Pete A-Z  DRFA_TheRiverNews@hotmail.comSeptember 14, 2002 Pete Antoniewicz and Bob Napoli   Tried the Byram and Bulls Island areas trying to get a handle on conditions for the tournament. Fishing has really changed over the past few weeks as water temps have cooled from the low 80s down to the upper 60s. Water temps were from 69 to 72 on Saturday as the day progressed. Clarity was about 4-5 feet and just a bit "smokey", not perfectly clear. Water levels are very low. Tried a lot of the old haunts with lots of different lures, but what worked best was Senkos and Jersey rigs fished around the larger boulders near the drop-offs. Heard other anglers were doing well with live bait, but we didn't have any. Action was relatively slow but steady throughout the day, with a slight pickup in action as the sun yielded to clouds and the water warmed up throughout the day. Topwater action was all but dead. Caught only one fish in the fast water. An angler searching for lost equipment with a snorkel and mask said that there were tons of smallies, catfish, and schoolie sized stripers in the fast water below the Lumberville dam, but they weren't biting on anything.

Kurt Vouk 9/13/02 Since no posts since 7/24 thought throw something in and see if anyone out there.  With low river conditions up near Yardley I have only taken boat out 1 time last 2 months.  Have also gone out wading in Skuders Falls area.  The best day was 4 smb but nothing of any size.  Been really slow all the other times.  Others I have spoke with fishing this area say the same.  Anyone having any other success?

Email Report, July 24, 2002 - From Bill Pierce  BILLSBAIT@webtv.net Here is a recent report contributed by Bill Pierce from Bill's Bait and Tackle in Phillipsburg, NJ.

Pete, If anybody down there is thinking about coming up this way for Smallies, now is the time. The action has been fantastic with most of the fish being under 16". The baits of choice are hellgrammites (if you can get them) leeches and crayfish. The fly guys are doing well on zug bugs,wooly buggers and clouser minnows. The river condition is very good (low and clear) but heavy showers are in the forecast for today and tomorrow. Quite a few big stripers have been caught in the last week or so, almost all of them were taken on live eels. Bill:

Email Report, July 21, 2002 - Pete A-Z  DRFA_TheRiverNews@hotmail.com  Went out Sunday mid-day with a friend and his two young daughters, up to the head of the Byram pool. Water was 3- to 4-foot visibility, and warm – about 83 degrees. Despite the high sun, and a fair amount of boat traffic, our young anglers were able to bring about 16 fish to the boat, with only a little help from the adults. Hellgrammites were the secret, with some small crayfish and shiners helping out for bait. They caught a half dozen smallies, and a number of HUGE colorful sunfish, several HUGE rock bass, and two nice catfish (well, the one that weighed nearly three pounds didn't quite make it into the boat). But it was a nice three hour trip for a couple of small fry. Also met a fellow angler targeting stripers with chicken livers, who said that three anglers caught about 20 fish, from 10 to 20 inches.

Email Report, July 17, 2002 - Pete A-Z, Joe Pocetti, Jim Pocetti DRFA_TheRiverNews@hotmail.com  Did the drift from Stockton to Lambertville after work and had mixed success. About a dozen fish overall, mostly 10-11 inches but one nice 15-inch smallie, plus Joe Pocetti caught his largest smallmouth yet – a 17-inch beauty. We were able to pick up a dozen or more hellgrammites before starting out, and took a few fish on them while drifting through the open water, but ironically the largest fish were taken on sputtering topwater lures even though there were relatively few rises around us. Don't know exact water temp, but probably upper 70's with better than 3-foot visibility. Unfortunately the darkenss came too soon, and the topwater bite turned off completely.

Email Report, July 4-6, 2002 - Pete A-Z  DRFA_TheRiverNews@hotmail.com  Went back above Lambertville on the morning of the 4th to find that the river had settled down and cleared up, with water temperatures around 80 degrees and visibility to 3+ feet. Had some luck on topwater lures early, then, encouraged by Joe McCloskey's recent fishing report, switched to Twister Tails (with a small spinner) to take a total of 12 smallmouth and three large river sunnies. Several bass were just keepers and the rest in the 10" range. Topwaters included small white buzzbait and propeller tail minnow.

Saturday fished south from Frenchtown in slightly cooler but clearer water (mid- to upper-70s and 4-foot visibility). Caught 5 of 7 smallmouth on propeller tail minnow and two more on Twister Tail and slim-body minnow imitation. Fish were less active on top after the cooler nighttime temperature and slowly picked up as things warmed a little before sun rose high.

Both days, fish were around structures in current or at current breaks. They weren't all that aggressive in terms of quantity, but many of the fish took the lures relatively deeper than just a lip hook.

Email Report, July 2, 2002 - From Joe McCloskey  sgtmccloskey@comcast.net   Went fishing for smallmouths on Monday with my nine year old daughter, her best friend, and her best friend's Uncle. Launched at Bulls Island, surprised to see how high the river was for this time of year. Water was a little too brown for me. I actually like to fish clear water. Water Temp. was 77.9 at surface. Only minor surface action which was a little disappointing. Had a good day with bigger fish coming on chartreuse pumpkin pepper jigs, fished till 3pm. Saw some shad swimming aimlessly down stream near surface. Are they dying? Or do they make it back to sea? Anyway kids had a great time. If you ever get a chance, take a kid fishing. I know I am teaching my children something they will have the rest of their life, and I know where they are and what they would rather be doing. I get to see the smiles and that is icing on the cake.

Email Report, July 1, 2002 - From Kurt Vouk  Pa28coc@aol.com   Finally had chance to get out Sunday. Put in at Yardley for smallmouth. Used large minnows and quickly started catching 15-20 inch strippers. Ended up with bunch of them and only 1 smallmouth but we still had a lot of fun especially on ultralights! Also hooked into two nice size catfish, all on large minnows. Water was slightly cloudy with about 2 feet visibility. Beautiful weather.

