliers Mills delivered a smattering of largemouth bass and loads of pickerel. Fishing during sunny, mid-day hours was a secret to bass strikes. The Delaware River’s herring run was really peaking, especially in the Trenton stretch.

South Jersey

Trout action was unparalleled on the local trout-stocked ponds and lakes, said Ed from Creek Keepers in Blackwood. Rowan’s Pond dished out plenty of trout that chased small to medium shiners, and Oak Pond was hot-to-trot for trout that swallowed dunked nightcrawlers. Grenloch Lake paid the trout bounty on meal worms. Even with recent rains, trout fishing kept on going. To mix it up, anglers fished New Brooklyn Lake to liveline shiners for 2-pound-plus pickerel catches.

Pickerel drilled live shiners hard at Wilson and Malaga lakes, said Lou from the Sportsman’s Outpost in Williamstown. Roostertails cast to the weed paddies got whacked. Trout stockings kept limit catches common at Mullica Hill Pond and Oak Pond.

Good news from largemouth bassing, because all the local lakes started to give up solid catches, especially during sunny days, said Steve from Blackwater Sports Center in Vineland. Sunset Lake, Davis Mill Pond and the Salem Canal were all sources of reports about bass crushing Senkos, buzz baits and top-water lures, such as Zoom Horny Toads. Top-notch trout fishing came from the Maurice River and Iona Lake. Farther downstream on the Maurice, stripers sucked down bloodworms hung from float rigs, and migrating herring could be caught with regularity now at the Union Lake Dam, for those looking for striper baits.

Striped bass kept marching up the Maurice River, said Ki from Huck’s Place in Millville. Herring in the river could be jigged and then livelined back to feeding bass. More and more bass were pushing the 28-inch, keeper mark ever day, and only a matter of days were the issue before keepers pushed in with regularity.