Juniata River, Perry Co., 9/19/26

[Dave_W]

Made another trip this weekend to the lower J, this time for a float with Afishinado. We covered about six miles. . .

WEATHER: Cloudy, cool (upper 60s-low 70s).
WATER: 4.2' at Newport, stained, water temperature unknown. Light angling pressure; drifting grass.
HATCHES/FORAGE: Nothing of note.

Had a great day with Afish. Like last week, angling started off slow, but it picked up during the afternoon. It was a steady pick - we got perhaps three dozen fish with several in the mid-teens topping off with a 17" that Afish caught on a popper (see photo). Last weekend under similar conditions, nymphing shallow current areas proved the trick (see my report from last week). Yesterday, things were more variable. I got some fish on nymphs, including some RB sunfish, but they were all small. The bigger fish we caught were mostly on poppers and were in all types of habitat. Grass beds and rock shoal areas did seem to be pretty consistent, but there was no real pattern. The river had lots of dislodged grass in the water column making for somewhat difficulty fishing. It wasn't so bad that I felt the need to switch to weedless flies, but still a noticeable nuisance, especially the bigger pools below fast water. This phenomena is common in late September. If you hit the bass rivers in the near future, you may wish to have some weedless flies or flies that swim hook upward.

 

[jifigz]

The dislodged and floating grass is a royal PITA from about now until the end of Oct or even early Nov. It really, really stinks for fishing and for hunting. That stuff will collect on decoy lines and just starting dragging decoys downriver.

 

[nymphingmaniac]

You could pick part of the river with less grass, too. I fished the Big J (not "The" J) Sat PM in an area with no grass to deal with. Scout different areas, and you will find them. This section will get some grass a little later in the fall.

Weather the same
fished for ~4 hrs 4-8:20PM. Wading, about 1/4 a mile covered.
water: slight stain. I was alone since showers were around and it was football saturday
Hatches: Cahill and cahill spinners, a few October Caddis (sz 12-is) were seen. Small Tan caddis. BWOs No slates seen. At the end of the day, fish were rising to the cahills. A popper placed near that produced, including sizable fish.
Fish were caught on mixture of poppers and buggers underneath, depending on the water.
I don't count but I caught around 15 bass. 4 in the mid- to high- teens. Largest was a nose over 18 inches. Beautiful green with tiger stripes- just how I like them.
I might have one float to do before I hang up my bass gear