Juniata River Brown Trout

[PelletHead1]

I was curious if any of you out there in the land of the internets do any serious fishing in the Juniata River (not the little J) for large brown trout. I keep seeing pictures surface of Walleye and Muskie fisherman landing huge browns accidently (see attached pictures). I am curious if this could be a worthwhile endeavor or if monster browns in this river are nothing more than an incredible stroke of luck? I much prefer to fish small water, but it would be worth going outside my comfort zone to land one of these bruisers.

 

[Fishidiot]

As I've said many times, rivers like this one hold populations of wild brown trout - many of them very large - on a seasonal basis. What one needs to keep in mind is that these fish are not scattered evenly thru the river like bass or trout in a conventional trout stream... but rather exist in localized populations (at least, this is my current theory). When big ones are caught, they're often incidental catches by bass or walleye fishermen and are indeed, "a stroke of luck."
I fish the "J" pretty extensively and while I am usually targeting WW fish during the summer, I have seen some very large trout, esp in the springtime. Are they worth targeting? That depends on how you feel about trout fishing. If you want to hunt trophies and don't mind putting in a lot of time scouting and looking (and not catching), you might find a fish or three...and if you're willing to hunt that fish, chances are good you'll get him and it will be a trophy to remember. I don't think this is a game for everyone.
But, yes, the fish are there.

 

[krayfish]

Not surprised at all. I believe they exist in Juanita, Schuylkill, Susky and many other rivers. I think you'll find them to be 3-6 pounds and as Dave mentioned, only in selected sections. Traveling populations? Residents? Some of each? Who knows. The fishing isn't easy late winter / early spring and you might cover 10 miles without so much as a single trout. Bizarre, unique and underestimated. Let's leave it at that. 5 days of fishing might yield 1-5 fish....if you're lucky.

I've also seen BIG brookies (17"-18" with markings like a BS brookie) taken from "warm water" streams.

 

[LetortAngler]

Where many of the colder tribs enter the Juniata is where you'll likely find these trophies.

 

[laszlo]

I wonder if they complain, "Oh crap another lousy brown"

 

[mike_richardson]

^^^ AGREE WITH THIS

look for small springs trickling from the bank. I have a buddy with a camp down there, and he caught quite a few fishing by the spring.

 

[BrookieChaser]

We can use the same strategy we use on the Delaware, so get your bowfishing gear ready.

 

[krayfish]

Or....get a bucket full of natives. Best possible bait for real fish.

 

[jwb123]

I've been fishing the river for a long time however most of that time has been spent fishing gear for smallmouth. It only been in the past year that I have exclusively fly fished the river. I have never caught either a large brown or musky on the fly but I have incidentally caught both on gear.

To give you some perspective, in both my own experience and talking with others, I've found the incidental catch rate of both species to be about equal. I'm sure you could up your odds by specifically targeting them but they won't come easy.

 

[sarce]

biologist report

I've been curious about this since I read the last paragraph of this report a few months ago while researching bass water. My fishing experience on the J is limited, but if you think about it, the upper part is basically a limestone river with all of the limestone influence from the LJ and Frankstown Branches. My first impression based on a handul of outings is that it is an absolutely prolific river system and there are bound to be trophy fish of various species to be found, apparently including brown trout. I've been wanting badly to take a shot at finding some of these bruisers but mother nature has had other ideas this year.

 

[jwb123]

Sarce, It's interesting you bring up the LJ and Frankstown branches. The hydroelectric dam in Petersburg effectively prevents fish passage to the branches and I've often times wondered if more brown trout movement in an out of the branches and upper river would occur without the dam.

 

[Chaz]

krayfish wrote:
Or....get a bucket full of natives. Best possible bait for real fish.

All fish are real.

 

[sarce]

Even lightning trout? ;-)

Jwb I agree about that dam now that you mention it. Hadn't thought about it before, but I think you'd see a lot more trout in the upper big J if it was passable. Probably not year round though due to temps.

 

[greenghost]

I've found that in many watersheds if not all, trout can be very migratory. But especially where seasonal water temperature variations can be 40 degrees or more. I know this to be true in the Clarion River where large river trout will migrate up smaller feeder streams often. Penns migration is well-known. I've also caught native brookies in Laurel Hill Creek in spring and fall. And I've caught very large brown trout in the upper Allegheny.

I think seasonal timing is everything if you're after these leviathans--spring and fall in the marginal larger waters. And, of course, throwing big meaty flies probably helps too.

 

[Night_Stalker]

That guy needs to get a bigger cooler!

Krayfish...from my personal experience, the best possible bait would be free _______ off craigslist (preferably with white fur)!

 

[krayfish]

"All fish are real".

In the running for post of the year IMHO

 

[Swattie87]

krayfish wrote:
"All fish are real".

In the running for post of the year IMHO

We should really have a post of the year poll/thread next December.

 

[krayfish]

its not even the end of February and there are at least 6 legitimate contender is already lol

 

[jabink84]

I have caught one Brown from the Juniata. It was about 18 inches or so in early spring. It came about 100 yds downstream from the mouth of a small freestoner close to Newton Hamilton. I was smallie fishing with super fluke jerkbaits. I agree with the others, I strongly feel most of them are seasonal. I did have an encounter with a big brown cruising around the Raystown spillway area a few years ago. That was in July I believe. Couldnt get him to take anything but it was definitely a brown.

 

[Wild_Trouter]

Pellethead...Check your PMs.