New Jersey Fishing Reports

One customer said he kept reeling in lots of smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, walleyes, catfish and carp from the Schuylkill River just below the art museum, saying how well he was doing, said Bill from Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle. Spinners and twister tails grabbed the bass, and minnows and rubber shads drew the walleyes. Cut baits and chicken livers got the catfish bites, but big flatheads attacked large shiners or white perch fished right on the bottom. People fished the ponds and lagoons at Philly’s FDR Park and hooked crappies, perch and largemouth bass on small jigs, trout magnets and twister tails, and carp on corn. One angler hauled in a couple of 10-pound carp. Another fished a local lake and landed three snakeheads to 5 pounds on Zara Spooks, targeting them just because the fight was so good. Lake Luxembourg at Core Creek Park put out a mix of plenty of crappies, largemouth bass, bluegills and catfish for another customer who swam minnows. Churchville Reservoir is always a tough place to fish, but a customer fished there, said he was the only one casting all day, and nailed five largemouth bass, all under 5 pounds apiece, on plastic worms. Falls Township Lake was a great place to drop a line for all kinds of fish. A customer there bailed 10 largemouths every day on plastic worms, jigs and suspended jerk baits. Most of the bass were 10 to 12 inches, but he drilled three that weighed 4 pounds apiece in the past couple of weeks. “Nockamixon” John and wife also hit the lake, walloping nine bass to 5 pounds in 15 to 20 feet. At first, they threw everything in their tackle box, but jigged spoons turned out to be the ticket. Others on the lake stuck a mess of crappies and bluegills on small twister tails, trout magnets, wax worms and meal worms. On Poquessing Creek one customer scored two largemouth bass and missed several, but the fishing took work. He cast a rod there at first, caught nothing after several hours, though he saw a couple of bass that refused to bite. Then he fished down at the hatchery, scored a few bites on spinners and Senkos, but failed to connect. Then he returned to the Poquessing and finally hooked up.

NEW JERSEY

North Jersey

Quite a few short, 6- to 12-pound striped bass were caught and released on the Delaware River, said Bill at Bill’s Bait & Tackle in Phillipsburg. However, Brad Jenkins checked in a keeper, and the biggest striper seen at the shop all week: a 26-pound 2-ouncer. Charles Hampton also nailed a 20 pounder, so some better-sized linesiders also ran the river. A 14-pound 9-ounce tiger musky that Jeremy Black pulled from the Delaware was another notable catch. Carp and catfish were always good bets on both the Big D and the Lehigh River. John Madison claimed a 6-pound 9-ounce channel cat from the Delaware, and Darren Kleedorfer put the brakes on a 22-pound carp at the Lehigh. Dunk dead baits for the cats, and mix canned corn with anise oil to get the carp. Merrill Creek was a place to find largemouth bass. John Steiner hit the “res” and tackled a 5-pound largemouth, and Kyle Wilburn fished there and scored a 5-pound 7-ouncer.

Waters were very low in the local area, said Adrian from Fairfield Fishing Tackle in Montville. So pike fishing ground to a halt on the Passaic River, and even if you did catch one, the fish would be difficult to release alive. Carp were one bright. They hit at many ponds and small lakes, and customers bought small hooks and prepared dough baits to do battle with 10- to 25-pounders. Good, old corn was also just as effective as dough.

Most anglers stuck close to home and did a little bass fishing over the weekend, because of forecasts for rough weather, said Don from Ramsey Outdoor in Paramus. When they fished at Lake Hopatcong, lures worked better than live bait. Don also saw a bunch of activity on the Delaware River on his way to work, watching people launch canoes in pursuit of smallmouth bass. Lots of fishing kayaks were sold, and the sport was gaining popularity, by the way.

Walleye fishing was excellent on the lake, even if participation was way down, said Laurie at Dow’s Boat Rentals in Lake Hopatcong. The cost of fuel kept many of the big powerboats off the lake, but that made for nice, quiet fishing for small-boat anglers. One of the rental boaters came back on Saturday with three big walleyes. Schools of small hybrid striped bass ran rampant in the coves, and anglers had to move away from the small fish to find drag-screaming 5- to 10-pounders. As usual, herring was best bait by far, but a bunch fell to surface lures. If anyone’s looking for a nighttime fight, try cat fishing with dead bait. A 16-pound channel cat was weighed in.

