Susquehanna River 5-29-24

[TimMurphy]

Dear Board,

My brother is in from Colorado. We booked 2 guided floats well in advance for Memorial Day week. We hit the Susky yesterday and fly fishing was challenging to put it mildly. With s stout upriver wind casting and getting a decent drift with a streamer was a real crapshoot. My brother tried very hard to fly fish, but he eventually saw that jig fishing was working so well that he succumbed to the dark side. I brought a fly rod but never took it out of the rod holder. I don't mind working a particular fish, or working for a fish, but working constantly to try to do anything has long since passed me by. 😉

The river was in surprisingly good shape in the stretch we fished from north of Liverpool to just below town. The west shoreline was muddy, and the entire eastern third of the river was muddy too. But once you got 75 yards off the west side the river was almost crystal clear. You could easily see the bottom in 5 feet of water. All my fish were caught on swimming shads on jig heads. My brother managed several on Clousers and Murdiches fishing an intermediate line, but he did better tossing a small spinnerbait than he would have ever done with the fly rod. We didn't target any visible fish but picked up many fish just ahead of the ledges and by working obvious visible boulders and rock piles. Sulphers, light Cahills, March Browns and even a few adult Dobsons were seen flitting about. But the only fish that broke the surface were obviously chasing minnows or small fish fry.

The sky was pretty much clear with passing clouds all day except for a gusty thunderstorm that hit just above the takeout. Water temperature was not taken but from handling the fish with the air temperature in the low 70's most of the day the fish felt pretty much just like the air did, so I'd guess 68 to 72F.

We have another float planned for June 1st. We may do the Susky again or we may hit the Juniata, depending on the flows.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[Andrwhite610]

Man when I see those fish busting bait on the surface I throw my weightlesss fluke in there and usually it pays off big. Imagine the same results would happen with a high riding white-ish streamer. I’ll be hitting the Susky Sunday on my kayak with conventional gear and am looking forward to it.

 

[TimMurphy]

Man when I see those fish busting bait on the surface I throw my weightlesss fluke in there and usually it pays off big. Imagine the same results would happen with a high riding white-ish streamer. I’ll be hitting the Susky Sunday on my kayak with conventional gear and am looking forward to it.

Dear Andrwhite610,

Without knowing where you will be fishing Sunday stick to the middle of the river if you want clean water. If I was out with my other brother Terry 30 years ago we would have tossed fire-tiger Rapalas in the slop and done well.

My brother Michael and I are hoping for a good day on Saturday where we can both fish the fly rods. Time will tell!

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[Andrwhite610]

Dear Andrwhite610,

Without knowing where you will be fishing Sunday stick to the middle of the river if you want clean water. If I was out with my other brother Terry 30 years ago we would have tossed fire-tiger Rapalas in the slop and done well.

My brother Michael and I are hoping for a good day on Saturday where we can both fish the fly rods. Time will tell!

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

That’s helpful information. My first choice was the Marysville launch. Did not consider dirty water on the west side from the J. I’m aware that happens but have never experienced it. Do you know if that continues down to Harrisburg? Did not know the J was running dirty and probably won’t improve with current weather. The Harrisburg gauge is currently low enough to where I know I can paddle upstream in that section so dirty water was not a thought to me.

My second choice was Marietta which is easier paddling and the mud line should not be a factor down there.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Andrwhite610,

We were fishing near Liverpool and every single creek no matter how small was pushing mud on the west shore. The thunderstorm we got caught up in basically followed Penns Creek to Selinsgrove which was another big contributor to the mud, even before the storm on Tuesday.

Our first choice to fish on 5-27 was the Juniata, but that was higher at Newport than the Susquehanna was at Harrisburg. It was over 5 foot at Newport and 4.6 at Harrisburg. It is another big contributor to dirty water on the west shore.

The North Branch is the fastest to muddy and the slowest to clear. If you can paddle away from the dirty water on either side, you will find good water in the middle of the river. If you are fishing gear and have lures to work in off-colored water, I'll bet you will be able to clean up working the edges of the dirty water.

