<b>PENNSYLVANIA</b>

Delaware River smallmouth bass fishing kept up a torrid pace, said Bill from <b>Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Philadelphia. Bruce from the shop trolled 30 smallies to 15 inches on Zoom watermelon grubs. Bill made it out and drifted Long Eddie to Kellum’s Bridge to pull on 35 smallies to 17 1/2 inches, fallfish and river chubs on jigs in the morning hours. He also jigged a whopper, 24-pound class striper but lost the fish. The New Hope area gave up lots of smallmouths 10 to 14 inches, mainly on white twister tails and live shiners fished in fast waters. A customer fished the Byram area to pull on 32 of the bronzebacks, one walleye and plenty of catfish on nightcrawlers. The lower sections of the Big D held catfish and small striped bass, and the catfish scarfed up chicken livers, herring, shrimp, bagels, nightcrawlers and shiners, while the stripers inhaled bloodworms, shrimp and chicken livers. The river around Linden Avenue and Rhawn Street were hot spots for both, and larger cats 7 to 15 pounds could also be found in the Trenton stretch.

<b>North Jersey</b>

The Delaware River doled out a variety of species, said Bill from <b>Bill’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Phillipsburg. Jim Berger landed a 3-pound 10-ounce smallmouth, and Josh Massey banked a 12-pound channel cat. Carl Ramirez scored a 15-pound 6-ounce muskie, and Richard Redfield bested a 9-pound 8-ounce walleye. At Oxford Furnace Lake Bill Carlin took a 4-pound 9-ounce rainbow trout, and at Swayze Mills Pond Andrew Kline, 9, connected with a 5-pound pickerel.

More people fished through the week because of the beautiful weather, said Adrian from <b>Fairfield Fishing Tackle</b> in Montville. The Passaic River at the Route 80 Bridge had plenty going on, with smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, panfish and the occasional northern pike eating up shiners and Senko worms. The key was to stay off bottom to avoid lots of snags. So float out shiners on a 3-foot leader, and reel up Senkos after a few solid twitches before hitting bottom.

The Rockaway River was loaded with smallmouth bass, said Dom from <b>Ramsey Outdoor</b> in Paramus. He fished from the Golf Club to Boonton with wooly bugger spinners, hooking a bunch of bronzebacks to 14 inches. The river was filled with crawfish, and crawdad imitations should also work well for the smallies. Beware of black snakes in the river, because they seemed to be all over the place, Dom said. Largemouth bass could be caught at the local Boonton ponds, and Senkos in brown sparkle were best lures.

Hybrid striped bass continued biting in the lake, said Laurie from <b>Dow’s Boat Rentals</b> in Lake Hopatcong. Most weighed 3 to 4 pounds, but 8-pounders were drilled at times, and most of the action came from 40-foot depths on live herring. Some hefty largemouth bass were caught off Nolan’s Point on rubber worms, and the biggest was a 4-pound 8-ouncer that Richard Hilton subdued. Kevin Russo checked in a 2-pound 5-ounce smallmouth bass.  Walleye action was on the slower side, and smaller fish started to appear, but John Swenty smacked a 6-pound 15-ounce marble eye.

Morning and evening hours produced best for largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing on the Passaic River, said Tom from <b>Meltzer’s Sporting Goods</b> in Garfield. Pike to 8 pounds could also be found there, and Tom saw one of the beasts along the banks that refused to hit lures, but he thought a live sunfish might’ve been just what the water wolf was looking for. The South Branch of the Raritan River turned up seven smallmouths to 12 inches for Al from the shop, who used a black wooly bugger.

In the South Branch of the Raritan, largemouth bass fishing turned on early and late on buzz baits, and smallmouths hit stick baits during the same hours, said Chris from <b>Lebanon Bait & Sport Shop</b>. An angler and son fished Round Valley during the night, claiming 12 trout to 4 pounds—nine rainbows and three brownies—on shrimp.

Cheaper gas prices and cooler air temps brought out a bunch more anglers, said Ron from <b>Ray’s Sport Shop</b> in North Plainfield. The Musconetcong and Pequest rivers were solid trout locales, and midges in sizes 18 to 24, streamers in sizes 8 to 10 and beetles and ants in sizes 14 to 16 all worked in the morning hours. Smallmouth bass were on the menu on both the Delaware River and the North Branch of the Raritan River, and black or olive wooly buggers or silver and black Rapala Countdowns got the nod.