Lots of traffic came through the shop from anglers heading to Round Valley and Spruce Run reservoirs, said Chris from Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop. At the Valley, trout hit well on live herring, and the browns and rainbows rode the thermocline down around 25 to 35 feet. Use a slip-float rig to drop the herring to that level. Lake trout moved into deeper waters, slamming herring fished just off the bottom. At Spruce, hybrid striped bass fishing was hit or miss. Tony Cavaliero got into a bonanza bite yesterday morning, boating several hybrids, while several others broke him off or jumped off. One even yanked a good Shimano rod and reel overboard! Pete Pfeiffer landed a 4 pounder, and Chris Lido reeled up a 4-pound smallmouth on the same trip. Both fish chomped down on trolled live herring with a keel weight. On Saturday night a storm front shut down the pressure-sensitive hybrids.

Despite the summer swelter, fly anglers banged out trout from the streams before breakfast, when temps were lower, said Ron from Ray’s Sport Shop. Size-18 sulphurs and ants and beetles on light, fluorocarbon leaders worked best. Fly fishers at local ponds played largemouth bass on white wooly buggers and panfish on orange and chartreuse poppers. Summer is also the time for smallmouth bass, and some of the bronzebacks grew as large as 4 pounds, providing a great alternative, when waters more than 70 degrees kept trout fishing from being an option. The smallies smacked deep-running, silver and black Rapalas in the rivers and streams.

Central Jersey

Nick from Efinger Sporting Goods in Bound Brook fished Ken Lockwood Gorge to fight five good-sized trout on a small, floating Rapala during the early morning feed, he said. Trout anglers should pick up a small thermometer to monitor stream temperatures, and anything over 70 degrees is fatal to trout, especially after they fight against light tackle.

Carp fishing deserved top billing, said Dennis at Murphy’s Hook House in Toms River. One angler hammered the lowly creatures at Trilco Lake and Deal Lake on nightcrawlers and golden raisins. When he was done fishing, he had a great snack! Trilco was also a good spot for pickerel that pounced killies under a float or small spinners that were cast. At Manasquan Reservoir largemouth bass anglers fished deeper, 12- to 18-foot structure with big, Texas-rigged plastic worms. Hybrid stripers at the reservoir got active just before nightfall, crashing bait on the surface. Live shiners or top-water lures drew turbo-charged strikes. Presidential Lakes also offered pickerel, and at Lake Riviera, post-spawn largemouths wolfed down shiners.

Largemouth bass at Lake Assunpink moved into deeper waters, so weighted, big, 10-inch worms came into play, said Eric at Harry’s Army and Navy in Robbinsville. Crappie fishing was just plain nuts there, too. Some customers were reporting hooking as many as 100 big slabs on jigs and trout magnets. Other anglers checked in after fishing the Delaware for smallmouths and said the action was superb. Four-inch Senkos and Yozuri Pins Minnows fished in the scour holes and tail outs were the pattern. The smallie-seekers were still looking for an evening, top-water bite that was yet to materialize. Be sure to visit <a href="http://www.harrys.com" target="_blank">www.harrys.com</a> to download a coupon good for 20-percent off until Monday.

Fish early and late, said Tony at the Sportsmen’s Center in Bordentown. The lakes at the Colliers Mill Wildlife Management Area doled out plenty of pickerel, but fishing for the water wolves was hit or miss at Prospertown Lake. Largemouth bass and big crappies will jump on live shiners or night crawlers at both Mercer Lake and the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area lakes. Carnegie Lake’s fishing slowed a bit but produced a pick of bass and crappie.

South Jersey

A few escaped the heat and fished Tuckerton Lake and Stafford Forge for pickerel, said Scott at Scott’s Bait & Tackle in Mystic Island. A great way to cool off, and the shop always carries minnows for the picks and nightcrawlers for the panfish.

Bucketmouth bass could be earned at Blackwood Lake, Lake Worth and Clementon Lake on shiners or Yamamoto worms, said Ed at Creek Keepers in Blackwood. Look for deeper edges of structure, because waters around the banks are too warm. Crappie catches were on tap at Lakeland Lake. Drift minnows for the big sac-a-lait.

Seven hefty pickerel and two fat largemouth bass made the catch for Rick Muller at Elmer Lake, and he tossed soft-plastic lizards, said Lou at the Sportsman’s Outpost in Williamstown. Not a bad outing to say the least.

Largemouth bass anglers really had to slow down the presentation with soft plastics when the weather was this hot, said Steve at Blackwater Sports Center in Vineland. But a good top-water bite took place at first light, with bass hitting buzz baits hard. The Salem Canal and Davis Mill Pond were twp places to nab the bucketmouths. Bass fishing on the tidal rivers was starting to heat up, and those cranking and jigging deeper structure were doing best. Quite a few largemouth anglers were also tossing Spro Frogs on the ponds that were “scummed over,” pulling the bass through the vegetation with heavier tackle and braid line. Last but not least, good cat fishing could be had on the rivers, and resident striped bass could be taken in the upper Maurice River.