Email Report, July 1, 2002 - Pete A-Z DRFA_TheRiverNews@hotmail.com  With Thursday’s deluge knocking the heck out of the upper river for smallmouths, with high, muddy water, I switched gears (and propellers) to spend the weekend chasing largemouth bass in the tidal water. Water temp ranged from mid 70s to upper 70s with good clarity (3-feet) at the top of the tide, which deteriorated as the water got churned up. Saturday I fished the main river out of Neshaminy on the outgoing tide, working the eel grass beds. It was hard work but managed to hook up 4 bass and a white perch. While it was still calm in the morning, I saw some topwater activity and caught one short bass on a white buzzbait. Later hooked and lost a keeper on the same lure, but best results came on an all-white (3/8) spinnerbait (15” bass) and a white w/blue highlights (1/4) spinnerbait (14” bass). Also had some short hits and tugs on a 4” black rubber worm. Slower retrieves seemed to work better across the board.

On Sunday morning, I concentrated on the shoreline and feeder creeks of the upper Rancocas Creek (above 130). Water temp was in the upper 70s with normally stained and muddy water conditions on the outgoing tide. Again, it took a lot of work to scare up the fish on a variety of lures. Largest was a 16” on the all-shite (3/8) spinnerbait, another 12” bass and a 12” striper on the same, a short bass on a fire-tiger buzzbait, and a lost fish on the black worm with chartreuse tip. Also had more short hits and temporary hook-ups on the black worm and a chartreuse Mann’s Baby 1-minus.

Email Report, June 26, 2002 - Pete A-Z and Jim Pocetti  DRFA_TheRiverNews@hotmail.com  Smallmouth fans will be glad to hear that the river has settled down, warmed up, and cleared up nicely for the coming weekend. Went fishing Tuesday evening (6/25) out of Lambertville with water temp 79 degrees, clarity up to 3-4 feet, and the flow rate down to about 8,000 scf and dropping. Boated 8 smallies averaging about 11" with the largest a colorful 14" fish. Also lost several small ones and had of bunch of short strikes. Most action came on topwater lures, although there was only a modest amount of noisy rises from the fish around us. The water conditions are close to ideal. Hopefully, topwater action will be better in the morning on the weekend.

Email Report, June 26, 2002 - From Bill Pierce  BILLSBAIT@webtv.net Here is a recent report contributed by Bill Pierce from Bill's Bait and Tackle in Phillipsburg, NJ.

Pete, I weighed a 27lb. Striper this morning caught on an eel under the toll bridge. The bigger catfish are really on the bite lately. I've had several in here since the river has started too drop. Three or four qualified for the angler award (9lb.). Most of the catfish are being caught on eel chunks,herring chunks and chicken liver. Small Stripers being caught in huge amounts on chicken liver.The smallmouths are still cooperating, but mostly small ones. I'm hearing that a lot of big sunnies and crappie bass are being caught on hellgrammites. I also weighed a 15lb. Lake Trout caught Sunday in Round Valley Res. Bill

Email Report, June 2, 2002 - From Bob Kuntz BRIDAGUY1@HOTMAIL.COM  Went out Sunday morning at 11, visibility 2 to 3 ft., temp 70. Found herring right away. Went on Pennsy side of wing dam boated 4 between 24 & 26 in. Went over to N J side anchored in the middle. Very scary, but fish were stacked. Boated 12 more, one 34 in. all the others 23 to 27 in..

Email Report, May 28, 2002 - bob kuntz bowhuntrbob6@hotmail.com  Lance & I fished out of Yardley Saturday, took a couple of hours to find & get herring. We fished wingdam to Morrisville, ended up with 8 fish -- one 37", the rest were 24 to 28". I went out alone Sunday & Monday. Sunday I fished 8 hr. and boated 2 fish, both under 25". Monday, I did better. Boated 7, most around the wing dam, all under 28". Water temperature went from 60 Saturday to 65 Monday afternoon, visability 3 to 4 feet.

Email Report, May 28, 2002 - From Kurt Vouk  Pa28coc@aol.com   Fished out of Yardley, Saturday AM and Monday PM. No trouble catching herring up near Scudders Falls but for 6 hours of fishing had just one 33" Striper to show for it, that was about 8am on Saturday. 4 or 5 other boats Monday PM doing the Scudders to Rotary Island drift but didn't see any being caught. Did great less than 2 weeks ago. Are they gone?

Email Report, May 28, 2002 - From Charles Schneider  charles@bollingerinsurance.com  Spent a great long weekend on the river. On Friday 5/24 we fished out of Sandts Eddy and Easton, landing 10 Shad. I went down to Trenton on Sat. the Herring were there and I even picked up a 5lb. Shad on my Sabiki Rig! Got a 28" Striper above the bridges at the turn of the tide and had one other runoff. What a day! Snuck out yesterday again at Trenton. The Herring still cooperated but the stripers weren't. I had only one runoff but it was still a nice day. Tried cut herring with no sucess. I met a guy who told me about a good spot just south of the overlook in Bordentown, we tried down there but the boat traffic was so intense it really made it uncomfortable. I didn't mark any fish at all and left after an hour. This will probably be good at night or during the week when all the crazies are not around! PS. the Trenton ramp was an absolute ZOO!! One poor guy had some words with someone while launching on Sat. only to come back to Three slashed tires, including both trailer wheels!!! What is this now,Ramp-Rage??

Email Report, May 28, 2002 - From Bill Pierce  BILLSBAIT@webtv.net "Some big Stripers moved into our area (Phillipsburg/Easton), the biggest that I weighed so far was only 21 lb. I'm hearing stories of a lot of fish that are just running until the line snaps off at the spool. Herring chunks seem to be the bait of choice with live eels running a close second. So far we don't seem to have the large amount of schoolies up this way like last year.

Lot's of shad were caught from Easton up to Sandt's Eddy on Fri, Sat. and Sun. After dark the Stripers took over in the Sandt's Eddy, Brainards and Foul Rift area. I just heard that a 33lb. Striper was caught Sat. night in the Belvidere area. I didn't see the fish but a State Park Ranger was just in the shop and said that he saw it, so I assume the report is credible. The Smallies have been kind of quiet, but I did weigh 2 nice trout out of the Delaware and the channel cats are being caught in good numbers on herring & eel chunk's.

P/S- Tell any of your guy's that come up this way with boats to make sure that have everything the law requires. I understand that the wardens are working day and night doing boat checks. I know that they were active over the weekend. I had four different wardens here over the weekend checking my license books. (EDITOR'S NOTE: This seems to be the case in many areas on the river. Fore-warned is fore-armed. Besides having the proper PFDs and safety equipment just makes good sense.)

