Largemouths in the Juniata

[jifigz]

Has anyone else noticed a growing number of LMB (or maybe even Spots, because they fish don't always look like LMB) in the Juniata and/or Susquehanna? I never used to catch them in the Juniata and it was always just SMB. I haven't even been out on the water much this year compared to most years and I have nailed two in the last week. Just yesterday I was out tossing gurglers and picking up plenty of usual Redbeasts, Smallmouths, and Rock Bass but when I planted one cast tight along a weedy bank it turned out to be a LMB. There numbers have to be growing in the last few years.

 

[Dave_W]

jifigz wrote:
Has anyone else noticed a growing number of LMB (or maybe even Spots, because they fish don't always look like LMB) in the Juniata and/or Susquehanna?

Well I haven't been up on the Juniata yet this summer, but over the three decades I've fished the J. LMs have always been present in small numbers. I get one here and there. I don't recall ever getting a big one, they're mostly under a foot and around shoreline eddy and cover areas.
I'm mostly familiar with the lower J.

Might be something to track at the WW jam next month

 

[icyguides]

i can't speak much for the Juniata, but on the lower susquehanna there has always been an occasional lmb and some years there are more than others. They seem to come and go.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

I know a certain stream that has a good population of them but they are stocked...

 

[Swattie87]

LM's show up in some of the WW tribs to the Susky I fish. Not many, but I usually catch a couple/year. LM's in streams seem to have a more vibrant color pattern than LM's in lakes in my experience. They're normal LM's though, and not Spots. They tend to be long and lanky, and don't have the shoulders of a still water LM. They avoid current at all costs, and thus are outcompeted by Smallmouth in terms of ability to forage.

I catch them in the frog water holes on a couple of small Trout streams though too...They have ponds in their headwaters and I suspect the LM's escape the ponds as fry or small fish. Their growth is typically stunted in these colder water environments though.

 

[Dave_W]

Swattie87 wrote:
I catch them in the frog water holes on a couple of small Trout streams though too...They have ponds in their headwaters and I suspect the LM's escape the ponds as fry or small fish.

Yep.
I rarely if ever see SMBs in small, cold, mountain trout streams. LMBs, however, do show up from time to time and this can usually be attributed to a pond or dammed section upriver, just as you point out.

Sometimes, however, they just seem to appear with no "feeder" water around. There's one stream in my neck of the woods which has wild STs and usually by late spring I can pretty much count on seeing some LMBs in a couple particular pools.
Always has me scratching my head.

 

[RLeep2]

One possible explanation might be chronically high flows like we've had this year. I've seen something similar happen during very wet years on the upper half of the main stem of Oil Creek, where LMB, while not completely absent, have always been fairly uncommon compared to SMB. Both of the branches come out of hybrid natural lakes/impoundments with strong LMB and pike populations. In wet years, quite a few of these fish seem to find their way into the main stem of Oil above Titusville. I'm guessing they get washed out of the lakes during spates. Then if the next year is normal or dry, they are way reduced in numbers. The same could be happening to some extent in the Juniata or main stem Susquehanna. Or at least, its a better explanation then saying they were dropped into the rivers by alien spacecraft.....

 

[Dave_W]

RLeep2 wrote:
they were dropped into the rivers by alien spacecraft.....

I prefer this explanation - much better for internet discussion. Wait, where's my tinfoil?

 

[Dave_W]

RLeep2 wrote:
One possible explanation might be chronically high flows like we've had this year.

I do agree that wet years such as this one tend to see more dispersal of various WW species into creeks or headwater areas...or into rivers below reservoir spillways.

 

[icyguides]

From this morning on the lower river.

 

[TJones]

Good post.... there are a few around for sure. I've caught more lmb in the susky through the years than the J, but definitely got some in the J as well. After tropical storm Lee and all the flooding it seemed like the lmb population spiked. A couple falls ago my Dad caught a northern pike in the J, which was a first... caught quite a few in the susky but never the J.

 

[Dave_W]

TJones wrote:
A couple falls ago my Dad caught a northern pike in the J, which was a first... caught quite a few in the susky but never the J.

Interesting!
I've caught pickerel in the J but never heard of a pike.
As you point out, however, they're in the Susky and surveys turn up a few around Harrisburg. Further upriver in the North Branch, pike are more common.

 

[TJones]

Yes... Agree, DaveW, a pike was a big surprise in the J... most of our northerns have come from the mainstrem susky, upstream of the Juniata confluence. I've heard they are more common up in the NB, but I never really venture up that way.

Ya just never know what might show up in our rivers!

 

[jifigz]

I'm sure most of the LMB in the J either washed over Raystown or from ponds really close to the river when the river gets quite flooded. Mine are never long and lean, however, and are always short and very chunky. They just seem to be becoming more and more common in the previous few years.

I've certainly never seen a pike in the Juniata. There are streams like Aughwick, Jack's, and Tuscarora which have lots of Pickerel in them but I've never encountered a pickerel in the Juniata.

 

[jifigz]

Here are two most recent LMB..

 

[jifigz]

Wouldn't add 2 attachments to one post for some reason.

Huh, and for some reason it won't attach the other picture....

 

[jifigz]

On a side note, I LOVE big redbreasts like this one. Easily one of my favorite fish in the Juniata and one that is actually native to the river unlike every other fish except fallfish.

 

[bdfish]

I have been catching a ton of big redbreasts this year. Fun fighters.

 

[jifigz]

Me too. I caught a pile of nice redbreasts yesterday evening. Got some smallies and rockies too. I ended up having about 40 fish come to hand in an hour or so. A nice little treat.

 

[bdfish]

I haven't started fly fishing for bass and such yet but I plan to try out an old 7 weight I have with some poppers and buggers. My son and I have been spin fishing mostly. We floated from Granville to Lewistown 3 times the other week and hammered redbreasts and rock bass in the sand flats. You couldn't cast anything without getting a hit. Had the biggest smallie of my life on Friday evening at Allegheny Hill. Got off at my feet as I was trying to get ahold of him. Had to be close to 24 inches and heavy.