Somewhere downriver from the rainbow

After the rain, the sun started going down and part of a rainbow was visible.

Our one-year anniversary is coming up, and Karen asked if I wanted a guided fishing trip to the Susquehanna as a present.

Leaping smallmouth bass, better than
a set of dishes.

I said, "That doesn't sound good at all ...  how about a nice set of dishes?"

Then I came to my senses after picturing a smallmouth bass crushing a topwater lure, and I agreed to our fishing trip.

I contacted Jason Shay from Ken Penrod's Life Outdoors Unlimited, and he said he had on open evening trip on July 7.  I forwarded the information on to Karen, and she made the reservations.

This was only about three weeks ago, so it didn't have quite the buildup as our April trip with Jason where we waited four months from the time of the booking to the actual trip (and that original date was pushed back a week because the river was too high).  Most of that wait was through prime cabin-fever season when there wasn't much fishing to be had anywhere..  But the anticipation was high for yesterday's adventure -- the fishing on the Potomac or the skinny rivers here just doesn't compare to the Susquehanna.

The day finally came yesterday, and we met Jason at one of the Susquehanna boat ramps in the Harrisburg area.  He said we would be using spinnerbaits, swimbaits and topwaters (namely the River2Sea Whopper Plopper).  In contrast, we used nothing but bottom-bouncing jigs three months ago on the Susquehanna -- however we did catch a handful at the end of that day with spinnerbaits on the Juniata River.

About 45 minutes after we hit the water, the rains came and pelted us for a half hour.  Thankfully, no lightning strikes in the area so we were able to stay on the water.  I almost didn't bring my rain gear with me, but I was glad I did.

The fish seemed to have more girth than length.

Before the rain, I landed the first smallmouth of the day (Karen lost one that would have been the first) then caught a 16-inch fish that we all thought was bigger.  At least 17 inches, maybe 18.  Jason measured it and scoffed, "We're all wrong.  It's 16."

Fishing was a lot tougher than in April.  We were hitting outside edges of weedbeds and around other structure that looked like ideal cover for smallmouth bass, but the fish didn't seem to be there.  Jason said the river went up a little bit because of rain, and the clarity wasn't great.  Unless we were in two or three feet of water, we couldn't see the bottom in most places.

Oddly, most of the fish we caught were in the middle of nowhere with no major structure to be seen.  We observed a nice riffle of water on one side of the boat ... no fish.  On the other side of the boat and nothing worth noting ... and after pelting that area with casts someone would land a fish.

Get the net!

We didn't catch fish on anything other than 3/8-ounce white and chartreuse spinnerbaits until Karen started using Bass Pro Shops Sassy Sally swimbaits later in the afternoon.  The cookie-cutter fish liked the Sassy Sally, but I stubbornly kept tossing the spinnerbait in hope for something bigger.  We each tried Whopper Ploppers throughout the day without even a single rise.

I ended up with twelve smallmouth, and Karen probably had that many but said she wasn't counting.  It was a far cry from our last time on the river, but it's interesting to note a slow day on the Susquehanna is about equal to a really good day on the Potomac.  Two of my fish measured 16 inches with another handful in the 14-inch range.  All of the fish we landed over 14 inches were really chunky.

A weird footnote, I was having an issue with the line on the rod I was using for spinnerbaits.  I use eight-pound Trilene XL when using anything other than bottom-bouncing jigs.  Never had any problems with this line.  But yesterday, I lost four spinnerbaits because the line snapped.  Two lures came off on casts, and another on either a bite or a snag -- snapped off with no drama at all. 

After the rain went away, it turned into a beautiful day.

Then the final spinnerbait came off near the end of the day while floating past a weedbed.  Jason said, "There should be something at the tail end of the weeds."  Even though the fish didn't seem to be in those spots most of the day.  I made a cast and that went too far past the weeds.  Then the next cast went perfectly into the pool behind the weeds, and a fish clamped onto the spinnerbait.  It breached the water and we all saw it -- it was a BIG smallmouth.  Probably an easy 18 inches.  It took off downriver and I let it run some.  Jason scrambled for the net, and the fish went behind the boat.  No big deal because I was standing at the back on top of the deck.

Oh snap!

The line broke again.  Other than fish rooting around a rocky river bottom after getting hooked, and Mr. Whiskers fraying the line after a death roll, I've never had problems with fishing line simply breaking.  And it happened four times yesterday.  Thinking back, maybe the line fatigued at the knot with all the casting without hooking fish.  Usually I will check for frays near the knot after catching a fish or even getting a bite and will re-tie the line if need be.

All loaded up with the Triple Fish "camo" line.

A local tackle shop that sponsors Jason, Susquehanna Fishing Tackle, had recommended to him Hi Seas Triple Fish Camoescent monofilament line.  It's a three-color fishing line, and, despite being apprehensive because of the strange coloring, he said he has been using it with great success.  Clients who can't cast very well get lures hung up in trees and rip branches off without breaking the line.

After returning to the boat ramp and loading things up, Karen and I headed to Al's of Hampden for some pizza and Pizza Boy Beer.  Surprisingly, it wasn't very crowded for a Friday night.  Then we stayed at a nearby hotel which was enticingly right across from the Susquehanna.  I didn't sleep well last night perhaps knowing the smallmouth bass were within sight.

This morning, we headed to Susquehanna Fishing Tackle in Columbia, Pa. I had ordered tackle from them online before but had never been to the store. From the outside, the building didn't look like much, but inside, it was packed with nearly everything catering to bass fishing.  They didn't have the Triple Fish line in stock but had it in bulk where they could spool the line on our reels.  It cost just over $9 for two reels, which didn't seem too bad.  After wandering around the store and impulse buying, we managed to escape with less than $90 worth of stuff.