Email Report, May 28, 2002 - From Keith Wolf   Delrvrwolf@aol.com   Fished at Trenton Monday. Stripers a little slow, only saw a few caught. Lots of herring around bridges and Marina. Fished Shawnee area of river on Saturday. Picked up 4 shad and lost 2. Fish still had plenty of fight and still had roe. Water temp was 60*. Fish are still around if you are willing to travel. Great area of river to fish. If anyone needs directions drop me an E-mail.

Email Report, May 25, 26, 27, 2002 - Pete A-Z  DRFA_TheRiverNews@hotmail.com  Herring activity bounced back at the end of the week and over the weekend. Hit the Trenton area on Saturday with Jim and Joe Pocetti for herring boated 44 and sent a few back out while drifting for stripers on the way back to the ramp. Joe picked up a 21" striper and missed on a second larger one. Water temp was 62 degrees with about 3-foot visibility. Spent Sunday afternoon north of Lambertville with another friend and landed 26 smallies, however, all but four were under 12". Water was around 62 degrees and 3-foot visibility. Cloud cover helped by lasting until mid-afternoon. Did not have luck around mid-river rocks, so we spent most of the day in the protected coves and eddies along the shoreline where we had good action on twister-tail/spinner combos and minnow imitations. By contrast, nothing seemed to work that well in the Bull's Island pool on Monday as I tried to repeat Sunday's success. Water was still relatively high for late May, around 62 degrees with 3-foot visibility. Only picked up three short smallies, a short striper, and four HUGE river sunnies while trying to follow the same pattern that worked on Sunday.

Email Report, May 19, 2002 - From John & Anne Dell  dell4781@comcast.net   I fished the out going tide sunday 5/19/01 used cut bait and chicken livers. We fished the flats below Neshaminy. We landed a ten pound striper several cats all about the two pound range my son caught at least twelve and we had on good flat head at 5 pounds on the berkley scale. Water temp was 58.6 sun was high but the wind kept a good ripple on the surface and the fish were feeding. Funny thing was the striper was caught on a chicken liver not the cut herring and I was glad I used a circle hook, the hook was in deep and I was able to slide it out easily. John

Email Report, May 16, 2002 - From Bill Pierce  BILLSBAIT@webtv.net "The river and the creeks have been a real mess the last few days. The guys have been fishing Merrill Creek Reservoir until the river goes down. From what I hear this morning most of the creeks are fishable and the river is starting to get decent. Bill.
EDITOR'S NOTE: As of Thursday morning (5/16) the river had dropped from more than 40,000 cfs to about 32,000 cfs and if we don't get too much rain on Friday, it should be O.K for the Saturday smallmouth tournament. At this point, there is no worry about low-water launching conditions at Yardley, but check with the Web site or the Tournament Hotline on Friday evening if we get more rain.

Email Report, May 15, 2002 - From Keith Wolf   Delrvrwolf@aol.com   Was at Easton and Trenton today. The river is a roaring mudhole! 41,000cfs at Trenton. I didn't see a single boat at the bridges. I was there at 1pm, low tide, and the river was still at the bank on the Pennsy side. 1-2' rapids at the bridges. Two guys fishing at the wall said they caught nothing. This might push some shad back down giving us another shot if the river settles down.

Email Report, May 8, 2002 - From Keith Wolf   Delrvrwolf@aol.com   Heard of good (shad) catches at Martins Creek, 10 mi above Easton, and at the Water Gap over the weekend. Rain is really going to mess up the river. I'm going to try up north , Smithfield Beach or Milford, later in the week. I'll keep you posted on my success or lack of and anything I see or hear. I haven't heard anything out of Trenton on shad, and only of a few catches in Frenchtown.

Email Report, May 13, 2002 - From Charles Schneider  charles@bollingerinsurance.com  I just want to set the record straight for any of you who may have seen the most recent issue of The Fisherman weekly magazine. In Manny Luftglass' column under Delaware River he reported that Richard Labone and I had caught 71 shad in two days at Sandts Eddy!!! I only wish that were true, we landed about 21 and lost many more, but I don't know where he got 71 ?! Richard swears it wasn't him. It's a little embarrasing to say the least but I just didn't want anyone to think that we were BS'ing to see our names in print!

Now for a REAL report! I fished Sandts Eddy on Fri 5/10 and Sun.5/12. Landed 11 on Friday and 22 on Sunday in the rain! Marked a tremendous amount of fish passing through. Water was 63, clear with some debris (windy) on Friday. Temp was 61.5 and clear Sunday. Fished 4:00pm to 8:00pm Friday and 10:30am to 4:30pm Sunday. There are still a lot of fish in the river but they are well dispersed. The reports from Bill are right on the money.

Email Report, May 12, 2002 - From Bob Kuntz BRIDAGUY1@HOTMAIL.COM  Went out of Yardley Sat. 5:30 AM with Lance. Started off with top water lures first, boated a 28" & missed 3 other fish. Went to wing dam for herring got 20 in 30 min. Started drifting from dam to R.R. bridge caught 4 to 31". Went to Morrisville area got 4 more to 34".We quit around 1:30, water temp. was 61 and a little stained .Water level a little high, just right for stripers.

Email Report, May 11, 2002 - From Bill Pierce  BILLSBAIT@webtv.net Pete, This is the report from the guy's from P'Burg that went to Trenton this morning. --Bill.

"Action could have been better. Bob, Justin and I caught 18 herring and I caught one striper. The white perch were in hot and heavy, we must have caught 40 between us. Brian and Jay were fishing below the power plant and were still there when we left so I don't know how they did. Scott and Donna and his gang caught herring and perch but I don't know how many. I hope next week is better." Kurt. PS. The Striper I caught was on chunked Herring and was 28 in. and 7 lbs.

Email Report, May 11, 2002 - Pete A-Z DRFA_TheRiverNews@hotmail.com  Went out with John and Mark in the Yardley area on Saturday from about 7:00 am until 2:30 pm. Water temp was around 60 degrees with visibility about two feet deep. The three of us caught a total of 18 smallies and one largemouth (don't ask for a breakdown), three-quarters of which were short by about an inch or two. Had success with a variety of lures ranging from spinnerbaits to crankbaits, jerkbaits, and twister-tail grubs. Fish were dispersed throughout the day and throughout a two-mile stretch of water. Water level was sufficient for luanching, and with rain predicted for this week should be fine for the tournament on Saturday. Several additional club members we saw also reported that the fish were cooperating. Should have had the tournament on the 11th!

