E-Mail Fishing Reports - 2001

Fishing Report, November 27, 2001 -From Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com  Got this report from Bill Pierce at Bill's Bait and Tackle in Phillipsburg, New Jersey from over the weekend. Seems as though things have changed a little since his fishing report for the November newsletter. Could be the increased water flow and//or oxygenation from Merrill Creek Reservoir releases or it could be the steady improvement in water temperatures over the weekend. (From a low of 43 degrees on Friday up to 48 on Saturday, 52 on Sunday and 53 on Monday before dropping back to 49 on Tuesday -- all temperatures measured at the Trenton, New Jersey station.) Either way, it could bode well for this weekend if daytime and nighttime temperatures stay above average for the week as forecast. Here is Bill's report dated 11/25/01: "The Smallmouth action is fantastic all of a sudden in this area. Most of the fish are in the 12" to 16" range with a few bigger ones here and there. I also have been hearing about a lot of Walleye being caught (15" to 22"). They left a lot of water out of Merrill Creek Res. into the river and that seemed to turn on the fish. Most of the bass are being caught on minnows and the walleye on night crawlers. I hear that the Smallmouth fishing at Merrill Creek Res. is very good. They are also getting quite a few legal Lakers and a few Brown Trout. The season on Lakers is closed now however and they have to be released." Bill.

Fishing Report, November 17, 2001 -John Strada - johnstrada@home.com    I launched at River Gate in West Deptford and motored up to Dredge Harbor. Got there at about 10 a.m. at the bottom of the tide. Water temperature ranged from 51 to 53 degrees and I could see my spinner bait at least four feet down. Caught two bass on a white spinner bait slow rolled in the deep areas. (At least 10 feet of water.) One 2 lb. and one 1 lb. Caught 2 more dinks on silver buddy blade bait. I fished until about 1pm and headed back to River Gate.

Fishing Report, October 9 & 10, 2001 -From Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com   Picked up 7 stripers on Tues. morning and missed as many around the  Commodore Barry Bridge. Fished from 7 am till noon on the outgoing tide. All fish were in the 20 to 25 inch range with fish being caught on a variety of lures: bombers, sassy shads, rattle traps.  Fished with my nephew on Wed. who came down from Pottsville, PA from 7:30 am  till 1:00 pm. High tide was around 8:00 am. Had a good day picking up around 20 or so stripers from 20 inches to 25 inches. Chartreuse sassy shads in 4" and 6" models caught the most fish. Seemed to catch a few fish at each location we tried as soon as we got there then nothing. Many fish were caught on the first or second cast then it just died and we moved to another spot with the same results. A couple of the fish looked lean for this time of year.

Fishing Report, September 10, 2001 -From Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com Started fishing under the Barry Bridge around 6:30 this morning. Caught 6 stripers from 20 to 25 inches and missed at least 10 in the first 45 minutes. After that nothing, not even a strike. Fished above the island, above the balls, drifted the balls, fished the back of the balls, fished the towers, the rips and the flats--got nothing. Jigged, trolled, casted, etc. nothing worked after the first 45 minutes. Birds working at the mouth of the creek but nothing on them. Thought I was in for a banner day.

Fishing Report, September 6, 2001 -From Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com  Fished out of the Raccoon Creek from 5 till 10 am, the top of tide and outgoing. Caught 10 stripers, 4 of which were 25 inches and 6 lbs. on the Boga grip. Each one looked like a clone of the others. Also picked up a 20 incher and 5 fish around 15 inches and also missed a few others. Fish were caught on a mix of lures: black bomber, white bucktail, sassy shad, and red/white rattle trap. All fish caught in rips. Tried trolling on way in around balls and mouth of creek but got nothing and no strikes.

Fishing Report, September 4, 2001 -From Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com   Fished around the Commodore Barry Bridge from 5 am till 10 am. Caught about 15 stripers, all on lures and missed as many. Most of the fish were in the 20 to 25 inch range. The fish were in the rips before sunrise and actively feeding. Most caught in the rips were on small black bomber. Bite lasted about 1/2 hour then was over. Moved to the balls but had no luck. Trolled the flat at mouth of creek with rattle trap and picked up about half the fish there. Tide was outgoing 3-4 hrs.

Fishing Report, September 1, 2001 -From Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com  Thought the smallmouth fishing might have been disturbed by the front that passed through Friday night, but it didn't seem to hurt Saturday morning fishing. The water was still relatively warm (mid to upper 70s) and quite clear (up to 5 foot visibility). Drifted from Frenchtown to Byram. Started at 6 am with slight overcast. Topwater action held up until nearly 10:00 am when all clouds dispersed and full sun came out. Hooked up to 30 fish, 26 of which were smallies. Landed 19 smallies, 6 of which were keepers. Largest was 15-1/2", then 14" or less). Only used two lures all morning. Bagley's Mighty Minnow with propeller tail for topwater (early) and 3" Yo-Zuri Pin's minnow silver with green back . Caught fish early in all places (flat water, eddies, moving runs) although action was most consistent in the runs and eddies behind the larger rocks and obstructions in the rapids.

