Salmon fishing can be difficult if you are just starting out. Since it's a lot different from other types of fishing, adjusting to it takes time and a willingness to learn the tricks of the trade. You don't have to be a beginner for a long time as long as you follow the tips and tricks that more experienced fishermen tell you. Learning how to catch a salmon isn't easy, but it isn't that hard as well. Experience is the best teacher here. The more you fish, the more skills you acquire thus the better you get with it.

1) Sharpen your hooks - Salmons have real thick jaws so make sure your hooks can penetrate them.

2) Use multiple lines while fishing - Salmons stay in groups so use numerous lines as well.

3) Fish during the early hours of the morning or early evening - Salmons hate light; they prefer dimmer areas. Cloudy days are also perfect for catching salmons.

4) Educate yourself on the different varieties and species of salmons - The techniques used in catching specific species is often different from the techniques used on other species.

5) Find a good fishing partner - Fishing is more fun if done with a friend or a member of a family. You may even help each other out by assigning tasks. One fishes, the other spots for salmons or cleans the catch.

6) Check your fishing gear if they are suitable for salmons - You don't want your fishing poles and fishing lines get broken off by a struggling salmon.

7) Always carry an ice box with you while on a fishing trip - This is to keep your catch as fresh as possible.

8) Use thick and tough waders if you're fishing on shores - These are for both safety and convenience purposes.

9) Use salmon roe or eggs as baits as much as possible - These are what the expert fishermen recommend, so you can't go wrong with them.

10) Buy or rent a sturdy boat - This is when you decide to do fishing other than shore-fishing.

11) Use a flexible and strong fishing pole - Don't let a snapped fishing pole ruin your fishing trip. One that is made of graphite steel will do.

The most important of all salmon fishing tips though is for you to just go out and fish. Go fishing as often as you can, and it won't be long before you become very good at it.

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The removal of old dams from the Raritan River in New Jersey will allow migrating fish to fully access the middle and upper portions of the river for the first time in more than a century.

The dam removal project is being done and financed by El Paso Corp. (now Kinder Morgan, Inc.), under the terms of a landmark agreement secured last year by the DEP as compensation to the public for harm to natural resources caused by past pollution facilities operated by or affiliated with El Paso.

This second Raritan River dam to be removed is known as the Roberts Street Dam and was previously known as the Dead River Dam. It straddles Bridgewater and Hillsborough townships. Its removal will open up a large segment of the Raritan River for fish spawning.

The elimination of the Roberts Street Dam will further increase water flow and habitat improvements realized from removal of the Calco Dam in Bridgewater last summer, which was the first phase of this three-step process.

The removal of all three targeted dams will open up 10 miles of migratory fish habitat along a stretch of the Raritan that twists through a highly diverse residential, commercial and agricultural portion of Somerset County that includes Bridgewater, Hillsborough, Bound Brook, Somerville and Manville.

It also will open up about 17 miles of tributaries, including portions of the Millstone River, to spawning. None of the dams were built for flood control.

The targeted dams include:

The Robert Street Dam, a 6 ½-foot-high sheet piling and concrete dam located at river mile 27.9. It was constructed prior to 1930 for purposes that are not known today. This dam failed and was reconstructed in 1963.

Calco Dam, located at river mile 20.9 and built by the Calco Chemical Co. in 1938 to disperse chemicals from its facility. The dam was essentially a large concrete pipe spanning the river that most recently carried and dispersed wastewater into the river for the Somerset Raritan Valley Sewerage Authority. The authority constructed a new outfall for that purpose. Calco Dam was demolished in 2011.

The Nevius Street Dam, located at river mile 27. The rock and mortar dam was built in 1901 for aesthetic purposes and later retrofitted to provide water to ponds on the Duke Estate. The DEP and El Paso are working on a future plan to ensure the river continues to feed water to these ponds after the dam is removed. Removal is anticipated in 2013.

Fish that will benefit from the removal of the dams are American shad, American eel, herring, and striped bass, which once migrated in prodigious numbers through the gravelly shallows of the Upper Raritan.

The voluntary settlement with El Paso resolved Natural Resource Damage claims made by the DEP against the Houston-based company that stemmed from contamination at EPEC Polymers Inc. in Flemington, Hunterdon County; Nuodex Inc. in Woodbridge, Middlesex County; EPEC Polymers Inc. in Burlington City, Burlington County; and the Eagle Point Refinery in West Deptford, Gloucester County. Investigations and/or cleanups are under way at those sites.

The DEP uses funds secured from Natural Resource Damage settlements toward ecological restoration projects, typically in the same watershed or general area where resource damages occur.

For a copy of the settlement agreement, visit: http://www.nj.gov/dep/docs/elpaso-nrd-settlement.pdf

For more information on the DEP's Office of Natural Resource Restoration, visit: http://www.nj.gov/dep/nrr/

source: NJ DEP