Email Report, May 10, 2002 - From Bill Pierce  BILLSBAIT@webtv.net Here are the most recent updates from Bill up north.

"I just got a report that they are doing very well with shad in the Frenchtown area starting last night (5/9) and continuing this morning (5/10)."

"This is a report sent on May 9 from between Easton and Phillipsburg (between the 2 bridges).
Landed six on May 8 from 5pm to 645pm
Landed three on May 9 from 445pm to 6pm

"From what I have been hearing all day, they are catching a lot of shad there and at the Lehigh Falls. One guy stopped in tonight around 6:30 and told me that he caught 16 by the toll bridge from noon today until 6:00pm. Looks like another bunch of fish are coming through our area. A lot of my customers are giving up on shad and going after the big stripers with eels."

Email Report, May 9, 2002 - From Bill Pierce  BILLSBAIT@webtv.net Bill has additional reports confirming yesterday's renewed shad activity in his Phillipsburg area. "Sandt's Eddy is Martin's Creek that's where they are catching the small stripers now. They are still doing quite well with shad today where the Lehigh River enters at Easton. One of my customers was just in for trout bait, he was at the Lehigh falls this morning for shad. He caught 5 and saw about 9 others caught and lost." Bill.

Email Report, May 9, 2002 - From Mike Spontak striper555@hotmail.com   Mike Spontak, who has been working on the creel survey for the four Delaware River basin states provides us with this overview of shad fishing in the River.

"Pete, most of the run has passed Trenton area. There are still many shad being caught at Lambertville but the bulk is further up river. I just spoke to Joe Miller who runs the creel surveys and he indicated the following: Portland Power Plant is good, Easton is slow, and the best closest place to Trenton is Sandts Eddy which is just above Easton. Shad are being caught as far up as Lakawaxon for the past two weeks. Shad are also being taken at Bushkill, Milford Beach, and Dinghman's Ferry. Don't know if you have the Shad Hotline number but here it is, 610-954-0578, the latest report is from 5/7." Mike

Email Report, May 8, 2002 - From Bill Pierce  BILLSBAIT@webtv.net Bill sent along this update on sha action in the Phillipsburg area. "

"Pete, I thought that most of the shad were above us, because the last few days the action was slow. But today between Phillipsburg and Easton (especially where the Lehigh River runs in). The guys did very well, they said between 10;00 this morning and 3:00 this afternoon a lot of fish were caught mostly roe." -- Bill.

Email Report, May 8, 2002 - From Keith Wolf   Delrvrwolf@aol.com   Fished for shad on tuesday (May 7). Caught 3 lost 2 in an hour and a half. Not real great but the fish are still around. Fished Lumberville area. Also heard an unconfirmed report of fish being caught below Trenton. Water temp. will be a big factor over the next week or so.

Email Report, May 8, 2002 - From Mike Spontak striper555@hotmail.com   Fished out of Raccoon Creek Tues., 5/7, top of tide and outgoing. Used only lures around and above the Commadore Barry without any success--not even a strike. Fishing is still hot around the DOD with many large stripers being caught.

Email Report, May 7, 2002 - From John Strada and Pete A-Z  DRFA_TheRiverNews@hotmail.com  Had terrible luck fishing off the lower river on Saturday, but saw lots of baitfish along shore lines in Darby Creek Coves and Woodbury Creek. Also saw one good-size bass sitting tight to shore in shallow water of the Darby Creek coves. Couldn't see the spawning nest "dish" but that fish would not move and would hardly even acknowledge or investigate a slew of different types of lures cast over, around, and on top of it. Water temp was around 64 degrees. Also went fishing in the Millstone River around Princeton on Sunday and saw more evidence of spawning behavior. Four of the five bass were small and the fifth one barely legal. But I did see one larger bass sitting on a definite spawning bed. She spooked the first time I approached but came back and then spooked the second time I approached. In addition to the fish caught, I had a number of "swirls" and "pops" around lure without hook-ups. One even popped a topwater lure 12 inches into the air. Most of this "defensive" type action occured around the shallow area where the spawning bed was. Again, the water temperature was around 64 degrees.

Email Report, May 7, 2002 - From Bill Pierce  BILLSBAIT@webtv.net Bill has sent along two reports on shad fishing in the upper Delaware. One is the results of the Forks of the Delaware Shad Tournament. The other is a summary of the shad activity in and above the Phillipsburg stretch of the river.

Pete, Thought you might be interested in this list of Tournament winner's. I have the complete daily report, plus the picture of the non shad winner on my web site. http://community-2.webtv.net/BILLSBAIT/FISHINGREPORT/

"From what I have been hearing, it looks like the main run of shad is about over for this area (Phillipsburg/Easton). Most reports that I'm getting say that most of the fish are being caught from Belvidere and up river. The small stripers have moved into our area now ( 2-lb. to 6-lb. fish are being caught between Philipsburg and Easton ) If it's like past years, when the little Stripers are here the bulk of the shad run is north of us." Bill.

(Editor's Note: DRFA Anglers, is this true, is the shad run all but done in the lower stretches of the non-tidal river? How about the herring around Trenton? Please let us know about any success or lack of success so we can pass the word along to fellow club members who might want to head north for the last weeks of the shad season.)

Email Report, May 4-6, 2002 - From Bill Pierce  BILLSBAIT@webtv.net Here are three recent reports received from Bill. (Editor's Note: Looks like the heavy shad activity is moving north. Has anyone caught shad from Trenton up through Frenchtown???)

May 6 – Pete, From what I have been hearing today all Hell broke loose on the Shad. From Martin's Creek (above Easton) and up through Foul Rift the guys caught and lost a lot of Shad. They said the percentage of roe in the 4 to 6lb. range was high. Keep me posted on the herring, my guy's still want to make the trip. They stayed home last Sat. after they read your report. Bill.

May 5 – “Just weighed a 13lb.4oz. Striper, caught this morning around 5:00am. at the scenic overlook on an eel by a guy from Bethlehem. It was the second one that I've seen this year. He said that he and 2 friends started fishing around 2:00am. this morning and that they caught and lost 8 or 9 other small Stripers. He said some of them only weighed a couple of pounds. Last night I weighed the first one that I saw this season, caught in the Martin's Creek area. It was only a little one,only weighed 9lb. and 29" long." Bill

Here is an E-mail report received on Sunday from one of Bill's customers fishing the Martin's Creek area on May 4. “Guess I will start going for some stripers. I got 4 shad yesterday, they were the first since last sat. Isn't that something – I get shad on the first day and last day of the tournament and nothing in between. The four shad that I got yesterday, the average was probably 22" and 3 lb. I missed and lost about 20. It was a good day!!”