Fishing Report, August 29, 2001 -From Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com Spent about two and a half hours floating between Stockton and Lambertville after work. Water was extremely clear and almost as low as it has been all summer. Based on Kurt Vouk's earlier report and past successes, I tried a crayfish and minnow imitation lures to start, but no go. Shortly after 6:00 pm, I tried a topwater (Bagley's Mighty Minnow with spin tail propeller) in the shadows of the Pennsy shore line. Bingo! Even though there was not a lot of noticeable feeding on top until just before dark, that lure took all but one of the 12 smallies (including four keepers) I caught in the next hour and a half. Fish were taken in all types of terrain, both moving water around structures and open flatwater areas. The best one, however, (16 inches on the tape measure) was taken in the classic "eddy" behind a large rock in moving water. Hope this type of activity holds on for the rest of the season.

Fishing Report, August 23/24, 2001 -From Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com  Fished out of the Raccoon Creek from 6 till 8 pm. Thursday. Fished the top of the tide to 2 hrs. out. Managed only 1 striper and partner caught 1 channel cat on lures. Going again Fri. morn if weather holds.     Fished from 7 till 10 am Fri. on the outgoing. Only managed 1 small striper and missed 2 others. Just as I was about to leave birds started crashing and bait was jumping out of the water. Thought for sure I was in for a big striper blitz. This went on for 45 minutes at one location but no fish ever showed up. I thought that any minute fish would show up and start feeding but no such luck. Started in Raccoon Creek and another bird blitz but no fish under the bait.

Fishing Report, August 26, 2001 from Kurt Vouk - pa28coc@aol.com   Put in at theYardley ramp with a friend and we each landed about a dozen Smallmouth. The river was low and the clearest I have ever seen it. We used minnows and small crayfish. All the fish were in the 12-15 inch range with the crawfish getting the bigger fish. We only fished about 2 hours from 6-8pm. Watch those rocks!

Fishing Report, August 18, 2001 -From Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com   and Steve Kokoska - Fished early Saturday morning above Lambertville. Water was relatively clear (near 3-feet visibility around rocky areas out of main current), although it was not quite as low as it was two weeks ago. Had good topwater action early (before 8 am) with four keeper size fish, but didn't get any of them "into" the canoe. Most visible rises were in calmer waters near shoreline. Good news was several large flurries of baitfish activity on surface near main current. (I hope that bodes well for near-future feeding frenzies.) Skies were clear and after sun rose fully on water, topwater bite slowed down drastically. From then on, most action came around rocks in main current or at edges of current, mostly on sub-surface thin-body minnow imitations (Yo-Zuri, Excalibur, Rapala) silver or silver with blue back/orange belly. Few on Torpedoes and one on twister tail/spinner combo. Landed 12 fish in all, only one keeper and most of them drastically smaller than in previous weeks (down to 5 and 6 inches)! Also spent a couple midday hours fishing the deep eddies below the Bulls Island bridge piers using lures, minnows, and leeches. Caught one short smallie in edge of main current on a watermelon colored tube and that was it! Nothing in the deep holes there, not even a catfish, on live bait! I guess they're strictly craving the high-oxygen running water in this heat.

Fishing Report, August 16, 2001 -Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com    Good news, smallmouth fans. Water conditions around Yardley are improving, not yet back to the summertime clarity and low levels that existed before the rain, but fishable. Water is slightly less cloudy than "normal" May/June clarity. I'll be trying my luck this weekend, barring any further deluge.

Fishing Report, August 13, 2001 -Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com    No fishing report, just a notice to smallmouth fishermen, water conditions north of Trenton were heavily affected by this past weekend's rain. As of Monday morning, water at Yardley was extremely muddy! Flow rates at Trenton and as far north as Riegelsville went up from two to three times what they were at the end of last week. Take a few days off to catch up on your yard work, and I'll post another report when water conditions clear up later in the week.

Fishing Report, Aug 11, 2001 -John Strada - johnstrada@home.com     Club Member Mark Bower and I launched from River Gate Ramp at 6:00 a.m. and rode down to Darby Creek to fish the outgoing tide. Water temperature was 81 degrees and clarity was above average. Weather was overcast and rainy. Mark picked up a small bass on a crank bait fished near the lily pads. Then he picked up a second fish on a plastic worm fished in deep water. I landed one small largemouth and Mark followed with a four pounder on a plastic worm. We then headed to Big Timber Creek and fished the grass beds at the mouth of the creek on the incoming tide. I was quite surprised when I landed a 10" smallmouth on a white spinner bait. I had no idea smallmouth were this far south on the river. Mark followed with another respectable largemouth on a white spinner bait near timber. I scored three catfish once again on a white spinner bait. One was nearly 4 lbs. Mark landed a fat 3 lb. largemouth on a white spinner bait in the grass beds and followed with another bass on the same bait. The last bass was about 1-1/2 lbs. At days end Mark had bagged 6 largemouth bass. I on the other hand had 1 dinky largemouth, one smallmouth and three catfish. I guess you know who won the Bass Tournament. I think our success was largely due to the low pressure and overcast weather that had set in on Saturday. We pulled the boat out around 6:30 p.m. and went home as 2 happy campers.