Please post a report when you get back.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[Andrwhite610]

Middle river for me at marysville/fort hunter is too difficult or nearly impossible to paddle upstream. I single access and do not float from one launch to the next. I typically paddle and fish my way upstream. It’s quite the workout. Park and wade here and there, maybe anchor up and then float back down. Also my favorite hot spots are very much on the west side.

I fished the north branch last year and it was very, very chocolate milk that day. I picked up fish but it’s not my favorite. topwater was not hitting and that’s usually what I’m after in the morning haha.

Thanks for the report.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Andrewhite610,

You're welcome. I can tell you Penns went up almost 650 CFS after the thunderstorm yesterday. It may take until Saturday for the brown to work down past Harrisburg. I think the dams on the lower river do a better job of mitigating the mud, but I am not very familiar with the river below Falmouth.

You should still be able to catch some fish, especially with no rain in the forecast for several days.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[Nymph-wristed]

I fully embraced the darkside on May 24th, Tim. We did really well, even with water up and muddy. I sort of enjoy my 2 or 3 trips per year with spinning gear, taking a break from the fly rod. Hell, I even chunked a baitcaster for the first time in a several years 😉

 

[krayfish2]

Between last night and this evening, series of storms over Juniata, Perry and Cumberland counties. Would expect the J to be dirty. Both shores...creeks up at Mahantango will be pumping straight mud for a few days, Sherman's and Connie will also be pretty stained for a few days.

The clean line down the middle will shrink in size. Crank bait will get it done in the dirty water though. In spite of the negativity, it's at a good flow for this time of year. Should see a big push of water from up north in the next 3-4 days.

 

[Andrwhite610]

I fully embraced the darkside on May 24th, Tim. We did really well, even with water up and muddy. I sort of enjoy my 2 or 3 trips per year with spinning gear, taking a break from the fly rod. Hell, I even chunked a baitcaster for the first time in a several years 😉

My summer and fall I go full kayak battleship with conventional gear and love it. After a long winter and spring of chasing trout with a fly rod it will be a nice refresh. I still will wade and toss streamers on my local Schuylkill river.

 

[coyoterahn]

Dear Board,

My brother is in from Colorado. We booked 2 guided floats well in advance for Memorial Day week. We hit the Susky yesterday and fly fishing was challenging to put it mildly. With s stout upriver wind casting and getting a decent drift with a streamer was a real crapshoot. My brother tried very hard to fly fish, but he eventually saw that jig fishing was working so well that he succumbed to the dark side. I brought a fly rod but never took it out of the rod holder. I don't mind working a particular fish, or working for a fish, but working constantly to try to do anything has long since passed me by. 😉

The river was in surprisingly good shape in the stretch we fished from north of Liverpool to just below town. The west shoreline was muddy, and the entire eastern third of the river was muddy too. But once you got 75 yards off the west side the river was almost crystal clear. You could easily see the bottom in 5 feet of water. All my fish were caught on swimming shads on jig heads. My brother managed several on Clousers and Murdiches fishing an intermediate line, but he did better tossing a small spinnerbait than he would have ever done with the fly rod. We didn't target any visible fish but picked up many fish just ahead of the ledges and by working obvious visible boulders and rock piles. Sulphers, light Cahills, March Browns and even a few adult Dobsons were seen flitting about. But the only fish that broke the surface were obviously chasing minnows or small fish fry.

The sky was pretty much clear with passing clouds all day except for a gusty thunderstorm that hit just above the takeout. Water temperature was not taken but from handling the fish with the air temperature in the low 70's most of the day the fish felt pretty much just like the air did, so I'd guess 68 to 72F.

We have another float planned for June 1st. We may do the Susky again or we may hit the Juniata, depending on the flows.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

View attachment 1641236268

Tim, I know right where you were from that pic. Below the falls there are some grass beds middle to east side of the river. In a couple of weeks they’ll produce some good fishing in that area. If you’re in that area, don’t pass them up! 😎