Juniata River, Perry Co., 7/16/17

[Dave_W]

WEATHER: Beautiful day, mostly sunny, 80s.
WATER: Muddy with visibility under two feet, water level was about 5' at the Newport gage, water temp was 74 degrees at 9am.
HATCHES: None.

Hit the lower Juniata this morning. Conditions were tough but I broke out the old switcheroo rod thinking I'd be roll casting from close to shore which was a good choice as I never got more than about three feet from the bank. Got a fish on the first cast and from then on it was a steady pick. Most eddies I fished produced a hook-up or two. I was fishing low and slow with a black and green creature - basically a big nymph under an indicator. The fishing was physically tough as I had to clamber along the banks (cleated soles and a wading staff really help). Water was up into the lizard grass and I struggled to get along the rocky shore. By lunchtime I was smoked so headed home.

I stopped at the Susky for about a half hour. The Susky was in better conditon and had much clearer water, although still stained. I managed a mid teens fish right at the boat ramp a few feet from shore. Lots of boaters on the Susky this morning and the parking lot was full. There were at least a dozen boats that came in during the short time I was there.I was pleased to see a lot of sunfish along the shore in the Susky today.

The summer smallie bite is certainly going strong these days but, if you're a wading angler, it would be best to wait for levels to get back down under 4' to fish these rivers if you have a long drive.

 

[afishinado]

Good job, Dave.

Looks like I missed out on some decent action.

A switch outfit can come in handy in situations where you are pinned close to the bank.

 

[laurelrun]

Dave, I hit the Susquehanna below the Swatara Creek and had the same experience. Tough visibility and much better to be rock hopping or close to shore than in the high water. Only fished an hour, but the bite was on and the fish were healthy and heavy! It's prime time for Bass. Just would be nice to have a little lower, clearer water from close to shore.

 

[Dave_W]

Was back out on the Juniata on the 22nd.

Water levels were down just under 4' and much clearer. Was canoeing along the bank and targeting eddies and the edges of lizard grass beds under the shade of the trees. Lots of aggressive fish eager to smack topwater presentations. Most fish were in water under 2' deep and favoring chunk rock and ledge areas (which is typical). This time of year, however, river bass cruise a lot. Don't overlook flat, seemingly featureless areas as you'll often get a big fish from such surprising spots.

Unfortunately the spell of storms that have passed over in the last 24 hours have sent the river back up again so we'll have to wait for a return to ideal levels.

 

[afishinado]

Dave_W wrote:
Was back out on the Juniata on the 22nd.

Water levels were down just under 4' and much clearer. Was canoeing along the bank and targeting eddies and the edges of lizard grass beds under the shade of the trees. Lots of aggressive fish eager to smack topwater presentations. Most fish were in water under 2' deep and favoring chunk rock and ledge areas (which is typical). This time of year, however, river bass cruise a lot. Don't overlook flat, seemingly featureless areas as you'll often get a big fish from such surprising spots.

Unfortunately the spell of storms that have passed over in the last 24 hours have sent the river back up again so we'll have to wait for a return to ideal levels.

^ Good job, Dave. Thanks for the report.

Yeah...we seem to have a monsoon every night before my day off..... :roll:

 

[3wt7X]

Great reports Dave!!!

A group of us floated the Juniata on Saturday as well. I rode with MKerr and Krayfish and PhilC teamed up for a float. I would mirror most of your observations. Before the storm came in, thousands of damselflies were hovering just above the water. As you said, it was mostly smaller bass jumping to eat them, but it was a pretty amazing sight to behold. We had a tough time at the start, but once the boats spread out a bit and the front started moving in, the numbers shot up pretty quickly. We were mostly fishing minnow patterns across the ledges and topwater on the edges. I would say 95% of our fish came on the minnows, in shallow water. Mostly 7-10 inch bass, with about a dozen in the 12-14 inch range and two nice fish in the teens. The size quality was a little off the Susky, but we definitely saw some bigger fish cruising around.

What a great river to enjoy with a group of great guys!!! Andy, thanks for organizing and planning the put in and take outs for the trip, and you made a great call fishing the J. Mike, thanks for letting me tag along as always. Phil, it was nice meeting you, but next time we fish together, I am going to give you meet up time two hours before we plan on starting 🙂 I hope you know I am just busting your chops.

 

[krayfish2]

LOL. I like when Phil comes along. I can oversleep by 2 hours and still be "early". Kidding Phil. Our boat caught a pile but it was all dinks in my opinion. I'm pretty sure I had a juvenile musky 20-24" chase a stickbait to the boat and turn away. Most fish came on a closer. We couldn't get any action on the poppers we tried which was disappointing.

I can't be too upset about the minimal fishing opportunities due to the repeated heavy rains. We need the rain. The Susky and Juniata are quite high and hope we get some chances in the next 7-10 days. Putting it in perspective, we had flows at Harrisburg of 4500 -7000 cfs this time last year. Today, the Susky topped 90,000 cfs! That's A LOT of water. Soon as it comes down and clear up, we'll go again.

 

[Dave_W]

Agree - the storms have been a nuisance for us river rats, but the water levels seem to be coming down fairly fast.

How'd you guys make out with the rain storm on Saturday? We were floating the lower river vicinity Newport and just got clobbered. We got to the bank just as the thunder and downpour hit but got completely drenched trying to break down gear and load the boat up. There were still folks out on the river yakking and tubing as the thunder and even some lightning passed over. The fishing action was fast and furious just as the storm approached but we got out of there as fast as we could. It took a long time for the storm to pass over - seemed like at least 35 minutes or so.

 

[krayfish2]

You must have been just above my nephews. They did Newport bridge to Amity Hall. They were in a canoe that was zig-zagging / pinwheeling down the river. We put in just below them.

NickR called that they pulled out due to heavy rain and lightning. We were dry for quite a while after the call but knew it was coming. Anchored near bank and took shelter by some leaning trees. Had to pump 20 gallons of water out of the boat. And..... several kayaks, 2 rafts and a drift boat did pass us during the storm. They just kept fishing. We would have done the same except for the lightning. It was absolute pouring rain for 40-50 minutes. Just prior to and post rain, the fishing did turn on.