Observations on the Susquehanna today

[salvelinusfontinalis]

The wife and I kayaked up from the mouth of the Connie to the island across from Harrisburg. The water is very low and very warm. Last nights rain we got in Lancaster must have avoided the river. At times the water felt Hot. Too hot.

The island is split apart by the river and I have caught bass there last year and this year. In fact I caught around 20 bass today but it should have been much more. I had groups of them acting slow and would not move far for my fly. All the bass I caught looked to be in good condition.

Most concerning was seeing 5 cat fish in the smallest, shallowest and warmest channel. They were only in about 2 foot of water. Some of these channel cats were in the 20lb range somewhere. All of them had sores on there heads and fins. I have never seen big cats in this shallow of water and they didn't seem concerned by our presence. My wife literally got to touch one before it slowly swam off. I had never seen anything like it.

We need rain, the river needs rain. I'm going to lay off of it until it happens. I'm fearing that we might see another collapse soon if we don't get it.

 

[Dave_W]

salvelinusfontinalis wrote:
At times the water felt Hot. Too hot.
In fact I caught around 20 bass today but it should have been much more.

Interesting, thanks for the report.

Twenty bass from one spot around an island? I'd consider this an excellent outing.
Good to hear that they looked healthy. Not sure what to make about the catties.

Did you get a water temp?
It's typical for the Susky in summer to be in the 80s with much warmer water in slack shoreline areas. It's like wading into bathwater.
Some rain would be good, but the low and stable water levels should be good for YOY survival.

Keep us informed of what you're seeing on the river.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

I got mine from around the island and back down to the boat launch along the west shore in the shaded areas.

It was a good outing and I'm only estimating numbers. All but 3 of my bass were small but those three were reel screamers. Best outing this year so far.

It's good to hear someone like you say this is somewhat normal as far as temps. I did not take a temp but man if felt hot. My experience with the river is limited. Those cats just seemed odd and out of place.

Love the river.

 

[AFISHN]

I wet wade fished the Susky well north of you and here are some random observations:
1)water very clear considering the amount of rain on Thursday

2)Caught a goodly number of fish,with 2 over 2 lbs and one over 3lbs.Only caught three 6 inch and under SM..All fish caught on top with both a fly rod and a spinning rod(50/50(it was windy).The fish were not concentrated and I had to move a lot to catch fish

3)Also caught an 18 inch snake head that broke off at my feet and escaped my wading staff head shot.

4)The amount of crayfish in the water was astounding...Probably the second most I've seen in 35 years fishing the Susky

5)water was warm and I had my thermometer in my other vest...so I'm guessing 74F maybe more

6)all fish looked healthy except on that had a deformed eye

Probably going to fish it again at the end of the week;and will concentrate on flounder fishing the DE Bay for a few days

 

[krayfish2]

Floated it today. We saw lots of channel cats in less than 2' of water. Some were large and may have exceeded 20 pounds. Saw tons of quillbacks, a few carp and what I assume mas an alpha male flathead (monster). The channel cats don't seem bothered by fishermen or boats....kinda strange. I was just up river from you and would guess it was low 80's water temps. All rain but one t-storm has gone south of us over the last 2-3 weeks. My yard went dormant. It needs to rain up around state college through Scranton.......badly. That water will get to us eventually.

Tom,
Where did you see a snakehead?

 

[TJones]

This is the first report I've heard of a snakehead in the susky... Hopefully this is a isolated incident, however they are an interesting fish.

 

[Dave_W]

AFISHN wrote:
3)Also caught an 18 inch snake head

Holy cow - are you sure?

 

[Sylvaneous]

I don't think the temps that the Susq. would be having now would be an issue as long as it's flowing and not silty. Then its an oxygen issue. I had heard that the runoff from rains causes problems by washing-in nutrients from farms that then causes.... well, whatever sequence of biology, chemistry and hydrology that kills bass. Was the organism listeria? Col-something? I'm a chemist, not a biologist.

Anyway, think how warm the James River must get. I mention the James because the more northern rivers I HAVE fished have been compromised by similar factors that the Susq. has. I've fished the Shenandoah when it was flat-out uncomfortably warm. Fishing wasn't any good, but it was before the population collapse. The 'Doah was still a great fishery at the time. Same for the Potomac and, even though I didn't fish it much, or do very well on it, many have and do and it is much murkier than the 'doah as well.

It was surprising to me to hear how the dry summers helped the river until I understood the lethal dynamic that has or had destroyed a world class fishery. So maybe it is a good thing. If the food is there, and from my experience from 17 years ago (Yeesh!) it is, the warm, low water will have less pollution and the fish will grow bigger faster.

Yet to be determined.

syl

 

[afishinado]

The Susky is at the average summertime flow at 7300 cfs. Check out last years flow and the average in the chart below.

 

[moon1284]

Are you sure it was a snakehead and not a bowfin?

 

[TJones]

That was my though also^^^ maybe bowfin... However haven't heard of bowfin in susky either, lol. Though that would be a more welcomed guest.

 

[Mike]

Highly probable that it was a bowfin. Good thing that it got free. Bowfin are in the Juniata, so the Susquehanna is not a stretch.

 

[villeman]

I fished above TMI yesterday morning from 7 to noon. I was wading and some parts were warm but hit a section with much cooler water. The water was very clear. I caught 6 ranging from 6" to 12". They were all very lively and hard fighting as usual. That was the most I've caught wading in a while. My B.I.L. was kayaking near Bainbridge and caught 12.

 

[icyguides]

Jay348 and I wade fished near wrightsville yesterday morning. We each caught a handful of bass, with most of them being small but healthy. Most of the fish were caught on clousers. The largest was probably only 12-13. Despite the lack of big fish, I'm really happy to see lots of young healthy bass as this was something you didn't see a few years ago. I also got 2 catfish, one of which jumped and had me thinking it was a nice bass, and a big carp that was probably 20lbs or more.

I also saw a diseased looking channel cat in shallow warm water. It was only about a 15 incher and was obviously not long for this world.

The water is certainly on the low and warm side but it didn't seem abnormal to me for this time of year.

 

[henrydavid]

The Susquehanna River on the North Branch is very low, even for this time of year, and the water is quite warm.

I also have been getting many small bass, they look very healthy and no need to revive them, once back in the water they shake free and dart off like little rockets.

 

[krayfish2]

FWIW, woke up this morning to the first batch of hex mayflies on the house. Looks they are just getting started.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

I saw them all over the gas station I use this AM. Impressive considering its 15 miles from the river

 

[Fredrick]

Sal allot of times catties squeeze their heads under rocks for cover and in their attempt they end up cutting themselves

 

[slay12345]

I'm thinking the cat sores are breeding sores... flatheads breeding temps are 66-75 so should be done by now but channels are 70-84. I think we're coming out of their season and thats what we're seeing.

I caught one channel on sunday that had his sores healed over. The bass were biting too and I hooked into 6 near cover just off the deeper channels before I ran into friends while yaking and yakked till quitting time.

 

[149113]

Where on the river are you seeing them?