2018 adult black bass survey - Susquehanna River (middle reach)

[DaveKile]

Below is a recently released survey of the Susquehanna River (middle reach) Clemson Island to PA Turnpike - 2018 adult black bass survey.

The PDF covers:
From October 22 through 25, 2018 Fisheries Management Area 7 biologists conducted nighttime electrofishing surveys targeting adult Smallmouth Bass at four historic sampling sites located within the middle portion of the Susquehanna River between Clemson Island and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Bridge. Sites surveyed were near Clemson Island, Rockville, Dock Street Dam, and the Pa. Turnpike Bridge near Highspire, PA.

https://pfbc.pa.gov/bioreports/bio2018/SusquehannaAdultSMB.pdf

 

[Dave_W]

Wow - some great news. Thanks DK.

Short version is that the Susky from just above Duncannon down to H-burg (the stretch many of us mostly target) has a very strong population of SMBs, exceeding the numbers from back in the good ole days before the bass crash.

Also of note is the very strong population of big fish. Susky regulars will find this no surprise, but it is nice to see quantifiable results. In particular, six fish were surveyed that reached 20 inches. I often point out that genuine 20" river bass are rare and many surveys don't turn up any at all despite many fish in the upper teens. Nevertheless, these fish are out there.

Great news for us Susky river rats.

 

[Mwheaps32]

I love it now we just need fishable river levels next year

 

[laurelrun]

This year was tough going with levels. But having lived near and fished that segment of the river for 30+ years I would say the numbers of bass are as good as ever. The big difference is the size. I routinely catch bass over 15” which would have been the fish of the year as a kid. And a 20” bass is at least a once a year catch now. I had one all but landed this year before he spit the hook within arms reach. And that’s with pretty limited time On water.

It’s a great time to bass fish! If the water ever drops.

 

[Mike]

Yes, I recommend taking advantage of the present exceptional quality while and whenever you can.

 

[Mike]

A report on the channel catfish population will follow in a few days. See Area 7 in the Biologist Reports section of the PFBC web site.

 

[Beefheart]

Great news! I appreciate this information and certainly am excited about it. As a person who knows next to nothing about how the fisheries biologists do this work, I'm curious about the data collection and the equipment they use. I also wonder whether the flood year or the regulations are more to credit for the high numbers.

Is there any possibility that the electrofishing equipment improves over time skewing the numbers in a positive direction? I'm just thinking if we're comparing numbers today from numbers 30 years ago, isn't there the likelihood that higher tech equipment might be able to turn up more fish? Like I said, I don't know anything about this and I'm not questioning the validity of the study. I'm just curious how they control for that when you'd think more effective electrofishing equipment would be available as time passed. Maybe there's been a proven high rate of effectiveness and new equipment doesn't turn up more fish. I'm just curious how it works and if the equipment improves possibly impacting numbers.

In any case, I cannot wait to get out there. This was the bass season that wasn't for me this year. I caught three Susquehanna bass all season, but one was 18", one 16" and a dink. My feet are what carries me on the river, so without a craft I was pretty much kept off the entire season.

Is that why we're seeing such higher numbers of fish, especially the big ones? Have there been other flood years that are followed by exceptionally high numbers? Or is it the catch & release regulations and closed spawning season coming to fruition? I'd bet it's a combination, but I'm curious what others who are more knowledgeable think about this.

 

[Dave_W]

Beefheart wrote:
Is that why we're seeing such higher numbers of fish, especially the big ones? Have there been other flood years that are followed by exceptionally high numbers? Or is it the catch & release regulations and closed spawning season coming to fruition? I'd bet it's a combination, but I'm curious what others who are more knowledgeable think about this.

Mike's opinion on this would be valuable.

I'll say, FWIW, that I have no idea how much C&R regulations have impacted the population structure of large bass....only that I believe that such regulations have done no harm and may be helping (we have had this debate many times before). The regs are popular with fishermen and ought to be retained. With that said, I suspect that the improving population structure probably has more to do with some subtle environmental factors that we're really not able to put our fingers on yet.

With regard to flooding and numbers - flood years usually produce poor young-of-the--year (YOY) numbers and this will be reflected in the adult bass population in future years based on growth rates. It takes about five years to produce a foot long SMB so - five years from now - I would expect to see fewer 12" bass due to the flooding this year. This is generally the pattern.

It should be noted that many of the large bass we're catching these days, fish in the 16-19" range, were born during the bass crash years around a decade ago when YOY results were dismal. Not sure what to conclude about this (I've got some theories in my head), but it's interesting.

Whatever the case, we're seeing some very good news.

 

[JF_]

Here's an older article from PFBC related to Dave's comments.

PFBC

 

[krayfish2]

The report says "more 20” and longer bass were caught during the 2018 survey than all other surveys from 1990-2017, combined."

So..... let's open up during the spawning season again and "F" things up. Brilliant

 

[Susquehanna]

Krayfish,

My thoughts exactly!

 

[laurelrun]

This feels like an overreaction to a tough high water Year that limited fishing opportunities. Levels were better in the closed season.

I have routinely caught more large bass the past few years than at any time in my life on the river. And general numbers are closer to the early 90s than in years. As you both said, why fix what isn’t broken.