Fishing Report, August 8, 2001 -Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com      Floated from Upper Black Eddy to Frenchtown on the hottest day of the year to date. Water was relatively clear and extremely warm on surface of pools, and slightly cooler below the white water areas. No real action to speak of before sunset, using crankbaits, live bait, plastics, and topwaters in main channel. But topwater turned on around the shoreline in the hour from just before sundown until complete darkness. Landed 5 smallies on topwater lures (buzzbaits, propeller lures) 3 hefty panfish and 1 catfish on topwater lures and live bait (worms, leeches)

Fishing Report, August 4, 2001 -Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com   Fished north of Lambertville with water conditions about as low as they have been all year. Don't know if the heat of the previous days or the overcast skies and early-morning trip made the difference, but the topwater action was ON! Surfacing baitfish were evident and the swirls of feeding fish were plentiful. Hooked up 20 smallies, mostly on propeller baits (Torpedo and Bagley's Mighty Minnow) as well as on small (1/8 oz.) off-white spinnerbait, and several on crankbaits (Yo-Zuri, Bomber Model A, Mann's 1-Minus). Landed 12 fish (8 shorts, plus 12", 14", 14-1/2" and 16" fish). Fish were frequently in the back eddies behind large rocks near main channel (3-4 ft. deep), but some were in toward shoreline around isolated rocks and eel grass beds in 2-3 feet of water.

Fishing Report, July 29, 2001 -Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com  Floated from Stockton to Lambertville Sunday afternoon. Water was just slightly dusty from Thursday's rain and almost back to the previous "normal" level before the rain. Coaxed about a dozen hits on topwater lures, hooked six, landed three. Only one keeper, measured 15 inches. All others small, 10 inches or less. Fish were slightly more active than last week, but definitely not a hit on every cast. Based on advice from Sam Shiels, I fished the "open" water, as much as the classic spots behind rocks and in runs, etc. Ironically, got more hits away from the classic cover than around the classic cover. Talked to two other fishermen. Both said things had been slow, but saw one pick up an average size smallie within minutes of casting a freshly picked hellgrammite into the edge of a bridge abutment current. Gene Neiderlander and all the northern tackle shops in our Fishing Reports must be right!

Fishing Report, July 21, 2001 -John Strada - johnstrada@home.com   Launched at Rivergate ramp on the outgoing tide. We fished the grass bed at the mouth of Woodbury Creek without success until about 8 AM. Water temp was 76 and water was partially stained. We moved to Big Timber Creek and I picked up a bass on a spinnerbait. We fished Big Timber and the next fish was caught at about 3 pm on a jig. Both fish were caught tight to timber cover. We pulled out at 7PM.

Fishing Report, July 20/21, 2001 -Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com  Spent Friday evening floating down the river from Stockton toward Lambertville and saw very little topwater activity. Water was slightly clouded and warm (81 degrees) but the fish were not really active. I caught three short smallies on a small silver Zara Puppy, sunfish colored Torpedo, and pumpkinseed Twister Tail. Also took two huge river sunnies. Spent early Saturday morning around Bulls Island bridge. Water temps had dropped 5 degrees overnight to mid 70s!!! Caught big sunnies around bridge on sunfish Torpedo and one keeper smallie downstream on twister tail fished deep in 6+ feet of water. Again, not a lot of topwater feeding with cool water. Quit at 8AM and went north to the Byram ramp and paddled to head of pool near old bridge piers had more action there on the Torpedo and a Jersey Rig as waters warmed up slightly, but no great shakes. A few hits and misses plus a short there and another short fishing down the pool by the rock wall on the Pennsy side.
Spoke with a half-dozen other fishermen and most said things were slow. One pair that scored well was fishing live bait in a hole behind the rock ledge along the Pennsy wall. Guess the fish were staying deeper were water temp was stable. 
The most interesting thing was when a small guy would come to insect my lure or when I had a hook-up, a big smallie would often come around trying to muscle in! This happened about four different times. Tried casting a finesse plastic bait immediately to the spot but couldn't get the big guys to bite. Any suggestions?

P.S. Took a bike ride on Sunday along the path along the Jersey side from Frenchtown to Byram. Some nice looking water for a float trip! Anyone interested? E-mail me at the address above, or call evenings 609-466-7719. Pete

Fishing Report, July 8, 2001 -Ray & Catherine Czymczak - rs6948@aol.com  My wife, son and I took a late afternoon fishing trip to Trenton Bridges. We fished the incoming tide. We only stayed out for about 2.5 hours. The trip was very successful with smallmouth on the surface around the pilings. Also caught a few small stripers on surface lures. One walleye caught up stream on a diving Bill Dance lure. The walleye was 19inchs and very fat. Over 3lbs. The boat ramp at Trenton was empty, only one other boat fished under the bridges. Good luck Ray, Cookie, and Andy.

Fishing Report, July 7, 2001 -John and Ann Dell -  jwdell@millenianet.com   Wife, son and I managed to get out late today. We were fishing crankbaits on the main river around the dock pilings. Just below the turnpike bridge on the Pa. side in the pilings off the storm drain outlet, I landed a nice small mouth. It was about 17 to 18 inches and weighed between 3-4 pounds it was a nice fish. I caught it on a Mann's black with white under belly crankbait with rattle chamber. The fish were holding on the drop off in 8-10 feet of water. We caught several other large mouth off the pilings, nothing of any real size. Son got bored so we switched to live bait and landed some small stripers out of the channel in the river mouth just above bridge on NJ side. Turned out to be a good day all in all.