<b>Central Jersey</b>

The Trenton stretch of the Delaware River was a catfish hangout, said Nick from <b>Efinger Sporting Goods</b> in Bound Brook. Channel cats to 5 pounds, as well as eels, gobbled up dead shiners and nightcrawlers during evenings and nights. A monster 29-1/2-pound grass carp was weighed in that Sean O’Brien bagged at the Millstone River on corn.

Bass anglers found plenty of largemouths to 4 pounds and bigger in the deeper sections of Manasquan Reservoir, said Dennis from <b>Murphy’s Hook House</b> in Toms River. Big rubber worms fished on a drift over channel edges were key to getting a hook-up. Forge Pond put out a sustained pickerel chew on killies. The Trilco beat on the Toms River also offered a run of pickerel as well as a few rainbow trout, and both chased down killies.

Fish the Delaware River at Lambertville for the best smallmouth catches, said Sean from <b>Harry’s Army and Navy</b> in Robbinsville, and Senko worms will take the bulk of the action. Largemouth bass anglers targeted Lake Mercer, Gropp’s Lake and Prospertown Lake for bucketmouths to 3 pounds. Live shiners and buzz baits did the job in the mornings.

The Delaware River was a top producer, said Carl from the <b>Sportsmen’s Center</b> in Bordentown. Catfish could be found in the Trenton area and farther south, and stink baits worked well. The Phillipsburg area was home to smallmouth bass, and black or olive wooly buggers, Yo-Zuri Pins minnows, 1/8-ounce Rat-L-Traps in chrome and black and Zoom Fat Albert swim baits in green pumpkin were all hammered. Manasquan Reservoir gave up a good show of largemouth bass for anglers using jig-n-pig combos around fallen timber. Other anglers had luck dragging Carolina-rigged, 10-inch rubber worms along the bottom in the deeper channels.

<b>South Jersey</b>

Anglers fished the bridge that crosses Tuckerton Lake to catch various species, mainly pickerel and largemouth bass with a few yellow perch mixed in, said Scott from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b> in Mystic Island. Nightcrawlers were the most commonly used baits.

Locals concentrated on largemouth bass, said John from <b>Big Timber Bait & Tackle</b> in Brooklawn. Newton Lake, Stewart Lake, Greenwich Lake and the Pine Hill area lakes were all solid bets. Shiners and Senko worms were top offerings, but nightcrawlers worked as a backup. In the Delaware River largemouth fishing became more consistent and also offered bigger lunkers than before. Fish the grass beds around high tides or along the docks in the early mornings or late in the day, tossing lures like Spro Aruka shads, Rat-L-Traps or X-Raps. But Spro frogs also started to get pounced. Catfishing was productive on the river, and lots of small striped bass filled the waters, biting along the island at National Park, off the Gloucester City pier and at the mouth of the Schuylkill River. Small jigs, such as ones with curly tails, and bloodworms drew strikes.  

Lake Rene served up a catch of 20 pickerel and largemouth bass for one angler, said Ed from <b>Creek Keepers</b> in Blackwood, and medium-sized shiners were the preferred bait. Largemouth anglers also scored a mess at Lake Arial, Penn Bryn Lake and the Blackwood Lake spillway, and Puppyland Pond materialized both bass and a selection of big sunfish for the frying pan. Pickerel chasers also headed to the Route 206 section of the Mullica River to pull on chainsiders to 2 pounds that attacked shiners.

White perch fishing was hot and heavy at Menantico Creek and the Maurice River, said Lou from <b>Sportsman’s Outpost</b> in Williamstown. A customer fished grass shrimp and minnows to put a bucket of whiteys together. Another hit Wilson Lake with a dozen shiners, battling two largemouths to 2 pounds and two pickerel to 2 pounds. The working method was to freeline the shiners on the bottom.

The weekend’s full moon put largemouths down a bit, but the feed should rebound this week, said Steve from <b>Blackwater Sports Center</b> in Vineland. Evenings turned on catches in the Salem Canal on Jitterbugs and buzz baits, but the local sand washes were the best bet for bucketmouths, with more consistent fishing than at the lakes. Catfishing was strong on the Maurice and the Cohansey rivers, and cut baits and stink baits both raised the whiskerfaces.

The Maurice River was a playground for anglers, said Ki from <b>Huck’s Place</b> in Millville. A medley of white perch, catfish and smaller largemouth bass were on the hunt, and fathead minnows bagged them. Union Lake provided a steady pull of sunfish and bluegills that came up on garden worms.  

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