Mother Nature has been a strange force this year. Every time I wanted to go fishing, or Karen wanted to go camping, rain storms bombarded the area, elevating rivers and making waters pretty much un-fishable.
Last Saturday morning, I went to the Potomac even though the gauges indicated the water was too high. Just had to get out there and try. At the Monocacy confluence, it was a muddy mess. Even walking down to the bank was struggle with the mud on the trail. Large logs and branches littered the shore, the water looked like chocolate milk, and I left after 90 minutes after catching one channel catfish. No bites at all other than that.
Conditions have been fairly similar on The Big River Up North (the Susquehanna) with unseasonable rains, but they haven't had the volume we have had down here. My friend Kirk gleefully texted me about a month ago saying he booked a guide for this Saturday. Of course I agreed to join him.
Jason Shay started this year going independent with his own guide service -- Susquehanna Smallmouth Solutions -- and getting a few guiding buddies to come aboard. One of them is Pete Holmes, and that's who Kirk had booked for Saturday's trip.
I circled the date on the calendar and didn't think much of it until earlier this week -- Saturday would be the re-opening of bass season on the lower Susquehanna. The Pennsylvania DNCR annually closes bass fishing on parts of the Susquehanna and other rivers from May 1 through June 15. With a 45-day layover of no bass fishing, it was likely the river would be packed.
Sure enough, Kirk and I arrived at the Fort Hunter boat ramp at 5:45 a.m. to meet Pete, and it was a madhouse.
Pete didn't bother trying to get his boat in the water, and he suggested another ramp 20 minutes upriver.
We followed him to the other spot, which was slightly less chaotic. After the boat hit the water, Pete took us even further upriver -- I had never fished above the Duncannon area, and we were well above there at this point.
The river seemed more tranquil for some reason. Blue skies, temperatures in the high 50s projected for the 70s later on.
I thought we were going to have a day of topwater madness when the first smallmouth slurped down my Whopper Plopper. The fish was only around 14 inches, but topwater strikes definitely get the adrenaline going, no matter the size of the fish.
Then Kirk got his first fish, which was pretty funny. Prior to Saturday, he bought a baitcasting reel/rod, practiced with it in his backyard for a few hours and said he had a good hang of it. Baitcasting equipment is a lot different from spinning. I've tried for years to get a hang of baitcasters, and my experiments always end up with a birds nest of fishing line.
Anyway, Kirk was willing to try it on the big stage, and Pete tied a spinnerbait on Kirk's new rod. He cast it out, and the line got moderately tangled. With the spinnerbait sitting on the bottom of the river, Pete took the rod and sorted out the tangled mess, then handed the rod back. Kirk started reeling, and there was a fish on the other end! He reeled the fish in, but it wasn't a smallmouth. What would try to gulp down a spinnerbait that was sitting on the river bottom?
Mr. Whiskers. It was a 14-inch flathead catfish.
Unfortunately, the bass didn't get the memo that it was opening day because by 10 a.m., we were struggling. I had two smallmouth, and Kirk had the flathead and another smallmouth (I think). Pete suggested loading the boat and going to the Duncannon Campground, and we were all for it.
Down river, it was more of the same thing. Not many fish. I went around three hours without catching anything. Kirk caught a few fish, but they were surprisingly dinks. Usually the small Susquehanna smallies are at least 15 inches, but not today.
Around 2 p.m., Pete caught a decent smallmouth on a fluke swimbait, and I suggested switching to Reaction Innovations swimbaits. Something I was really comfortable with, and I figured the fish were mid-range in the water column.
It was a good change because the smallmouth started going after them. Unfortunately, all the bass were dinks. Seriously, the smallest smallmouth I've seen caught on the river.
To his credit, Pete moved us around a lot trying to find fish. It was apparent everybody else on the river were struggling, too, considering all the other boaters with their throttles pegged moving around the river.
At the end of the day, I caught seven smallmouth, and Kirk had 14. Plus the flathead catfish.