Fishing Report, July 4, 2001 -Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com   Fished out of the Frankford Arsenal ramp Wednesday. Water temps were in 77-78 degree range with water "normally" tinged. Solved part of last Saturday's puzzle with the one strategy I had not tried -- dragging a Carolina rigged chartreuse lizard through the eel grass. Got several hits and one short largemouth bass. Also turned to a Rebel Bomber Model A (green back with a tinge of orange on belly) cranked along the drop-offs from 4-ft to 8-ft depth, parallel to the shore. Picked up three keeper-size bass -- 13" to 15" -- unfortunately they were smallmouth bass! That's still no good for next weekend's tournament. Most success was just approaching and shortly after dead low tide. Later, caught a 2-lb. channel cat and another short largemouth on 3/8 oz. off-white spinnerbait with red highlights.

Fishing Report, July 1, 2001 -Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com  Fished Bulls Island bridge piers from daybreak until mid morning. Water was stained (especially on Pennsy side) from Saturday eve. rains up north. No topwater action at all. Caught two short smallies around bridge on twister-tail/spinner combo. Had fun with a number of catfish and huge river sunnies caught on leeches around the backwater eddies behind bridge piers. Assuming the river settles down from the weekend storms, this would be a great place to take the kids for a load of action on the 4th.

Fishing Report, June 30, 2001 -Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com  Fished the Poquessing Creek to Station Avenue area during the entire incoming tide from 6:00 am till noon -- nothing, and I mean NOTHING!!! Water was "normally" tinted on incoming tide. Water temps around 78 degrees. Still lots of debris in river. BE CAREFUL and have a safe 4th on the water.

Fishing Report, June 28, 2001 -Joel Levin - nad81073@aol.com -   New member here.  Fished on Thursday the 28th at the 202 bridge area. It was 95 degrees outside and believe me, it felt like it. The water had a slight tint to it. My friend and I fished for about 20 min. before our first Smallmouth hit. Bam! 16 inch, 3 lbs. My friend was using a black and silver tube jig with an 1/8 oz. head when he hit it. We caught a few other small ones after that. We then switched to 1/8 oz. rooster tails (green, yellow, pink). Bam! two more 16 inchers weighing about 3 lbs. each. We were tore up with little ones after that. I have to say about 20-25 smallies we landed together. Mostly on the rooster tails and tube jigs. When it got slow, we caught a few on medium shiners. Great day of fishing! Dealing with that hot sun was well worth it. Good fishing everybody.

Fishing Report, June 23, 2001 -Dennis Boyle (Monk Fish Boyle) - dboyle@hightechvac.com  Fished all around the Yardley Ramp area with my partner. I started with a white spinnerbait but no luck . My partner specifically used tube baits. He out fished me with at least 6 fish before I switched. He caught his weigh-in fish at about 9:00am.  15" 1.37lb. I switched over to a tube bait a Green/Red Flake KVD with 1/8 once head. Glad I did, I put a 12 1/4" .91lb smallie in the box, I also had a much larger fish on but you know the old fishing story of the one that got away?. Around 11:30 am I hooked up with a 23 1/2" Walleye. My first ever and it was great!!!. We fished in the pockets & eddy's behind rocks and Islands. My partner landed at least 14 to 16 fish, all small, except the 15"er. The fishing conditions were bad, high water that was rising as we fished, it rose close to 16" in a 5 hour period. The water was moving very fast with muddy and murky water. At the weigh in there were reports of some strippers being caught. Not sure on what or the size of them. Let's hope the rains slow down and we can get some quality catching in before the water temp. starts rising. 

Fishing Report, June 15, 2001 -Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com  Finally convinced my nephew to come down from PA (2 hr. drive) for some great striper fishing in the river. You guessed it, nothing,  not even a strike. Fished out of the Raccoon Creek on the incoming and outgoing tides from 7 till noon and tried everything from top water on flats, trolling, jigs, etc. etc. just couldn't find the fish.

Fishing Report, June 10, 2001 -Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com   I fished for several hours Sunday evening out of the Fireman's Eddy, about a quarter mile below the Lambertville Wing Dam. Water was still moving swiftly, although a few more rocks are starting to show. The water was still relatively cool (in upper 60s) and getting clearer (about 2 feet visibility). I caught one keeper-size smallie on a topwater, and one short smalllie on a Twister Tail/spinner combo. Other than that, just a few other hits, very few and far between.

Fishing Report, June 10,  2001 - Bob Kuntz - bowhuntrbob5@hotmail.com  I fished the Yardley area Sunday from noon to dark with live herring and caught eight stripers that were 24 to30in. The water level was dropping but there were still a lot of fish around. Also, there still must be a lot of herring around because the stripers wouldn't touch a ell or perch.

Fishing Report, June 7, 2001 -Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com Fished from the kayak Thurs. eve. around the rocks in the Morrisville area near the Calhoun Street bridge, thanks to a tip from club member Dan D'Angelo. Caught two short smallies in the "runs" on a dark Twister Tail/safety-pin combo. Three keeper smallies on a sunfish pattern Torpedo fished in the calm eddies behind the rock/bridge pier obstructions. Largest was 17"+ smallie, my second personal record in less than a week. Thanks again, Dan, for being willing to share info with a fellow club member!

