Juniata River, Perry Co., 3/27/19

[Dave_W]

Hit the lower river for a couple hours during the late afternoon.

WEATHER: Bluebird skies, low 50s, nice day.

WATER: 6.5 feet and rising slightly at Newport, green but stained with visibility only about 2' down; 43 degrees F. confimed by thermometer. Shoreline brush was inundated.

HATCHES FORAGE: Lots of little brown stones both fluttering on the srface and crawling on rocks; saw a BWO on my car. No rises or evidence that fish were keyed on bugs. (In my experience, early season river smallies are not interested in stoneflies.)

Fished about 75 yards of shoreline today. Although a nice day to be out, the fishing was slow. I started at a favorite eddy dredging the bottom with a black Clouser. Got a muskie about 30" on the second or third cast (didn't get him in the net) but after this, things were slow. Talked to a spin guy with a jet boat and he had caught the skunk. I managed one fish in the mid-teens. I suspect the return of colder nights and post frontal conditions may still have the river bass bite on the down low. I tried only one spot and didn't have enought time to try some other areas.

Points to be noted: I like shoreline eddies with woody debris this time of year, but with the dark water, I could not see bottom and was getting snagged a lot (lost more flies than I caught fish!). I had a row of several dark colored Clousers in my bass box - was down to the last one after just two hours. Expect to lose flies this time of year if you're fishing in good spots. Also, banks are slippery and muddy just about everywhere on the rivers. Don't wear felt soles if you plan to fish river shorelines.

 

[jifigz]

Good report, Dave_W. The smallie fishing should really start heating up very soon. I need to find some time to hit the Juniata. Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[ryc72]

Thank you for the report. I’ve always wanted to fish the Juniata for smb...with any luck I may be able to this spring. May I ask what weight rod and line you use most often for this river? 5wt? 6wt? Floating line? Sinking?

 

[Dave_W]

ryc72 wrote:
Thank you for the report. I’ve always wanted to fish the Juniata for smb...with any luck I may be able to this spring. May I ask what weight rod and line you use most often for this river? 5wt? 6wt? Floating line? Sinking?

I prefer a 7WT rod with a floating line for most of my river bass fishing. An 8WT is good too. A 5WT is too light for river bass IMO.

A sinking line (or sink tip) is handy if you're fishing big streamers down and across, but I spend probably 80% of my river bass time with a floating line.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

Thanks, Dave. For reference, what kind of depths & current speeds are you fishing with the floating line?

 

[ryc72]

thank you!

 

[Dave_W]

Fly-Swatter wrote:
Thanks, Dave. For reference, what kind of depths & current speeds are you fishing with the floating line?

In the summer, most of the time I'm usually targeting water less than 3' deep. This time of year, the eddies and slack areas I usually target are deeper, more typically in the 2-6' depth, sometimes deeper (depends on water levels). This time of year, I'm usually fishing upstream and allowing the fly to drop down during the drift. I should point out that I like heavy streamers and nymphs for bass fishing that are tied with dumbell eyes or other lead or tungsten. I rarely need split shot to get 'em down (bring your split shot anyway). Current speed is usually pretty low.

I like a floating line for summer in particular because I switch up a lot between stripping streamers, sticking big nymphs, and throwing poppers.

By contrast, when targeting muskies - or trout in big rivers with current - I much prefer a sinking line for streamer fishing. I just don't find that I use a sinking line all that much for bass.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

Good info, Dave. Thanks!

 

[midgeman]

Thank for the post Dave.

Many smallie anglers can catch numbers and good fish this time of the year if they focus on shallow river flats above large riffles. Smallies gorge themselves this time of the year in those areas. Not a need to look deep.

 

[sarce]

Hey midgeman, hope you see this - just sent you a PM and any reply would be tremendously appreciated. Hope I'm not being annoying by posting this, just don't know how often you log in.

 

[Dave_W]

I stopped by the J today (Fri 21 Jun) and fished this same spot for a few minutes. Although the river is at a decent 5' range, the lower J is mud brown with visibility under a foot. Water temp was 72 degrees according to my thermometer. Didn't get a bump and saw no anglers, despite the nice weather.