Fly-Swatter
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2014
- Messages
- 1,243
I’m posting this steam report in this section because I want my fellow PA Fly Fishers to know not all smallmouth rivers are having a down year. Although I noticed significant restructuring of familiar sections, a new island and loss of vegetation from areas where it’s been, the North Branch of the Susky is fishing well. I’ve been hitting it regularly since early April when we got a bunch of big bass and walleye on spinning tackle, despite the river being 6 feet higher that the level during my float below. This summer, action has been steady and good.
My buddy Dave and I floated the North Branch yesterday from Mehoopany to Tunckhannock in his StealthCraft “Stealth Raft’16’ pontoon boat. I was looking forward to trying my new rod & reel outfit I just picked up at the closing Gander Outdoors in ****son City. I got a 9’ 6WT Fenwick Aetos paired with a Lamson Guru reel and Rio WF line, all at 40% off. See my post on the Gear Talk page for a review.
The water level was low but normal for this time of year, clarity was about 3-4’. We had numerous spots where we had to drag the boat over riffles even though it drafts 3-4”. Air temps started in the upper 40s with heavy fog and rose to the low 80s by mid-afternoon. The fog lifted by 9, revealing a bluebird sunny “Chamber of Commerce” day. Not awesome for late summer/early autumn fishing, but it’s what we had. Water temps were in the upper 60s at the start. There was an intermittent light breeze.
It was an interesting float. We floated a new section of river. We couldn't find the put in ramp at 5:30 AM in the fog, so we drove upriver to the next one. That turned our half day into a full day float. Our float was from 5:45 AM until 4:15 PM spanning 11.8 river miles.
We knew it would be an unusual day when I had a snapping turtle ate my fly within the first 10 minutes of fishing. I got it to the boat, but then it swam under the trolling motor so I had to give it slack. The hook came out. I was a little bummed because I wanted a photo of the beast at the side of the boat to show my son. Oh well…
A short time later I hooked and played a really big channel cat in fast water until my knot failed at the hook. Then I got at typical North Branch smallie, 12”, fat and angry! Both turtle, cat and bass were hooked on a fly I whipped up for this float: a modified black Murray’s Marauder. I added rubber legs on the side like a Pat’s).
As we approached the Vosburg Neck area, there were an increasing number of motor boats zipping up and down river. There are usually some boats, but this was far more than we are used to seeing. In one stretch there were 10 boats lined up and fishing mid river. I asked one of the guys what’s up with all the boats and he told me there was a tourney based out of the Howland Preserve boat ramp. Great.
Despite the commotion, bass fishing picked up around 10 AM. The bass were still in a summer pattern. Most bass were caught in faster water where there was a slight drop-off or deep run just downstream from riffles. Moving water and at least 2’ deep were the keys. When we tried areas with good depth and structure but slow water, the few bass we caught were spread out.
Some bass were caught on poppers and gurglers, most on sub-surface flies like a black Marauder, brown wooly bugger with big yellow dumbbell eyes, tan or brown Meat Whistle, or silver Jointed Minnow fly (also a new pattern for me tied for this float).
We also landed a few fallfish and one redbreast sunfish (slack water). We saw a lot of carp surfacing and mudding. There were a decent number of mayflies and at least 2 species of caddisflies. Generally, the river has lots of life and diversity.
The odd thing is the bass fishing picked up when the sun hit the water and stayed steady all day, even in bright sunlight. Despite the slow start, we got over 2 dozen smallmouth. Nothing over 15", but all were fat and feisty.
Catch of the Day: just below Howland, Dave caught a big channel cat on the brown bugger in one of those bass runs I described. We anchored and he played it for at least ten minutes. It fought well, making drag peeling runs. We did net this one! This big Channel cat was played and netted while we were anchored in fast water using a 5WT rod! A conservative size estimate was 28” and 7-8 lbs. That’s a heck of a fish! Kudos to Dave!
We also saw a handful of eagles, lots of deer and other assorted wildlife.
It was a great day.
int:
My buddy Dave and I floated the North Branch yesterday from Mehoopany to Tunckhannock in his StealthCraft “Stealth Raft’16’ pontoon boat. I was looking forward to trying my new rod & reel outfit I just picked up at the closing Gander Outdoors in ****son City. I got a 9’ 6WT Fenwick Aetos paired with a Lamson Guru reel and Rio WF line, all at 40% off. See my post on the Gear Talk page for a review.
The water level was low but normal for this time of year, clarity was about 3-4’. We had numerous spots where we had to drag the boat over riffles even though it drafts 3-4”. Air temps started in the upper 40s with heavy fog and rose to the low 80s by mid-afternoon. The fog lifted by 9, revealing a bluebird sunny “Chamber of Commerce” day. Not awesome for late summer/early autumn fishing, but it’s what we had. Water temps were in the upper 60s at the start. There was an intermittent light breeze.
It was an interesting float. We floated a new section of river. We couldn't find the put in ramp at 5:30 AM in the fog, so we drove upriver to the next one. That turned our half day into a full day float. Our float was from 5:45 AM until 4:15 PM spanning 11.8 river miles.
We knew it would be an unusual day when I had a snapping turtle ate my fly within the first 10 minutes of fishing. I got it to the boat, but then it swam under the trolling motor so I had to give it slack. The hook came out. I was a little bummed because I wanted a photo of the beast at the side of the boat to show my son. Oh well…
A short time later I hooked and played a really big channel cat in fast water until my knot failed at the hook. Then I got at typical North Branch smallie, 12”, fat and angry! Both turtle, cat and bass were hooked on a fly I whipped up for this float: a modified black Murray’s Marauder. I added rubber legs on the side like a Pat’s).
As we approached the Vosburg Neck area, there were an increasing number of motor boats zipping up and down river. There are usually some boats, but this was far more than we are used to seeing. In one stretch there were 10 boats lined up and fishing mid river. I asked one of the guys what’s up with all the boats and he told me there was a tourney based out of the Howland Preserve boat ramp. Great.
Despite the commotion, bass fishing picked up around 10 AM. The bass were still in a summer pattern. Most bass were caught in faster water where there was a slight drop-off or deep run just downstream from riffles. Moving water and at least 2’ deep were the keys. When we tried areas with good depth and structure but slow water, the few bass we caught were spread out.
Some bass were caught on poppers and gurglers, most on sub-surface flies like a black Marauder, brown wooly bugger with big yellow dumbbell eyes, tan or brown Meat Whistle, or silver Jointed Minnow fly (also a new pattern for me tied for this float).
We also landed a few fallfish and one redbreast sunfish (slack water). We saw a lot of carp surfacing and mudding. There were a decent number of mayflies and at least 2 species of caddisflies. Generally, the river has lots of life and diversity.
The odd thing is the bass fishing picked up when the sun hit the water and stayed steady all day, even in bright sunlight. Despite the slow start, we got over 2 dozen smallmouth. Nothing over 15", but all were fat and feisty.
Catch of the Day: just below Howland, Dave caught a big channel cat on the brown bugger in one of those bass runs I described. We anchored and he played it for at least ten minutes. It fought well, making drag peeling runs. We did net this one! This big Channel cat was played and netted while we were anchored in fast water using a 5WT rod! A conservative size estimate was 28” and 7-8 lbs. That’s a heck of a fish! Kudos to Dave!
We also saw a handful of eagles, lots of deer and other assorted wildlife.
It was a great day.
int: 