Email Report, May 4, 2002 - From John & Anne Dell  dell4781@comcast.net   Fished below neshaminy under bright sunny skies water temp 56 degrees. Landed 3 stripers 1 15lb 2 in the 9lb range, also some big cats, 2 that were over seven. All fished checked on Boga grip. Bite changed throughout day – minnows in the morning, blood worms around noon and cut bait in the afternoon. Caught stripers on all three baits. John

Email Report, April 30, 2002 - From Bruce Galinat  fishingadget@netzero.net   Dave Milburn and I decided to try fishing the Shad tournament after a couple years layoff. We set up in what we thought was a good spot in Titusville. The Shad weren't cooperating, so we kept a half dozen Herring in the livewell to give live-lining for Stripers a shot. This would be a new experience for both of us. It turned out great for first-timers; we boated one of 11.3 lbs. and two at 12.5 lbs. (See picture below.)

“Well, Saturday I got one 21" at 730am and nothing the rest of the day. Brian got nothing all day. His dad got one at around 6pm and my buddy Frank got 2 in a row at 730pm. Frank and Tom's were the same size!!!!!!! 5lb 9oz and both 24" apiece,that's the first time I've seen that happen. I was out in the morning Monday w/ Eisley and got nothing but leaves. I didn't go back out. I didn't even waste my time today,their was a lot of things coming down w/ the high water including FULL size trees. The only positive I see now is it looks like the water has crested. I am shocked that the water was not muddier for how high it is."

Email Report, April 29, 2002 - From Joe McCloskey  sgtmccloskey@comcast.net   Thanks you are right about the heavy leader I have been using thirty and they are fraying it beyond belief. I would use a two hook rig with large bait hooks in the past but this new type circle hook with the straight shaft does not seem like that would work. we were hooking them through the dorsel and stripers or big cats were biting the stomachs out of them without getting hooked it is quite frustrating, but still exciting especially the size of fish I have been getting. As for the herring we did pretty good on friday, surface temp was around 54 degrees and I was fishing in front of Trenton Marine and using a one once weight to get the rig to the bottom quickly and then letting it sit then very slowly lift the tip of my rod, they seemed to like that rather then a sharp lift. we caught a total of about 30 in about 40 minutes if that. then ran south where the very large Stripers seem to still be. We had plenty of hits and they ran off some line but after a few turns of the reel just came off. the two monsters we got, we set the hooks on, which is just the opposite of the directions on these hooks. Thanks I will keep you posted on how things work out.

Email Report, April 28, 2002 - From Joe McCloskey  sgtmccloskey@comcast.net   Went fishing Friday April 26th with my buddy Al Revel launched out of Nesahminy at 9:45am and ran up to Trenton for herring. We got about 25 in a half hour. Ran back down to Bristol area and began fishing still incoming tide. Circle hooks still giving me trouble, we got tons of hits but not many hook ups. Followed directions by not setting hook and reeling and would either have fish spit bait or had bait bitten in half. Started to hook up by slowly sweeping hook sideways pointing rod towards water. Al hooked in to a real monster, I have caught enough 20lb stripers to know this fish was a 30 plus, she boiled up about 5 feet away from the boat gave us a look and turned her head and snapped the line 25lb test just put on at Brinkmans. I caught a nice 20lb.plus fish right after that but she was nothing compared to the one Al lost. The tide changed and that was it. I have some questions if another member would be kind enough to answer? What am I doing wrong with these circle hooks? I am using the required hook a 5/0 eagle claw feather light. I am hooking the herring through the nose and it holds them well. We had a lot of hits. I use shimano bait runners and we let the fish run. But a lot of times the bait was grabbed sideways and had large chunks out of it without hitting the hook or it just pulled out. Any help would be appreciated thanks. sgtmccloskey@comcast.net

Email Report, April 24, 2002 - From Bill Pierce  BILLSBAIT@webtv.net This report is from one of Bill's customers fishing the Martin's Creek area as of Tuesday afternoon (4/23), the cool weather has shut down the Shad.

“No shad again! I saw 4 boats come down and only one fish was caught. We went into some bottom fishing again. Paul Eisley got 2 more carp -- 31" 14lb 3oz and 27" 10lb 8oz. I got a nice catfish on liver~~26 1/2" 7lb 3oz. Brian is going to scan the big carp and the cattie,I'll send it over to you. Water temp is down to 58 degrees from 68 degrees late Friday."

Email Report, April 21, 2002 - From Kurt Vouk  Pa28coc@aol.com   Went to the wall in Trenton Sunday 5 am (fished from shore) took about 1hour to catch dozen herring. Put in at Yardley and drifted. Hooked into first Striper in about 20 minutes. Landed 5 in all - largest was 36 inches. Didn't have scale. Lost 2 more. One I lost snapped 17-lb. test like it was nothing when set my Baitrunner. If had more live herring would still be out there! River was slightly cloudy but not bad, high enough to get around well with 40-hp prop, good drift current.

Email Report, April 18, 2002 - From Bill Pierce  BILLSBAIT@webtv.net Received this report from Bill's Bait and Tackle in Phillipsburg to pass along to all the trout fishermen.

"I have been hearing from the guys this morning, that the big Browns are on the feed again at the Merrill Creek Reservoir. They claim several were caught Thurs., Fri. and yesterday in the 4- to 6-lb. range. Most of them are being released."

Email Report, April 18, 2002 - From Joe McCloskey  sgtmccloskey@comcast.net   Launched out of Neshaminy today, with my new fishing partner, Cheyenne ( three and a half month old chocolate Lab). Went off Station Ave. and fished last two hours of out going tide with blood worms -- one hit (missed, not used to circle hooks with blood worms). Ran all the way up to Trenton Marine and caugth 6 herring in about an hour. Ran all the way back down to Station Ave. and started fishing incoming tide. Only took about five minutes to get hit, fish felt like it was on steroids. Landed a solid 15-lb. striper (weighed on 50-lb Rapala scale) and released.Circle hooks work fine with herring. Caught another 13.2 lb. Then the real monsters started hitting. Within an hour the last four herring I had almost caused me to have two destroyed reels. One stripped me of 17-lb. test and the other two broke 20-lb. test like it was thread. I could have used a partner with two hands today instead of paws, to pull up the anchor, so I could have chased them. I have fished the Trenton area for Stripers for 3 years now and the size of these fish this years is incredible. It was worth taking the day off and making the run for those herring. Now I have to convince the wife to let me buy heavier striper rod and reels, this bass equipment cannot handle the three bruisers I felt pulling today.

