Warm Water Fail

[Biggie]

Headed out for my first WW fishing of the summer. Fished the Juniata River just below Millerstown at the swimming pool. Lots of nice riffles there. Took a water temp, and it was 78 at 6:30 pm. Anyway tossed a Clouser crayfish and a hellgramite fly for most of the evening with only one small mouth about 6" hooked. Lots of white flies floating down and with the wind, they were blowing down stream when they took off. No top action to be seen except for a few dinks near the shore. Tied on a cicada dry for the last half hour as this usually gets some interest........nada. Got dark and that was that.

 

[Fishidiot]

I love the Juniata but it almost always treats me rough in June.

Personally, I regard the mid to lower J as a trophy rather than numbers fishery (it wasn't this way a decade ago). For some reason, SMB fisheries like this tend to be slower to get into summer gear. The Potomac, on the other hand, seems to fish better in early summer for me. The P, in my experience however, has more bass and lots more smaller fish and rivers like this seem to fish better (for me) in June.
I have no idea why this is but it seems consistent to me and may have something to do with larger fish and post spawn recovery and conditions(?).

 

[Biggie]

Dave, having grown up on the Juniata in this area, I remember when I would have caught 4-6 bass over 16" in an evening of fishing in that same water. I did talk to a spin fisherman as he was leaving that said he caught a 20" bass earlier in the day there. I sure wish we knew what happen to the bass in the Juniata and Susquehanna. The fishing has generally picked up some in the last year or two though.

 

[Fishidiot]

Yeah, I don't think the lower Juniata fishery is all that bad compared to the lower Susky. It's still a world class bass river IMO.....I just don't believe it holds as many fish as in years past. It's widely believed (and I agree) that whatever the malady is in the lower Susky that it has impacted the lower Juniata as well. On the other hand, I don't believe the situation is worsening or moving upriver and regulars on the J that I talk to have reported very good fishing in the last couple years too. I've caught more big SMBs in the four pound class from the Juniata in recent years than probably all the other waters I frequent combined. The 2010 pre-spawn was especially good for me. Nevertheless, there have been some summer days when they just wouldn't hit for me. I've drifted the lower J many times on bright sunny days in recent years when I couldn't catch fish to save my life but could certainly see 'em (not to mention good numbers of walleyes, catties, and muskies). The river has a tremendous population of large SMBs but I don't go there anymore expecting fifty fish days. Oftentimes, I'll wade or drift up to a favorite pool and work it over good with the usual flies and presentations and get nothing. If I didn't know better, I'd swear the river was barren but if I let the canoe drift over the spot...lo and behold, I'll spook several big fish that were there all along.

The Juniata, like some trout streams.....is just moody.