Small mouths in the Little J

[afishinado]

I've caught smallmouth in Bald Eagle Creek below Milesburg, and in Kettle Creek in the special regs area. I've caught smallmouth in Penns Creek near the PFBC access above Cherry Run and have seen them as far up as the old rr bridge at Poe Paddy. In all these cases they appear to move up as the water temperatures rise. I don't think they are there year around.

Last year I caught a good sized (14") Smallie above Cherry Run in early April and have caught a few other times in the early spring on Penns. So I would guess they are around in small numbers any time of the year and not just in the warm weather season. Not a real big deal really since as stated above many trout streams have a small population of SMBs.

 

[PennKev]

It will be interesting to see what the long term effects of invasive flatheads downstream that eat smallmouth and a warming climate do to smallmouth bass presence in the Little J. I don’t know if there is an answer for if they are increasing or decreasing? Only a PFBC regional biologist would possibly know quantifiably what, if anything at all, has changed.

Likely zero effect on the LJR unless some schmuck purposefully helps them get over warrior ridge hydro dam.

Maybe they will impact the main branch of the Juniata, but I think it's unlikely that flatheads will have much effect on the LJR or FBJR, even if they did make it over the dam. Outside of maybe the pool above the dam, neither river is the sort of habitat you'd expect catfish in any real numbers.

 

[PennKev]

Fwiw, I once saw an old guy fishing live minnows under the Barree bridge. He pulled out 5, 12"ish bass before he caught a trout. This was in mid May during the Sulphur hatch.

Lately I've been doing more smallmouth fishing and I echo the previous suggestion that you need to target them in order to catch them. Yeah, you can luck into them when trout fishing, but adjusting tactics and targeting different water can make a huge difference. Especially if you want to catch something other than juveniles.

 

[discomidge]

Last year I caught a good sized (14") Smallie above Cherry Run in early April and have caught a few other times in the early spring on Penns. So I would guess they are around in small numbers any time of the year and not just in the warm weather season. Not a real big deal really since as stated above many trout streams have a small population of SMBs.

Agreed, I think they're around almost year-round. I got a nice 14"er last night on an ISO nymph, but have caught them in the past every other way (mousing at night seems to work, lol) on Penns in every season but winter.

 

[jifigz]

I have caught plenty of smallmouth in the Little J in the gorge. A buddy and I were there about 5 years ago and in September and we couldn't catch a trout, but we landed plenty of smallies.

This is not bad news. It is a stream that strongly favors trout but is slightly suitable for some smallies, too. The conditions overlap just enough. I know of other streams the same way. Dominated by trout with a few bass reliably and consistently there. These streams have been like this my entire life

 

[J. Lewis]

I know this is an older thread, but I fish the little j a lot (my local waters) and there are piles of SMB depending on what stretch you fish, the numbers certainly vary, but they are side by side with the trout in a lot of stretches.

As previously mentioned, the area around Greir, all the way up beyond Tyrone are great smb fishing (decent numbers of small fish). Lot of beautiful little red eyes. Fun on a streamer.