Email Report, April 16, 2002 - From Gene Neiderlander  eugene@accessgate.net  Got this report from Guide Gene Neiderlander who fishes out of Belvidere, NJ. The Shad are here! My first trip out with clients was this afternoon, (4/19/02) and in a four hour trip, two clients caught 19 Shad with two of these fish over 6 pounds, then the lightning chased us off the water. I know that it is too much to hope, but I would like to see the whole season go this good.

Email Report, April 17, 2002 - From Bill Pierce at Bill's Bait and Tackle, Phillipsburg, NJ Bill forwarded this E-mail that he received from one of his customers on Wednesday afternoon. Looks like the shad have started to really move throughout the non-tidal river:

Well I got skunked fri,sat.sun,mon and stepped into some shit tue afternoon. In the morning I got one and Brian got one. I went back out in the afternoon and got 8 more. w/ 6 of them being caught in a half hour. I had two on at the same time,I had to put the pole in my rod holder w/ the drag down until I got the first fish in. It was a nice one too~~23" 5lb 2oz. I was in 13' of water using red and white dart w/ two split shots. There was some others being caught but not like the run I had,The guys in the boat on top of me cursed me up and down when I had the two at the same time. Anyway I went back to my spot today and they were in it so I went above them a little bit and didn't see them get a dam thing. HA HA HA!! I got only one but made sure I made enough noise for them to turn around and see I had a fish!!!! Watertemp this morning was 64 and went to 68 deg. The boat ramp parking lot has been jam packed w/ most of the guys going above brainards bridge were I've been the last coulple of days.Half the boats are catching while the other half is not. I've been on the have not side my share of times!!!!!! Anyway,that gives me 11 for the year. Do you have red and white darts???

Email Report, April 16, 2002 - From Bob Kuntz  bowhuntrbob6@hotmail.com  Lance & I had such a great day Sunday we decided to take today off, boy was it worth it. We had a hard time catching herring early again, 3 hours to get 15 herring. We went down river to where we got them Sunday & had non stop action for 2 hours we even caught fish on dead ones. I think we got 12 or 13 fish to 38in. & 20#. Went back for more herring, got 20 in 30 min. at marine terminal. We caught 7 more stripers, one was 37in. 24#, then things died off and we called it a day. We videod most of the catches today if anyone would like to see it let me know.

Email Report, April 14, 2002 - From Bob Kuntz  bowhuntrbob6@hotmail.com  Lance and I went out of trenton first light, went to marine terminal took a couple of hours to boat 12 herring.went to power plant were I got them yesterday -- no luck. Went to honey hole Bordentown area, Lance boated a 38, 36, 31, 25, I got a 37 35 30. Ran out of herring so we headed back to terminal, Nobody doing anything, so we went to the bridges and got 7 more herring.Long run back to honey hole and we fished 2 more hours got 2 more over 30in. Headed back up river with a couple of herring left so we tried around power plant and caught 3 more over 30in.Was our best day ever for big fish.PS heard of a 30# and40# fish caught saturday.our heaviest fish was 20#.

Email Report, April 13, 2002 - From Bob Kuntz  bowhuntrbob6@hotmail.com  Put in at Trenton went up river to marine terminal. Took about two hours to catch a dozen herring. Went up to bridges, it was low tide no luck. Went down to power plant caught three, all over 30in. Went down to Bordentown, boated two more. Going out tomorrow again with Lance to see if we can get a 40-in. or better. We'll let you know.

Email Report, April 11-12, 2002 - From Dan Elliott  LOLLYGAG5@AOL.COM  WENT FISHING THURS. 4/11 FROM 3:30 PM TO 5:30 PM. PUT IN AT THE NEW RAMP AT WEST DEPTFORD AND FISHED WITH MY SON OFF OF BEACH HILL, USING BLOODS. MY SON CAUGHT HIS FIRST STRIPER A 28" BASS, AND HE CAUGHT ANOTHER ONE AT 28", I CAUGHT THE LAST ONE BEFORE WE WENT IN A 30" BASS. ALSO CAUGHT SOME CAT FISH AND SMALLER STRIPERS. HAD A GOOD AFTERNOON.

WENT OUT AGAIN ON FRI. MORNING WITH A FRIEND, FISHED BEACH HILL AGAIN FROM 7:30 UNTIL 12:00 PM HAD A GREAT DAY WE CAUGHT 8 STRIPERS OVER 27", 2 AT 27", 2 AT 28", 2 AT 30", 1 AT 31" AND 1 AT 32" WHICH WAS A COW. ALSO CAUGHT a lot OF SMALL ONES, SOME WHITE PERCH AND SOME CAT FISH, HAD ACTION MOST OF THE MORNING. FISHED THE OUT GOING TIDE, AFTER THE TIDE CHANGED THE FISHING SLACKENED OFF ONLY CAUGHT THE 32" BASS. GOT SOAKED IN THE RAIN BUT HAD A VERY GOOD DAY IN ALL

Email Report, April 10, 2002 - From David Bingle  Davidbingel@comcast.net  Fished off of Station Avenue looking for stipers. Caught one small striper and one catfish drifting bloods. Fishing wasn't as hot as I hoped, but the day was beautiful. Heading up to powerplant on Sunday to try to find some herring. If anyone has any tips please let me know. I need to catch a 30 plus striper...

Email Report, April 8, 2002 - From Charles Schneider  charles@bollingerinsurance.com  Fished the Power Plant on Friday night 4/5, caught two shad, both bucks. Saw some Herring caught and live-lined but no stripers. Took the Jersey Girl 2 to Yardley on Sat. 4/6, put in at around 10:30am, froze my butt off for the next 4 hours, left without having one hit! Water temp never got above 48 and I only heard about two fish being caught earlier. Never saw a fish all day. I'm a sucker for punishment so I went back out on Sun. 4/7 but this time at Lambertville. It was much nicer due to very little wind but the water temp. went down overnight to 46!! I didn't see or hear of any fish caught all day. I was under the 202 bridge and there were 5 boats under the New Hope bridge. Hopefully the temp will come up this week along with the water level, its getting low again. See you on the river!! PS. Anyone want to go Shad fishing? Email me.

