dc410
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I’m just curious, are any of you warmwater guys catching any Rock Bass anymore? Remember when we used to catch these by the dozen?
Rock Bass
- Thread starter dc410
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They've mostly vanished from the Juniata watershed, but I usually catch about one a year; I haven't caught one this year, though.
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A very rare bird on my common WW streams now. An occasional catch only, as in a handful caught a year. 20 years ago, they were probably the most commonly caught species in my haunts. They hit like a Smallie, then fight like wet socks, but I do miss them.
TimMurphy
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They used to be super common in the Susquehanna, like it was hard to fish a live minnow for smallmouth because a rock bass grabbed it as soon as it hit the water. But that was over 50 years ago, before Agnes. I'm not blaming it on Agnes, just timing things out.
In the late 1990's it wasn't hard to catch them in the Susquehanna in New York State. They used to hit Tiny Torpedoes and if you hooked one and stopped reeling the little slugs couldn't even pull the plug underwater. They hit a tonlike Swattie says but fighters they ain't. Nowadays I usually catch a few if I fish Shermans or the Swattie a couple of times, but I haven't seen one in Susquehanna or Juniata for many years.
Regards,
Tim Murphy 🙂
rustbeltwilds
Well-known member
20 years ago at the spillway at raystown down to mapleton they were everywhere you couldnt keep em off your hook
I couldn't agree more. One of the worst fighters, but one of the most ambitious eaters. And I miss them, too.
dc410
Well-known member
I appreciate the responses, and fully agree with almost all of them. So is the decrease in the Rock Bass population a water quality issue? I always loved smacking rock bass, green sunnies and redbreasts while in the quest for sticking that elusive 20” Smallie!!
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That was my perfect WW day. The Sunnies, Redbreasts especially were like the Brookies, and the big Smallie or Fallfish or rogue Toothy like critter encounter (you don’t land these unless you were planning to in advance usually) to be like the odd big Brown mixed in.
Rock Bass were there in numbers and fairly reliable to play along when the other species wouldn’t. Agree, they’re ghosts now. No clue why. Redbreasts seem ok. Bluegills seem up, if anything. Greens now and again still too. Don’t get it.
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What’s the least tolerant trait that the Rock Bass has, or doesn’t have, in comparison to those other similar (but still different) panfish species? I don’t know. But perhaps there’s a path to follow.
Ignore the fact that most of these species can and do hybridize with one another. WW Tigers. They’re actually pretty common.
Ignore the fact that most of these species can and do hybridize with one another. WW Tigers. They’re actually pretty common.
sarce
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I fished my local warmwater creek here in MD (literally down the street) earlier this summer and caught upwards of 50 fish between sunnies, fallfish/other chubs, and smallies - only 2 were rock bass. I catch them often in western NY creeks though when visiting family. I've had big ones eat pike flies.
TimMurphy
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Dear dc410,
I was surprised to find out that Rock Bass are not native to Central and Eastern PA. they are however native to the Lake Erie drainage and the Ohio River drainage. They were stocked long ago and developed self-sustaining populations in many rivers and streams. I caught them often in the Delaware River and its tributaries when I was younger.
Here is an article from the PFBC
And here is a long article from Susquehannawildlife
Rock Bass – LIFE IN THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA RIVER WATERSHED
www.susquehannawildlife.net
Even if you just speed read and skim over the long article it becomes apparent that development in the river basin has had an effect on the fishes present.
Regards,
Tim Murphy 🙂
falcon
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I catch / caught them in the Delaware R. They winter up like SMB in deep water. They were a lot of them in the Delaware Water Gap in the fall.
nymphingmaniac
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I have no historical perspective since I did not start bass fishing until about 6 years ago. My experience is that they are localized and tend to be in areas not preferred by SMB. When I find them, they are in decent numbers.
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Must have caught 20:1 rock bass to SMB in Skuke above Reading earlier this spring. Once it warmed up this summer the ratio flipped 20:1 the other way. I still catch a bunch in the Brandywine around dusk. They always show up at dusk in my experience.
DO_inthewoods
Member
That is my main beat and can almost guarantee getting a rock bass everytime with the small mouth being moody. 1:1 the other day
Still trying to find that mystery resident brown or musky
Bamboozle
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Ditto on that...
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That’s a really nice Rock Bass. How I used to remember catching them.
Don’t wanna speak for anyone else, but (I think) most of the discussion (and my personal observations) on the reduction of the Rock Bass population centers around the lower middle and lower main stem Susky and its larger tributaries in that section…Lower Big J, Shermans, Swatara, Conodoguinet, Codorus, Conewago, Conestoga, etc. Perhaps another wrinkle.
When I was a kid in the 60's rock bass were the fish we could catch tons of with our limited skills in the local NJ streams like the Musconetcong, Paulinskill, and Delaware. Now they seem rare, except in one spot on the Paulinskill.
They were introduced into NJ - I don't know why. After that first tug they certainly poop out and I never ate many.
They were introduced into NJ - I don't know why. After that first tug they certainly poop out and I never ate many.