Fishing Report, June 3, 2001 -Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com Fished from the kayak in the Bulls Island area for 3 hours Sunday evening. Water conditions have improved, but still up a bit from rain, cool (low 60s) and slightly cloudy (about 1 to 1-1/2 foot visibility). Caught six fish, four smallies, one huge sunfish, and a 17" striper, all on a pumpkinseed double twister-tail,  fished on jig with small safety-pin spinner. All were caught when the lure sunk near the bottom before starting retrieve. Two short smallies in eddy off side of the Lumberville dam rapids. Rest of the fish by the current break at the footbridge pier on the Pennsy side.

Fishing Report, May 31, 2001 -Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com   Fished out of Raccoon Creek from 10:00 am till noon. Tried all my lures but managed only one small striper on a pearl sassy shad. Windy as hell and water was a little stained.  Great night on river, fish had the feed bag on. Caught at least 30+ stripers to 8 lbs. and lost almost as many all on minnow type lures. Hit a small pocket of 5 to 8 lb. fish where partner and I had double headers, only lasted for about 15 minutes. Caught fish on both the incoming and outgoing.

Fishing Report, May28, 2001 - Jim Pocetti, Joe Pocetti, Pete Antoniewicz - petea@ac-inc.com   Went out mid morning Monday at Yardley ramp despite river running high and muddy from rain. Temp gauge read between 58 and 61 degrees from mid morning to early afternoon. Tried noisy, shiny, colorful, and dark lures with relatively little success. Calmest water was against Pennsy shoreline south of ramp. That’s where Jim picked up two smallies (10 and 13 inches) around weed beds on a shallow running rattling crankbait with mostly chartreuse color. Suggest members check out the recent water quality readings from Trenton to see when water conditions improve in this area. http://nj.usgs.gov/rt-cgi/gen_stn_pg?station=01463500&PRNT_UV=Y 

Fishing Report, May27,  2001 - Bob Kuntz - bowhuntrbob5@hotmail.com   The water was up a foot from last week. Caught 7 stripers 23 to 26 inches, all on a atomic striper swiper. Fish were caught off of gravel bars near fast water near the wing dam. As I write this E-Mail Sunday morning,  the river is rising a couple inches an hour. Due to the heavy rain, I expect it to be un-fishable for the next few days.

Fishing Report, May 25, 2001 -Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com   Fished the river out of Raccoon Creek for stripers from 3:30 till 7:00 pm. top to outgoing tide.  Threw everything in tackle box without even a strike. Tried trolling, casting, and deep jigging, nothing seemed to work.

Fishing Report, May16,  2001 - Joe Tuccillo -  tuccassoc@worldnet.att.net   My father and I went out of Bordentown about 7:00 AM and fished Crosswick Creek with no luck at all. It was very windy. We waited awhile, and then started to fish the main river about 10:30 for catfish. We caught about 21 fish, all from the 2 lb range to 8 lbs. They would not stop hitting our bait. Chicken liver seems to be the best bait yet. We returned to the ramp about 1:30 PM. For a day that started out slow, eventually became very productive.

Fishing Report, May16,  2001 - Bob Kuntz - bowhuntrbob5@hotmail.com  Went to Yardley ramp Wed. morning with Lance. There were 26 slats showing, the lowest I've seen the river in years. Went up on NJ side and some spots were less then a foot deep. I only hit 2 rocks going to wing dam. Fished for herring for an hour without a hit. Started throwing lures & jigs. Nothing, Not many places to go it was just too shallow. Pulled the engine up and drifted back down towards the ramp and finally hooked up with 28" striper. I missed one more. Guys,  if you don't have a jet, fish the lower river & pray for rain. The next two weeks are usually the best striper fishing, but low water is going to ruin it.

Fishing Report, May 16, 2001 -Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com  Fished the river out of Raccoon Creek from 8 am till 1 pm on the outgoing tide. Caught between 15 and 20 stripers from 2 to 6 lbs. mostly on a black & white wind cheater and one or two on a rattle trap. Also missed quite a few

Fishing Report, May 12, 2001 -Kurt Volk - pa28coc@aol.com   Had a couple hours Saturday morning and put in with a neighbor who wanted to test out his new rod and reel. Had never been stripper fishing so took him out. Had 4 frozen herring that thawed and we drifted with them in front of Yardley access. Took about 10 minutes and he hooked into a 27", also got another about the same and lost one more nice one - all on dead herring. On his last herring, he cast and set the spool on his new Shimano Baitrunner. For some unknown reason he set the rod down in the boat and walk to the front end. Almost immediately a stripper nailed the herring and line started peeling off his reel. As he went to grab it the level switch the drag off and the rod shot out of the boat like a dart. Nothing really he could do. While this isn't funny I did everything I could to not laugh. Boy was he ticked. Guess he learned an expensive lesson when fishing for strippers. If anyone catches a nice stripper with new Shimano 3500 attached, let me know!  I went down and fished of the wall near the bridges this weekend. Was about every other cast this weekend and landed a herring. My freezer is full.

Fishing Report, May 13, 2001 -Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com  Spent a few hours Friday evening and Saturday morning chasing smallmouth bass in the Scudder's Falls area and the Lambertville/Fireman's Eddy area. Water conditions are LOW for this time of year. Had trouble with low water in some areas, even with a kayak! Water temps are right around 70oF. Even had some hits and one hook-up on a topwater Heddon Torpedo (sunfish pattern). Best action came on a pumpkinseed-colored Twister Tail fished on a 3/16-oz. jighead beneath a safety-pin spinner blade. Hooked eight fish total, landed five, the largest a solid 14" smallie. Went herring fishing near Trenton on Sunday after the cold front came through and only got a handful. Didn't see a lot of other action either. Several other boats reported catching 5 to 10 herring each. Don't know if it's the end of the run or just the barometric pressure at work.

