Hit two sections of the Juniata this afternoon during my travels back from Centre County.
Weather: bluebird skies, air temps probably low 80s.
Water: clear near Lewistown, stained at Newport. I got a water temp of 80 degrees in a shady riffle at 4:30pm. Lots of fishermen in boats in the Lewistown section so I decided to try downriver near Newport for the last hour of daylight. 3.5' at the Newport gauge, which is summertime low level, ideal for wading. Some yakkers, but fewer people in that section. Steady hatch of some mayfly of unknown make or model - was about #14 and the color of lemon ice cream. Fish showed some interest in the bugs, but not much.
Wade fished - 4:30 to 9pm.
On sunny days like today, I like to fish the shady side of rivers and this produced, but not much better than out in the sun in the main channel. Small bass were everywhere, both inches of water along the shorelines, and in main channel over chunk rock - everywhere I looked. Redbreast sunnies are still on redds near shoreline woody cover and I caught a few on nymphs.
Bass fishing was a steady pick but not fast, fish seemed to be off the feed. All the fish I caught today were small and most ate a yellow pencil popper. By evening, the popper bite picked up a bit and results were typical: lots of small fish swiping at the fly and many long line releases. Fun afternoon and nice evening.
Weather: bluebird skies, air temps probably low 80s.
Water: clear near Lewistown, stained at Newport. I got a water temp of 80 degrees in a shady riffle at 4:30pm. Lots of fishermen in boats in the Lewistown section so I decided to try downriver near Newport for the last hour of daylight. 3.5' at the Newport gauge, which is summertime low level, ideal for wading. Some yakkers, but fewer people in that section. Steady hatch of some mayfly of unknown make or model - was about #14 and the color of lemon ice cream. Fish showed some interest in the bugs, but not much.
Wade fished - 4:30 to 9pm.
On sunny days like today, I like to fish the shady side of rivers and this produced, but not much better than out in the sun in the main channel. Small bass were everywhere, both inches of water along the shorelines, and in main channel over chunk rock - everywhere I looked. Redbreast sunnies are still on redds near shoreline woody cover and I caught a few on nymphs.
Bass fishing was a steady pick but not fast, fish seemed to be off the feed. All the fish I caught today were small and most ate a yellow pencil popper. By evening, the popper bite picked up a bit and results were typical: lots of small fish swiping at the fly and many long line releases. Fun afternoon and nice evening.
