Pennsylvania smallmouth bass report

[setomonkey]

I was in Pennsylvania last week for a meeting, and booked my flight so that I had part of a day where I could hire a guide to take me smallmouth bass fishing on the Susquehanna River.

 

I was pretty excited to be able to fish for bass in mid-May, about six weeks before the opener in most of Ontario.

 

Met the guide at 6:30 am and we were on the water by 7 a.m. Had never been to this part of the world before, you can see from the backgrounds in the pics that it's quite pretty on the river.

 

The river was amazingly shallow, only a few feet deep in most places, with the deepest holes only being 6 to 7 feet. The Triton boat we fished from had a jet outboard, which I'd never seen before. We were often fishing over ledges that were only about a foot deep, looking for current seams, holes, and "drop offs" to slightly deeper water as we drifted with the current.

 

Fished mostly with a spinnerbait, though the guide also had me throwing a shallow crayfish-patterned crankbait and different coloured Senkos as well.

 

I had a great time, caught lots of bass, no biggies, but most were between 1 and 2 lbs, and really strong. I couldn't believe the fight they were giving me on medium spinning gear (never fished river-run smallies before). The bigger bass hit like a ton of bricks. The guide told me stories of big bass hitting so hard that they would rip the hooks right out of their mouths, even without any hookset.

 

I'm still waiting for some pics from the guide but I thought I'd share these with you now.

 

Scenery shot, lots of small islands and ledges on this big river. I think it starts in upstate New York and then winds its way to eventually empty into Chesapeake Bay.

 

my first bass of the day, in the morning sun.

 

Typical smallie for the day.

 

One of the smaller bass.

 

Hope you enjoyed this stateside report. Please note I'm proudly wearing my OFC hat.

 

Mike

Edited May 22, 2007 by setomonkey

[Hookset]

Great Report,

 

I'm envious on the early season Bass.

Those river Smallies do fight harder.

Swimming in current since birth makes them pretty strong.

I wonder if the shallow water in that river is the reason for so few Anglers.

Looks like a sweet spot to me.

 

 

Hookset.

[bassmaster4]

nice smallies wtg great report thanks for the pics

[b2kptbo]

Mike, great report. Glad ya had a good time...

[huntervasili]

Great report, looks like ya had some fun out there... I cant wait to start fishing for smallies on the grand... Those river bass are definately stronger and the current adds to the fight cause they'll use it to their advantage

[Rich Clemens]

Attaboy Mike ... getting close to my neck of the woods, could be just a couple hours away. Thanks for sharing with us.

[Daplumma]

Sweet!Thats just the kind of fishing we have on the upper Potomac.Art and I both run outboard jets here and the water depth is just about the same.Senkos,small crayfish cranks,pumkin colored tubes and spinnerbaits.If you could have come a few hours south we coulda put you onto some for free and dropped you off a Dulles airport for your trip home!Great report.

Joe

[mattyk]

very nice report thanks for sharing!

[aplumma]

Nice report Mike,

 

Their is nothing like sight fishing for bass and skimming over rocks just below the surface. It is unnerving till you get used to it.

 

 

Art

[misfish]

Very cool report from the south. What was the boat you were in? Looks masive.

 

Nothing wrong with this smallie either.

TFS

[gussser]

I live on this river. Great smallie river. Also good cat fish. Glad you enjoyed the trip.

[Greencoachdog]

Great report and pics Mike!!!

 

Ahhhhh! the elusive Tiny Mooth Bass!!! We don't have those here, and I'm lookin' forward to teasing a couple on Nip next month.... hope to better my PB that was also set on Nip last year.

[ccmtcanada]

Wow...great report and pics!!! That's my idea of a "meeting"....LOL. Looks like you had a great time...thanks for taking the time to post pics and your report...I always enjoy yours!

[lunkerbasshunter]

nice smallies!

[Moosebunk]

Definetely some great looking smallies. Right on Seto.

[OhioFisherman]

Nice fish and report Mike! That river has been in the mags for smallies, seen articles on it.

[setomonkey]

Thanks guys!

 

Rich: you're right, I was probably about two hours away (meeting was in Harrisburg).

 

Brian/misfish, it was a 17' or 18' Triton, flat-bottomed, the guide told me it drew only a couple of inches (necessary given the shallow rocks in the river).

 

Art & Joe: I might take you up on it, I'm supposed to have a meeting in Washington DC sometime this year but they keep rescheduling. If it works out, I'll definitely get in touch b/c I would love to fish the Potomac with you.

 

Mike

Edited May 23, 2007 by setomonkey