Fishing Report, April 27, 2001 - Joe McCloskey - sgtmccloskey@home.com   Put in at Neshaminy Marina at 6:30am to give the boat a good run up to Trenton arrived to see an armada of small boats did not take long to see why water temp reading of 58 degrees and the tide was slack to falling. The herring were hitting real good loaded my livewell and fired up the jet and went above the 95 Bridge and live lined herring for Stripers, excellent day all around. Didn't boat as many fish as I would have liked (still working out the bugs using circle hooks) but the ones that we did were quality fish and not a one gut hooked all released to grow.......Good fishing Joe      Ps. watch running in river still a lot of junk floating down and some of it is huge ( no I did not hit any of it thankfully, but it was a good reminder of why I run a thick aluminum boat.)

Fishing Report, April 26, 2001 - Chris Hoffman -gud2bapimp@aol.com Went out today with a buddy to try for herring and shad. Launched out of Trenton and headed toward the bridges. Fished for 2 to 3 hours and caught 100 herring in front of Trenton thunder. No shad or stripers. Caught herring on sabieki rig.on Jersey side.

Fishing Report, April 25, 2001 -Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com  Fished National Parks Beach Hill  from 1 till 6 pm. Seemed to start at the top in size and worked down. First fish was 13 lbs., then 12 lbs., 8 lbs., 4 lbs. and finished up with a whopper of 7 inches!! Most of mine were on the incoming 1 hr. before high but fish were being caught all along the beach all day. Used bloods.

Fishing Report, April 24, 2001 - John Dell  - jwdell@millenianet.com  Went out on Tuesday 24th at Lamberton rd. Tried for shad and herring first with no luck. I was by myself and did not want to attempt Yardley first time alone. After a couple hours got frustrated and went to Tully town. Tide was coming in, water was stained, caught three bass on the shady side of wood on white spinner bait rolled slow. Saw allot of fish in the water and some were jumping in the back cove not sure what they were. Lots and lots of turtles. Only fished Tully for about an hour. I am new boater and I have not fished for shad before not quite sure what I am doing wrong at least the bass were biting. Good fishing John 

Fishing Report, April 22, 2001 - Charles Schneider - cmschneider1@att.net  I fished all day on Fri, Sat &Sun the 20th, 21st&22nd. I was under the Rt. 95 bridge on the Pa. side all three days. Water temp rose from 49on Fri. to 55 by Sun. evening. Level dropped approx. 1ft. and cleared up nicely over the weekend. Caught 22, 26 & 32s had respectively. All were taken on Flutter Spoons either down-rigged or flat line. Color wasn't a big factor but if I had to pick, I guess plain gold (un-painted) worked best. Not everyone caught fish but those who knew what they where doing and were anchored in the right spots had steady action. Saw a real nice Striper taken on a flutter! About 5-6 lbs. Also saw a nice Sturgeon landed ,don't know if it was hooked or snagged but it was released un-harmed. A lot of guys went down to Trenton and they said they "killed" the Herring at the Bridges on SUN! Many came back up to Yardley and were live-lining all day. One guy told me at the ramp that he caught 7 stripers that day. 

Fishing Report, April 22, 2001 - Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com   Fished Nat'l Park from 5:30 til noon. Not a bite between 3 of us. Two of us were using cut herring and the guy down the way was using bloods. About 10 o'clock a guy come and fishes between me and the other fisherman up a ways. Catches small striper in about 5 minutes, catches another small striper 5 minutes later, catches about a 30 incher 10 lbs. striper 10 minutes after that, and 10 minutes later catches a 34 inch 20 lb. beauty and then pulls in a catfish to add insult to injury. Me and the other guy still have not had a bite. But it was a beautiful morning!  BTW, went to Union Lake spillway for herring Sun. Only guy getting any was using a VERY SMALL lime colored twister tail on what looked like a 64th oz. jig head of the same color. He had a bucket full I got nothing and others had nothing. Tried snagging with no luck. If you go there go small with a small split shot about 2 ft. above jig.

Fishing Report, April 22, 2001 - Pete AtoZ  - petea@ac-inc.com    Fished the Byram area on Sunday starting around noon. Started for shad up near the narrows. Water temp was 52 degrees. Current was ripping so most boats were off of the main channel toward the Pennsy side. Only saw one shad caught among five boats. One person said that only one boat had had a good morning, fishing in the "middle" of the river. We quit shad fishing after a few hours and turned to throwing a variety of baits for smallmouth. Later in afternoon, as water warmed up to 55 degrees, we had five hook-ups and landed three smallmouth -- two on 2-1/2 inch silver tube baits, and the largest a 14" fish on a jig/twister tail combo fished below a "safety-pin" spinner. Fish seemed to prefer more quiet, protected water. All hits came along the Pennsy side just north and south of the "wall" wherever a little cove or curve in the bank offered a bit of slack water.

