April 15, 2024 - 09:20:04
Well the eclipse is behind us and Mother Nature is still wreaking havoc on the freshwater fishing. So much for that theory! However this past week saw a sizeable uptick in the fishing thanks to some warmer water temps and more dry days then wet ones. While trout season got off to a, shall we say less than stellar start, by early week most waters were in a lot more fishable condition and anglers saw some good fishing amid week before the Thursday-Friday weather spasm. In addition to the better trout fishing we also got some decent reports on the bass, crappie and pickerel fishing. Another place where fishing broke open was in the Delaware River which saw some better shad, striper and walleye fishing. I spoke with Steve Merserve at the Lewis Fishery in Lambertville and he said he hoped to get the nets in over the weekend but the river went back up to 5-1/2 feet on Saturday and he had to cancel. Hopefully sometime this week he said. . Lastly pickerel fishing in the lower part of the state is back on track and producing plenty of chainsides now that waters have receded and access is improved.
April 15, 2024 - 09:19:42
Well, the same old broken record of early week fishing and late week storms continued
April 08, 2024 - 09:16:00
Boy Mother Nature sure must have it in for us. It wasnt bad enough that she threw 4.5 inches of rain at us this past week, the week before opening of trout season; she tossed a 4.8-magnitude earthquake our way for good measure on Friday! There is an old saying that goes never say it cant get worse, because it will. So I wont. When it comes to this past weeks fishing in the sweetwater (which by the way has not been so sweet of late) it will suffice to say that we didnt exactly get stellar reports, even with the opening of trout fishing in PA, NJ and Del. Pickerel are still at the top of the list in the lower part of New Jersey if you can get to the fishable water as many bogs and lakes, along with their access roads, are still flooded. Whether or not the trout fishing was good depended on if you could find fishable water. Some of the better fishing came from the small lakes and ponds that were stocked. This week should be a better week of trout fishing as streams return to their banks and waters clean up. Get in your trout fishing if you can because the forecast is predicting another inch of rain late in the week. With the spawning season close at hand bass and crappies need some better water conditions and water temps. In the Delaware River Steve has yet to put the nets in the river for shad and its a good bet a lot of the bucks are already upriver as far as New York because of this springs conditions. Its also a good bet that the high waters will hold the striper run back like last spring and the fish will spawn lower in the river. Hopefully when the solar eclipse passes us by on Monday our luck and the weather will change.
April 08, 2024 - 09:15:40
Well, it looks like Mother Nature maybe running out of storms to throw at us, so now shes serving up earthquakes. Maybe once the eclipse passes things will settle down. The ancient Mynas and Aztecs believed that an eclipse was powerful medicine, and you know something, Im starting to believe it. With all the bass that are around in northern waters, most of which seems to have wintered over here, we would be having another record spring for the bass, however the weather has been holding the fishing back. Since most of the boats that fish for blackfish have not been able to get out more one or two days since the bag limit went up, its for sure the weather has been holding that fishery back as well. Bunker moved into the lower part of Raritan Bay and the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers prior to this past weeks blow only to be pushed back out by the weather and winds and run off they caused. Lastly the heavy amount of freshwater that has been flowing into rivers and bays has all but destroyed any chance at some winter flounder fishing. Likewise many boaters have had to delay working on their boats and getting them in the water and back at their slips because of the weather. In short I think its time for some divine intervention by the Almighty with the weather gods, and soon!