Youghiogheny River, Somerset County, 7/17/2010

[mystillwater]

I fished the Yough near Confluence, PA on Sat. from about 7am on and off thru about 2pm and then again from 8pm to 9pm. I fished from the East Bank near Ramcatt Trail. I was wade fishing, mostly fro the same spot. We were there for a friend's bachelor party so it was not exactly a fishing trip but i brought a little gear and and wet a line when i had a chance. The water was cool, probably in the mid to low 60's. The air was in the mid 80s. The flows were swift although i imagine pretty average for this river. There were lots of fisherman out on the west bank. Lots of canoes and rafts as well.

I swung conehead buggers mostly. Only caught two fish... a very small smallmouth bass and something i didn't recognize. It was about 7 or 8 inches. shaped like a smallie. had small, light colored scales. black spotted tail, yellow splotches on the scales, and a gill-plate like a perch with kind of a sharp point. Definitely not a carp.. no lips, it had a jaw similar to a perch or a smallie. pointed snout. i figured it was something in the perch family but not a yellow. no tiger stripes. never caught anything like it before.

no trout although i had a few takes that i didn't get to hand in the swift current.

beautiful water and i was glad to fish it, even with few rewards. i would have liked to fish with someone who knew the area a bit. i'm sure there are tricks. also, i forgot forceps and snips so i didn't change flies as much as i'd have liked and didn't mess with weight at all. both would have helped me be successful. i don't often fish such big water and didn't really know how to approach it. especially from shore.

 

[bam]

If I'm picturing it correctly, you were on the wrong side of the river if you were after trout... this time of year anyway. The side you were on is great for smallmouth, but the Castleman R dumps in warm water just a mile below the dam. One side can be in the 50s while the other is in the 80s. It can take a few miles for it to mix before the trout spread out across the river again.

Regardless, streamers are a good bet for that river... especially in the summer when smallies are active and trout are in chase mode.

 

[mystillwater]

interesting... some of my buddies went swimming and came back with similar intel but i thought they were crazy. the spots i was wading seemed pretty cold. that would explain no trout. the "beach" near our camp was really warm. i figured it had to do with the slow water and sand.