Fishing Report, April 18,  2001 - Bob Kuntz - bowhuntrbob5@hotmail.com  From Bob & Lance, the water was down 2ft. from last week. We had to change our strategy. The water level was too low where we got them last week. We tried around the big wing dam & caught a few. There were too many boats under the 95 bridge so we headed up river and anchored in Washington Crossing area & we caught 37 shad by mid afternoon.

Fishing Report, April 17, 2001 -Frank Kivler -  fkivler@home.com   I launched from Lightning Jack's at 10 am. Fished the Rancocas Creek (temp=58 deg.) for awhile with no results. Went down to the Dredge (temp=54 degrees). The tide had started out by the time I got there. Picked up two nice largemouth. A 1.5 lb bass fell for a white tube fished in some wood. Fished 1-2 hours with no other results. On the way out of the Dredge, I stopped at the same wood where I had caught the first bass. I was cold and wind blown and in a hurry to get back to the ramp and just threw a white spinnerbait (with the big motor running) and BAM. A real nice fat 3 lber. slammed it. He must have been suicidal with all that noise. Man, was it a bone chilling day!

Fishing Report, April 16, 2001 -Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com  Snagged some herring in Trenton pool and fished them around Nat'l Park on Monday 4/16. In morning caught 2 stripers on chunks to 24 inches. Went Mon. night and caught 4 on the incoming tide as follows: 15 lb, 11 lb, 10 lb, and a 6 lb'er weighed on a Boga Grip. Fished the outgoing tide for 2 hrs. but did nothing. Fished Tues. morn. on the outgoing tide but caught nothing and neither did any of the other fishermen. For those interested I have been using circle hooks which are to prevent gut hooking. Had the following results: 8 stripers, 2 gut hooked and 6 hooked in corner of mouth. 5 catfish all hooked in corner of mouth

Fishing Report, April 14 & 15,  2001 -Bob Kuntz - bowhuntrbob5@hotmail.com  Report from Bob & Lance: On April 14,  33 shad taken on darts at Scudder Falls on Pennsy side. Also, on April 15, 29 shad taken on darts at Scudder Falls on Pennsy side. While in high water, fish close to the dam in the slower current. Fish the dart like you're trout fishing. Throw it up current and let it drift back down to the boat while reeling up the slack line.

Fishing Report, April 14, 2001 -John Strada - johnstrada@home.com  On Sat 4/15, Chet Hoffman and I went out of Lightning Jack's at 10 AM. We anchored at the mouth of the Rancocas on the outgoing tide and fished with cut herring. Chet boated and released two nice stripers, one 18" and one 24". The larger fish weighed about 10 pounds. Water temp was 55 to 57 degrees. Chet left at 1 PM and I fished the creek until about 4PM, and picked up 1 small bass on a spinner bait. Water temp was as high as 59 in some spots.

Fishing Report, April 14, 2001 -Phil Bakanowsky- philbuck2@prodigy.net  I fished the pool at Duck Island from 10 am till12:30 pm and caught 6 herring. I also saw 1 shad caught on gold hooks. I went to Linden Ave. to fish for catfish and caught two. I went up the Rancocas Creek to the first marina and I fished the opposite bank. I slow rolled a white spinner bait and nailed seven stripers to 24 inches. I was sure surprised to catch them that way!

Fishing Report, April 13, 2001 -Joe Tuccillo - tuccassoc@worldnet.att.net  My two sons and I went out 7:00AM until 12:00 noon today. The river was high and dirty with a lot of debris floating around. I have no fish to report not even a bite. I spent some time in Crosswicks Creek with no luck at all. We were also fishing the main river with no luck at all. Be very careful the river is very swift. We will try again Saturday, maybe our luck will change then.

Fishing Report, April 10, 2001 -Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com  Managed about 10 shad and lost about 4 during the two days.  Most action was from daylight till 9:00 am. after that it was a very slow pick. Heard Mon. evening was very productive.  A lot of herring in the pool both days early in the morning

Fishing Report, April 5, 2001 -Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com  - Fished the Trenton power plant this morning from 6 til 10:30 fishing the out going tide. Minor blitz, for about an hour everyone hooked-up, sometimes 3 at a time.  Flutter spoons worked best. Hit was on from about 7 til 8:30 after that only a few here and there. River temp. up to 45 degrees at Trenton bridges and the water is clearing up nicely. No herring caught.

Fishing Report, April 3, 2001 -Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com  Fished Trenton power plant from 6 til 12 this morning. Caught 6 shad and 2 gizzards using a white and red dart which seemed to produce more than the flutter spoons today. All fish caught between 6:30 and 9:30 on the incoming tide. Saw only 3 caught from 9:30 until 12:30. Water stained and cold could only see about 1 1/2 down. Boats in pool didn't do anything either. Guys fishing for herring also got skunked.

Fishing Report, April 1, 2001 -Chris Hoffman -gud2bapimp@aol.com  I have been fishing the Power Plant at Trenton the last couple of days and doing very well. John Turgyan, my Father and I, along with future members Chuck Teeterbutt and Nick Teresky,  caught fish everyday we've been there. I pulled in a 4 1/2 pound 18 1/2 inch smallmouth with a 13 inch girth on thursday morning. We pulled in 5 shad and 6 herring on friday, and my father, Tetterbutt and I caught 18 shad and 13 herring today from 6am till1 pm. Fishing is really picking up. Hope to see everyone out there.