Email Report, April 6&7, 2002 - From Bob Kuntz  bowhuntrbob6@hotmail.com  Catch the herring and there's a good chance you will get a 30-in. or better striper now. Lance caught a 32-in. and lost another one because he forgot to put the baitrunner on. I boated three on sunday to 34-in. The problem is catchhing herring, they wouldn't take a hook all week. We caught them by running a spinner bait to the net. Herring will follow it to the net. Another way that worked well is put a live herring on a hook let it swim around reel it in slow right to the net and scoop up his friends.

Email Report, April 7, 2002 - From Frank Nyerges franknyerges@webtv.net   I saw a 37 inch striper that was landed by the Rt. 1 bridge in Trenton. The fisherman reported that he and his partner landed 4 stripers, (livelining), on Sat. He said a few shad were being landed, but the herring were scarce.

Email Report, April 6, 2002 - From Bill's Bait and Tackle in Phillipsburg, NJ  A report from guys that went down to the Trenton power plant this morning. (4-6).

"Bill, Well not much to report. Saw quite a few shad taken first thing in the morning then it died real quick. The herring were there but had lock jaw, saw a few caught mostly snagged. One guy live lined a herring he snagged and got a 30-in. striper on it. Heard of a 12 and 30 pounder taken yesterday and last night. Well Bill it's like I said before, things are starting to break open. All we need is a few warm days and all hell will break loose."

Email Report, April 5, 2002 - bob kuntz bowhuntrbob6@hotmail.com  Computer down all week. Just got back on line.Went out of trenton sat.the 30th.went to power plant fished for three hours caught six herring then went looking for stripers. Fished for three more hours. Had one run off and that was it. Went out first light sunday caught 15 herring in a half hour. Anchored outside of cove caught a 34&36in. in an hour, lost a bigger one at the boat. Fished 2 more hours no more hits.

Email Report, April 1, 2002 - From Charles Schneider  charles@bollingerinsurance.com  Tried to launch on Sat. morning only to find the river high, muddy and full of debris . This is Hell on a Jet motor and I was alone so I thought it prudent not to go out. Lambertville: three boats out, as of 10am no fish caught. Guy I spoke to had tried for shad early , gave up due to the dirt. Tried for Bass, no luck at all. Said it was the same story for the other two boats. Went down to Yardley. Good news: high water has the ramp usable again. Bad news: Two boats out, NO fish. Continued down to Trenton. Dead low tide, River filthy, ramp almost unusable due to debris. Couple of boats out couldn't tell what they were doing. Went down to the power plant, Frank was there and he told me he heard of one shad caught early on but nothing since. This was confirmed by other guys who were leaving, it was 12noon and these guys hadn't seen a fish caught all morning! Went shore-fishing for an hour on Sunday morn. at Chimney Rock reservoir. Only had one hit but it was a FOUR pound large mouth! That made it a happy Easter!

Email Report, March 30, 2002 - From Mike Spontak striper555@hotmail.com  Completed my first creel survey for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission this Sat. morning April 30. Spent the first 3 hrs. of my shift at the Delair ramp just below Betsy Ross Bridge at the end of Derousse St. Arrived at 7 am and stayed until 9:45 am and only talked to one fisherman who was shore fishing. Did not see any boats launched. He was fishing for catties without any luck. He was very knowledgable about the area and indicated that there are some very nice largemouth in the ramp area. Second part of shift was spent at the West Deptford boat ramp. Gate for parking was not working so you had to call the WD police, 856-845-2300, who came down and opened the gate with a key. They were not charging boaters for the parking and did not want people parking anywhere but in the lot. You would call and they would send an officer to open the gate. Don't know when it will be fixed. Five boats launced while I was there from 10:15 am until 1:00 pm without any returning in time for an interview. Did interview 7 shore fishermen in the area who only managed 2 short stripers and 1 small catfish during my shift. All anglers were very plesant and willing to participate in the creel survey. I'll be at Curtin, Lightning Jack's, and Ran-Del marinas on April 5 and April 29 and WD and Delair on April 17.

E-Mail Report, March 30, 2002 - From Frank Kivler  fkivler@comcast.net  Went bass fishing for the first time this season on Saturday 3-30-02. We launched from the ramp at Rivergate Park in West Deptford and fished some of the local coves with no luck. We decided to take a ride to the Darby Creek area in Pa. The water temp in the area was around 48-49 degrees. I found an area of 53-54 degree water and on the windward shore of the pool. After throwing a white spinnerbait for awhile and no luck, went to a black/blue jig and caught 5 bass in 40 minutes. The biggest one is shown in the picture below. Good way to start this season.

Email Report, March 21, 2002 -From Steve Stackhouse  stevestackhouse2000@yahoo.com  Fished the Commodore Barry Bridge on Sat. morning, March 16th, around 6:30 am. The morning was great with temperatures around 62 degrees. My friend Joe and I picked up blood worms from Bridgeport Marina (because of a shortage be prepared to pay more for bloodworms this spring.) We also brought along some leftover frozen herring from last season. All together we caught around 10 to 15 catfish. The biggest one was between 4 & 5lbs, but no stripers. We only heard of one other boat who caught a 17-inch striper. The weather was really unstable with the temperature changing around 4 times. Maybe we were just a little to early, but we had fun. I think if the weather cooperates we could see some good fishing in the next few weeks.
Canoe!

Email Report, March 21, 2002  Maggie Huntbach from supporting business member Bridgeport Boatyard wrote to say that lots of people are starting to go out for stripers and are doing well. The biggest she has seen yet was a 33 inch fish last week. Bridgeport Boatyard is ready for the season and has bloodworms in stock. Open from 6 am to 6 pm.