The good news is that I'll be back at it again on July 1. Karen booked a trip a few months ago with Jason, so hopefully the water is a little clearer then, and the smallmouth are hungry.
Last Saturday morning, I went to the Potomac even though the gauges indicated the water was too high. Just had to get out there and try. At the Monocacy confluence, it was a muddy mess. Even walking down to the bank was struggle with the mud on the trail. Large logs and branches littered the shore, the water looked like chocolate milk, and I left after 90 minutes after catching one channel catfish. No bites at all other than that.
Conditions have been fairly similar on The Big River Up North (the Susquehanna) with unseasonable rains, but they haven't had the volume we have had down here. My friend Kirk gleefully texted me about a month ago saying he booked a guide for this Saturday. Of course I agreed to join him.
Jason Shay started this year going independent with his own guide service -- Susquehanna Smallmouth Solutions -- and getting a few guiding buddies to come aboard. One of them is Pete Holmes, and that's who Kirk had booked for Saturday's trip.
I circled the date on the calendar and didn't think much of it until earlier this week -- Saturday would be the re-opening of bass season on the lower Susquehanna. The Pennsylvania DNCR annually closes bass fishing on parts of the Susquehanna and other rivers from May 1 through June 15. With a 45-day layover of no bass fishing, it was likely the river would be packed.
 |
| Fort Hunter boat ramp yesterday morning. Re-opening day for bass fishing on the Susquehanna. |
Pete didn't bother trying to get his boat in the water, and he suggested another ramp 20 minutes upriver.
We followed him to the other spot, which was slightly less chaotic. After the boat hit the water, Pete took us even further upriver -- I had never fished above the Duncannon area, and we were well above there at this point.
The river seemed more tranquil for some reason. Blue skies, temperatures in the high 50s projected for the 70s later on.
I thought we were going to have a day of topwater madness when the first smallmouth slurped down my Whopper Plopper. The fish was only around 14 inches, but topwater strikes definitely get the adrenaline going, no matter the size of the fish.
Then Kirk got his first fish, which was pretty funny. Prior to Saturday, he bought a baitcasting reel/rod, practiced with it in his backyard for a few hours and said he had a good hang of it. Baitcasting equipment is a lot different from spinning. I've tried for years to get a hang of baitcasters, and my experiments always end up with a birds nest of fishing line.
 |
| Kirk wins for biggest and most smallmouth bass on this trip. |
Mr. Whiskers. It was a 14-inch flathead catfish.
Unfortunately, the bass didn't get the memo that it was opening day because by 10 a.m., we were struggling. I had two smallmouth, and Kirk had the flathead and another smallmouth (I think). Pete suggested loading the boat and going to the Duncannon Campground, and we were all for it.
Down river, it was more of the same thing. Not many fish. I went around three hours without catching anything. Kirk caught a few fish, but they were surprisingly dinks. Usually the small Susquehanna smallies are at least 15 inches, but not today.
Around 2 p.m., Pete caught a decent smallmouth on a fluke swimbait, and I suggested switching to Reaction Innovations swimbaits. Something I was really comfortable with, and I figured the fish were mid-range in the water column.
It was a good change because the smallmouth started going after them. Unfortunately, all the bass were dinks. Seriously, the smallest smallmouth I've seen caught on the river.
To his credit, Pete moved us around a lot trying to find fish. It was apparent everybody else on the river were struggling, too, considering all the other boaters with their throttles pegged moving around the river.
At the end of the day, I caught seven smallmouth, and Kirk had 14. Plus the flathead catfish.
The good news is that I'll be back at it again on July 1. Karen booked a trip a few months ago with Jason, so hopefully the water is a little clearer then, and the smallmouth are hungry.
And I caught nothing but two tiny smallmouth (probably 6-8") that fell off the hook as I pulled them in on Sunday morning. Just not a good weekend of fishing!
ReplyDelete