Fishing Report, March 31, 2001 -Bob Kuntz & Lance Maleski - bowhuntrbob5@hotmail.com - Wanted to go on the river for first trip of the year, but high water ended that idea. Decided to go down to our Sea Isle spot & troll for stripers. Started trolling deep cut banks at 8:00 am. Lance caught a 28in. on a white bucktail & a 25in. between 9&10 oclock. I caught a 23in. at noon & that was it . Not a bad day for the first trip of the year.

Fishing Report, March 28, 2001 - Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com  Fished Trenton power plant today (Wed.) from 6:00 am until 10:00 am. Did nothing and saw only one shad caught between 20 or so guys. Two gizzard shad were foul hooked and a guy fishing bait caught about an 18" striper than was it.

Fishing Report, March 25, 2001 -Chris Hoffman -gud2bapimp@aol.com -Got out about 5:30 AM until 9:00AM at the power plant. John Turgyan and I fished with tube baits and spinner baits landing 3 smallmouths from 1 lb to a nice 2 1/4 lb that I landed, I also brought 3 fish that I lost at the side of the boat which would have easily topped 5 lbs. We have also been doing very good on shad, we boated 4 yesterday all on gold with chartreuse spoons. John also lost a very nice roe at the side of the boat. I'll be going out tomorrow morning hopefully I'll have another good report. Look forward to seeing you this Thurs. at the meeting.

Fishing Report, March 20, 2001 -Chris Hoffman - gud2bapimp@aol.com -My father, John Turgyan and I  fished the power plant the last three days and had great days. A lot of smallmouths ranging from 1 pound to a really nice 2 1/2 pounder that John caught on Sunday.  He caught it on a shiner on a bobber. The fish was 16 1/2 in. A lot have been taken on shiners but we have had luck on hair jigs and suspenders .Mostly on the out going tide. Water temp was 45 to 50 depending on if they were discharging. We also have caught a few shad on gold and chartruse flutter spoons. Sure hope the bad weather in the next couple of days doesn't mess up all the good fishing.

Fishing Report, March 17, 2001 -Pete AtoZ  - atozfamily@hotmail.com  Fished the Byram pool for walleye with Frank Beck and Chuck Cahil. Current was running strong, but water was relatively clear (3-foot visibility) except where Tohickon Creek empties in. Water temp was 42 degrees. Tried drifting minnows and nightcrawlers around boulders and through the deep holes. No luck. Finally tried casting lures to the Pennsy shoreline along the "wall" and Frank caught a 15" smallmouth that pursued his RattleTrap almost to the boat!  Water was slower moving along that stretch of shoreline. Next tried drifting the Jersey shore up down from the narrows, and Chuck had two hits while casting live minnows to shallows, including a nice fish that broke his line off after about 20-30 seconds. Unfortunately we ran out of time and had to leave. Later talked to some people who said that shoreline was best bet with the fast-moving water. Will remember that for next time.

Fishing Report, March 19, 2001- Mike Spontak - striper555@hotmail.com  Fished the Trenton power plant this morning from 6:00 am until noon. Partner and I manage to land 5 shad using flutter spoons, also missed a few. Guy next to us caught 6. All fish were caught from about 6:30 till 9:00,  after that nothing. Tide was from dead low to incoming. There were also herring in the pool!

Fishing Report, March 17, 2001-  Mike Hoyer - hoyer502@aol.com  Fished Dredge Harbor this morning and afternoon with frozen fingers but no fish to report. Water was dirty and about 44 degrees. I fished the top of the tide in the morning and the falling tide around 2:00 to 4:00 PM. I have seen some fish breaking water early in the week. I think some more warmer weather will help

Fishing Report, March 16, 2001 -Bruce Galinet- fishingadget@netzero.net    Fished at the Trenton power plant on the 16th from 1 to 5PM. Main river temp was 46. The discharge water was 55. Boated 5 Smallies, the biggest being 13". May have had more hits, the bite was very subtle on 3" grubs. The tide was dead low. Also saw 1 Shad caught by a bank fisherman.

Fishing Report, March 11, 2001 -Pete AtoZ  - atozfamily@hotmail.com - Went out Sunday (3/11) from the Byram Access Ramp to try for walleyes in the deep waters of the Byram pool. Water temp was 41-42 degrees. Water was relatively clear up to 3-feet, a little cloudy beyond that. Tried drifting the chanel, but wind made it difficult. Spotted a number of fish on the electronic screen. It looked like they were sitting just off the tops of boulders. Tried drifting rigged nightcrawlers and minnows through the area, but no luck. Wind made it difficult. Fished about 3 hours, ending with casting deep running plugs to shore line and retrieving into deeper water.Next time, I'm going to try anchoring just downstream from major boulders and try casting upstream to pull baits past where fish appear to be sitting. Only hope the weatherman is wrong about the snow predicted for this weekend. River temps have been rising slowly but steadily, and should be even better by the weekend.

Fishing Report, February 28, 2001- Bills Bait -  On my site under recent catches are the fish I weighed in Feb. All were caught on night crawlers and large shiners, except the 10lb.Walleye it was caught on a rattle trap near Belvidere. The carp was caught on corn and from what the guys tell me a lot of Walleye in the 12 to 20" range are being caught on night crawlers. ~~~~ Bill.   http://community-2.webtv.net/billsbait/fishingreport/