Was back out today, walked up from conoy and caught a few , paddled out to the grass beds and got into a bunch of little ones, caught 1 nice one probably 14-15 inches. My old wading boots literally fell apart and that became a problem and shortened my day.
Susquehanna, Lancaster County 7/31
- Thread starter JeffP
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Fish Sticks
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I hate when it gets beyond repair of flex seal
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Fish Sticks
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Jesus man you covered some ground in those things!!!
They're an old pair of field & stream boots, they decided to die together today, both bottoms fell apart within an hour , had planned to work a ledge the entire way back to conoy creek but my wimpy feet weren't having it
Apologies upfront for stating the obvious but. . .
The Susquehanna River is not where you want to go with a pair of wading boots near the end of their life. Like many of you, I Shoegoo my boots and use 'em till they're threadbare. However, I prefer newer boots for the big river since the rocks are very tough on all sides and surfaces of your feet and this, combined with the fact that you are likely to be well out from shore, means you want footwear you can count on. If a boot fails, you are in a difficult situation getting back to shore and at risk of a foot cut or abrasion getting river water into a wound, something you definitely want to avoid.
If you're out in a kayak and can paddle back to shore, it's a somewhat better situation, especially under low light conditions.
The Susquehanna River is not where you want to go with a pair of wading boots near the end of their life. Like many of you, I Shoegoo my boots and use 'em till they're threadbare. However, I prefer newer boots for the big river since the rocks are very tough on all sides and surfaces of your feet and this, combined with the fact that you are likely to be well out from shore, means you want footwear you can count on. If a boot fails, you are in a difficult situation getting back to shore and at risk of a foot cut or abrasion getting river water into a wound, something you definitely want to avoid.
If you're out in a kayak and can paddle back to shore, it's a somewhat better situation, especially under low light conditions.
Was back out today with my dad , he's 82 and paddles better then he walks . Put in at Bainbridge legion ramp and went out to the grass beds and worked down, they weren't hitting today compared to yesterday, I caught 7 and dad caught 2 which were both bigger then any that I caught.
laurelrun
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A fun stretch of the river for sure! I've only managed one trip to these waters that I grew up fishing this year. My observation was similar to those listed here. A healthy amount of 8-10" bass all looking good and fighting above their size. Anything that resembled a crayfish was my ticket. Wading is tricky in the riffles, but otherwise not bad at summer flows. I also caught many more sunfish and rockbass than I have seen in recent years.
This is great news.
You'll often hear on this forum that sunfish and rock bass have disappeared from the Susky (I certainly agree that they're much less common). However, I still see and catch a few here and there.
Rock bass populations have increased big time in the last couple of years in my areas of the Juniata.
Fish Sticks
Well-known member
As I am sure mike can attest, rock bass are a reliable night fishing quarry in warm water and trout streams. Even in the dead of winter.
Fall-mouth boat ramp boulders on the susky are loaded with them at night.
Fall-mouth boat ramp boulders on the susky are loaded with them at night.
I used to catch quite a few big rock bass when night fishing for SMBs (and sometimes even on musky lures!) on the Juniata and Susquehanna back in the 90s.
jifigz,
Great to hear you're seeing more rockies in your section of the J. I still get 'em on the lower J but the RB sunfish seem more numerous to me. The sunny population is robust on the J in it's lower reaches. Just walk out on a bridge on a sunny day in May/June and look at the sandy patch on the downriver side of a bridge piling - good chance you'll see a big RBS on a redd there.
With these panfish doing well in so many Susky tribs, one would hope that they continue to "send" fish out into the big river to keep the population seeded.
jifigz,
Great to hear you're seeing more rockies in your section of the J. I still get 'em on the lower J but the RB sunfish seem more numerous to me. The sunny population is robust on the J in it's lower reaches. Just walk out on a bridge on a sunny day in May/June and look at the sandy patch on the downriver side of a bridge piling - good chance you'll see a big RBS on a redd there.
With these panfish doing well in so many Susky tribs, one would hope that they continue to "send" fish out into the big river to keep the population seeded.
Hey Dave,
As you, and many others on here probably know, the redbreast is one of my favorite fish in the Juniata and Susky. I just love the pugnacious little buggers and find so much joy targeting them every year. I had, and still have, concerns regarding how the burgeoning flathead populations was going to affect the redbreasts but it sounds like you are seeing no such decrease in their numbers (at least not a perceptible decrease just through on the river observations.) I know, deeper scientific investigation may reveal some stuff we can't with just being on the water and observing, but I really hope the flatheads don't start making the redbreast population drop.
Fish Sticks
Well-known member
Yea redbreasts are one of my favorite fish in my home waters too. They will hit size 6 clousers and fight pretty hard and their gorgeous.
raftman
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I wade and float the Susquehanna River 3-4 times / week during the summer, especially in the stretches from Falmouth down to Columbia. I've found that felt booties work best for the river, especially those slick diabase rock. Everything else is, as Mike mentioned earlier, just being part of a controlled slide. It's fun, once you get into the feel for it. It's a good river, that one. Heck, I think I consider it part of my family, along with my wife and two dogs.
Love the river too. . . but I'm too old to think that a controlled slide is fun. 🙂
I used to call it the "Susquehanna Two Step" back in the day, but after a fair number of falls and cuts and watching a friend hit their head on a boulder after a sliding fall. . . my attitude started to change.
Wading the Susky is, as mentioned, something of a learned game but newbies used to trout streams and getting out on this river for the first time need to err on the side of caution.
^ Agree with you Dave.
That's why the big river vest I wear for smallies is also a PFD and my boots are Patagonia Foot Tractors.
I really like it too!!