Email Report, March 11, 2002 -From Charles Schneider  charles@bollingerinsurance.com  They're HEREEEEEEEE !!!! Fished the Power Plant on Sat and Sun. Heard rumors of I shad caught on Fri. night and a "few" caught early Sat. morning. I got there at 10:30am stayed until 1:00 pm. There were four of us actually fishing and NO shad caught. The parking lot was FULL of guys but most were just there to check it out. Returned on Sun. at 10am stayed till 12:30pm. I had one on for a minute until the hook pulled and the guy standing next to me landed one fish. It was a real nice ROE about 5lbs.!! Unfortunately it was the only fish landed but it definitely beats Rumors! The shad are here. There were also some Herring jigged at the spillway but other than that there wasn't any other action. I stopped at the Yardley launch ramp and it is completely useless, unless you use a Canoe!

Email Report, March 10, 2002 -From Pete Antoniewicz, Frank Beck, Jim Pocetti, Joe Pocetti  petea@ac-inc.comSpent Saturday afternoon in the Byram pool area, dredging shiners, nightcrawlers, and leeches through the channel, around the rocks, and along the shorelines, but to no avail. Water temp was in mid-to-upper 40s (ranging from 44 to 47 throughout the day) and with reasonably good clarity (about 3-4 feet). Current was not too bad, but wind was tough. Stopped by HL Bait and Tackle on Sunday and spoke with Dan Leach who said that he had gotten the first reports of shad up at the Trenton Power Plant.

Email Report, March 10, 2002 -From John Strada  johnstrada@comcast.netI took the boat out yesterday mainly to try out the new Genisis. It worked beautifully. I fished Dredge for about 3 hours and connected with one bass on a drop shot rig. I got a glimpse of him before he got off at the boat. He was not that big. Water was fairly clean and temp got to a max of 48 degrees. Lightning Jacks is being dug out with a huge crane and bucket. they should be done in a week. Jack Phillips said the water level in the marina is down 2 ft. due to the drought.

Email Report, March 4, 2002 -From Richard Lebone  titaniumspinnerbait@webtv.netVisited the Trenton Power Plant the other day. The gate looked locked so I got out of my car and I pushed it open, so let the members know that if the gate is shut it might not be locked. Assunpink Lake is worth fishing now, too. The back of it is alive with crappies and pickerel. Also the weeds are growing, so get there before it turns to a swamp.

Email Report, March 4, 2002 -From Charles Schneider  cmschneider1@att.netI went over to the Power Plant on Friday 3/1 and want to report that the sign is down and the gate is open! I walked down to the cove and there were three guys there and I watched one catch a 3-lbs. catfish which he released. He said he had done well on cats that morning. The other two hadn't done any good but were fishing live bait for Bass. The walkway is very overgrown and the trash is pretty bad down by the cove but the walkway isn't as dirty. Some Idiot has tried to tear down the 'Don't Litter" signs!! Unbelievable!!! I know its a little early but "THINK SHAD" (and they will come)!

Email, February 7, 2002 - From Richard Labone Subject: thurs feb 7 fishing mercer lake. Put in at 9:00 am after altercation with county employee saying i was unable to go on the lake in the snow well i told the guy i wanted to speak to someone with authority. well u have it a supr. came ot to the launch and said have a good day and wear your life vests as i was with a friend floyd so we got on the lake searched for abot an hour then bingo the flasher went nuts i didnt hook up the fishfinders as the weather was snowing and rather not take the chance of sending them to the grave. so we marked the fish at 13ft threw a marker out backed off and doubled anchored.im a lure user but floyd is a bait fisherman so we used bait. little tiny fatheads on a slip float at 10ft . 1st bite came within minutes oh boy wasnt fun putting my hand in the water put a glass thermometer in it read 36 at the surface and 38 on bottom possible a spring was around. i was fishing on the eastern side i guess where the playground is maybe a little farther south from that. we were into crappies for about the next 2 hrs the hands where numb we couldnÕt keep them on the hand warmers long enough to get warm. we had another problem we left the hooks we needed at home and didnt know of any local tackle stores to get some so we lost many bites. total tally for me was 12 floyd had 18 and guess he was in the back of the boat, none bigger then 9in. still all in all a fine day even the snow was fun making snowballs from the deck of the boat, had to use lake water to unfreeze the anchor ropes from the cleats. this was my first day on the water with this kind of action ill be back again soon. *** note: if you want not to use live bait, take a sixe 8 or 6 gamagatsu red or reguler octopus hook tie some chenille on the shaft black, chartruse, white, olive, red, fl. orange and pink. attach to 2 lb. test line anything higher doesnt work too good and get out there for them trick here is to let it sink slow and to be able to cast in cold extremes

Email, January 31, 2002 - From Mike Spontak  striper555@hotmail.comI just received a voice mail from Donald Tretola who is connected with the Public Relations Dept. at the Mercer County Power Plant. According to the message I received:  "the power plant pool will open for the coming shad season on a day-to-day basis from sunrise to sunset."  I interpret this as meaning as long as there are no problems it will continue to stay open. I will try to find additional information as to the exact day of opening and will post accordingly. I know many of our members fish the power plant pool and would like to know what's going on.

Email, January 29, 2002 - From Frank Nyerges   franknyerges@webtv.netI fish the Delaware River below Trenton, mostly for carp. I am looking to buy a good sonar unit, possibly a Pinpoint. I am also going to look into the possibility of the underwater cameras. I would appreciate any input or advice from the members.   Thanks, Frank Nyerges

Email, January 26, 2002 - From Richard Labone   ratt2345@webtv.netMy name is Richard Labone, 38, NJ  native , recently moved and a  new member to the club. I will help in any way possible the club needs. I am in need of someone to go fishing with during tournaments and other days on the Delaware or other waters. I have 32 yrs fishing exp for bass, crappie, cats, pickerel, channels, lakers, shad, pike, hybrids, white perch and yellow perch. Having just moved to East Windsor from Monroe, NJ.  I fished the Asspunpink chain , Mercer Lake , Carnegie Lake,  Round Valley and Spruce Run a lot. As being a river I need someone to take me . I have a 17' Tracker boat but unable to drive due to meds being taken. I can drive a car.  I can use the trolling motor no problem. 1000s of hours on water experience. Very skilled. Have a Mechanical Engineers degree with plenty of experience. Worked 10 years as a Amtrak engineer of track.  8 yrs at Ventilation Technologies Inc. as a supervisor. Manager service repair and install dept. If anyone is interested and needs a partner. I also have a truck , and can tow partners boat.  E-mail me  ratt2345@webtv.netor call   609-918-9214

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.