New Jersey & Delaware Bay - New Jersey & Delaware Bay Freshwater Fishing Reports

Another person that told us about some good trout fishing in the northern trout streams was Nick over at Bullet Hole Annex. He too mentioned the Flat Brook, Ramapo, Musconetcong and Pequest and said the South Branch, Pohatcong and Paulinskill were some of the streams that made his hit list. He also mentioned Verona, Branch Book, and Barbours Pond as some of the top still water spots for trout. He also told us Greenwood Lake and Swartswood Lake were lakes that he got good reports on the evening walleye fishing from.

The word from Laurie Murphy over at Dow’s Boat Rentals on the state’s largest lake was decent conditions and good fishing. She told us it was a good week for walleyes with some nice hybrids also taken after dark, this past week. Most of the fish were on jig-combinations and live shiners. She also mentioned some good perch and crappie fishing around the bridges, docks and off the drop offs in 20 feet of water on small jig tipped with Gulp, minnows or plasticbaits, mainly in the evening before dark. Largemouth and smallmouth fishing has slowed up in the lake and what bass are being caught are mainly being taken on jigged or live-lined shiners. Laurie said water temps in the lake are in the low to mid 50s and water levels continue to be good for this time of the year.

We got a pair of reports from Joe over at Fairfield Fishing Tackle. He told us the Passaic River continues to fish well for northerns, smallies and panfish with most of the fishing being on live bait, In addition he said the store got good reports on the trout fishing in northern streams with the Ramapo, Pequest, Flat Brook, Musconetcong and Rockaway being some of the top streams.

Over at Old School Outdoors in Ewing John Bullock told us fishing in the Delaware and the D and R Canal has slowed down because of all the leaves in the water which is making it hard to get to the fish. When it comes to the local lakes and ponds crappie fishing is very good on small jig-combos fished under floats and bass and pickerel are being caught on live lined shiners and minnows. Rainbows and a few browns are being caught from the shorelines at Round Valley along with some lakers. The Fall Trout Madness contest at the store starts this week on November 11 and runs through November 15. It’s open to NJ and PA residents with a $25 entrance fee for adults and a $15 fee for anglers under 18 years old.

The word from Rick over at Tackle World is continued good trout fishing in the northern streams, despite the heavy numbers of leaves in the water. Most of the fishing is on salmon eggs, Gulp, Powerworms and small minnows. Rick ended his report by saying lake trout fishing has slowed down however trout fishing in the rivers has been providing plenty of action.

Over at Creekside Outfitters Tom P told us it was a slower week of fishing this past week then the week before even with a lot of the kids out of school on Tuesday. Anglers saw a fair pick of trout at Corliss Lake on meal worms, Powerworms and pink Gulp. Most of the bows were in the 14-1/2- to16-inch range. A few channel cats were also caught on nightcrawlers and Ocean Acres served up some good bass and crappie fishing with the bass being taken on Chatterbaits, Senkos and big live killies. The majority of the crappies were caught on small jigs tipped with Gulp, twisters and minnows fished under floats.

Over at Hook House Bait and Tackle Dennis said it was a slow week with the exception of a few waters. Pine Lake saw some decent catches of bass this past week on live minnows and the upper Metedeconk produced some nice trout if you could get past the leaves in the water. If you were looking for some good panfishing the Collage Pond saw plenty of bluegills and sunfish on small jigs tipped with worms and fished under small floats. Lastly Dennis said Lake Horicon, Prospertown and Colliers Mills along with other cedar waters continue to see a good bite of chainsides on killies.

We started our mid-state report with a call to Amanda over at Jersey Hooker Outfitters. She told us the nice weather produced some better bass fishing this past week. Manasquan Reservoir was fishing well for deep water bass and serving up some crappies over the tops of the sunken timber. Lake Shenandoah gave up some trout as did the Toms River TCA while Lake Carasaljo and Lake Manetta gave up some bass and pickerel to spinnerbaits. She ended her repot by saying most cedar waters were fishing well for pickerel on live lined killies and swimming plugs.

It was a spotty week in freshwater this past week, said Justin over at Allens Dock. The only consistent fishing has been the pickerel fishing the cedar waters and a few white perch being caught in the Maurice River. Hopefully some cooler weather will get the fall run of white perch in the tidal creeks going, he said.

We got several reports when we call Hands Too Bait and Tackle in Cape May. They said Ponderlodge Lake continues to serve up some nice trout on Garlic Powerbait. Dennisville Lake has been the sport for largemouth and a few pickerel, while Tuckahoe Lake has been giving up good catches of catfish. Lastly we were told the recent nice weather has put a lot more anglers on the water in the last two weeks.

Bass and crappie fishing was tough on Lake Nockamixon this past week according to Owen over at Dave’s Sporting Goods in Doylestown. Most of the bass that were caught were taken on live shiners. The crappie bite from the shorelines was also spotty in the evening on jigs tipped with small plasticbaits, small minnows and Gulp fished under floats. He also mentioned some decent catfish and smallmouth fishing in the Delaware from Lambertville north on live bait. Fishing on Towee, Galena and other lakes was also slow this past week, he said.

We spoke with Steve over Smith Bait and Tackle in Leipsic and he told us fishing in Garrisons Lake, Lums Pond, Silver Lake and Massey Mills saw some decent catches of bass and crappie in the main lakes and some good white perch and panfishing in the dam spillways on jig combinations fished under floats. In addition he said most tidal streams are producing some perch, catfish and some occasional stripers.