Susquehanna, nice day but no fish!

[Woolybugger]

I fly fished the Susquehanna today from 1:00 until dark. Clear water, very shallow, with no sighs of life at all.
I managed one smallmouth bass, approx 12" and one big chub about 14".
Nice scenery with the fall colors. The first place I fished was where I used to catch hundreds of bass every time I went out....... I fished for a couple hours without a hit and moved downstream a couple miles.
My streamers worked perfect with the "streamer express" line and it was kinda fun casting my Sage again, but no fish!! I suspended a bugger near the bottom of some wintering holes and every other place a bass might be hiding, but no dice!
The Susquehanna has only 5% of the bass it once had, but most won't admit it!! A flyrod is a "challenge" anyway in a huge river..... maybe next time I'll try live minnows from a Bass Tracker! LOL
The 3rd pic has some "unhatched" eggs on it. Several other rocks had the same thing. Very strange!
Very frustrating! I just tied some "killer" flies last night but no fish would hit them. Next week I'll be surf fishing at Island Beach State Park with my 9wt. The Susquehanna has got me so depressed.

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[tomgamber]

I am still amazed at the amount of leaves still out there. Nice pics...beats rakin' leaves and mowing grass which is what I did.

 

[Maurice]

Tom,

The SE pa region is the last to change. We fall under the Pittsburgh minus 5 degree factor. Just like Erie and the Laurel Highlands are under the Pittsburgh Plus 5 degree factor.

At least thats how I saw it when I lived out your way.

Our weather is influenced heavily by coastal fronts. You know that...you lived out here didn't you?

At work the other day in York we were looking north toward the mountain rangeand noted that the tree mass on the hills are still primarily green while the isolated trees are in full color. Has something to do with the ambients being influenced by thermal retention.

 

[tomgamber]

Yeas I lived in Reading area fro over 20 years...I also remember having snow up to the middle of the screen door several times a winter (thus canceling school, yeah!) But it just seems like between the warm October and the lack of rain until recently, its really been pushed back. At Clarion we used to have the Autumn Leaf Festival the second Saturday in October, now they don't have any color during that time. Yesterday I mowed and raked and I still have A LOT of leaves on the trees. Many of them are still green. I apologize for hijacking this thread but it looks like mid September on the Susky. I guess that translates into more fish though so that's good.

 

[Fredrick]

I the spirit of things

 

[RustyRat]

Not sure anyone is still following this thread but I'm curious as to how the smallmouth fishing on the Susquehanna fares throughout the state. My experience on the river is primarily on the southern end (Harrisburg south to Wrightsville). The fishing has been rather poor in this section and I realize from reading other posts and some news reports that this is the result of a number of things that have hit this watershed over the past few years.

But I'm also seeing it on the Potomac. What has the smallmouth fishing been like north of the Susquehanna river section (ex: Bloomsburg, The Juniata, etc.) over the past few years?

 

[shipnfish2006]

All I'm going to say about the Susky is the further north the better. It's not really much a secret because I hear a lot of people talking about it on other websites. On the Juniata the lower section, which is the only section I personally fish has been pretty consistent with the lower susky.

 

[Woolybugger]

Wow! a warmwater post!

Last year, 07', was the worst yet for me in the Susquehanna. Like you guys I fish Wrightsville to above Harrisburg..... Marysville and Perdix.

07' was near record shallow and near record hot! Ever since 03' I have seen the massive fish kills and the massive YOY gasping for oxygen on the surface. Last year, first time ever, was lots of green snotgrass every time the water level shifted a bit.

If we get some rain this year, things just might improve. I'm optimistic..... even last year the fallfish were "thick as thieves" and I caught a few small bass..... that weren't supposed to be there.

This year I'm going to give it a better attempt. Upstream all the way to New York...... and Lake Erie.

Fly fishing is what I do. I can't let this Global Warming wreck my passion in life. I just have to move upstream........ maybe all the way to Canada. LOL I could live in Canada. The only prob is it takes $1.72 US dollars to buy 1 Canadian dollar. All my possessions are only worth half of what they once were. Really a shame but my country, the US, has dropped to a third world status!!

But I could be happy with lots of fish around. Even if the Chinooks laughed at me, I could still get the free socialized health care. They live a few years longer than we do in the US, so that would be good.