Suskie smallies

[GenCon]

Went out a bit North of Harrisburg last Saturday to meet my good friend Jack Fields and another friend Nick Raftas. Nick is a guide with Sky Blue Outfitters. It was one of the most impressive days I have ever had catching smallies. We were into heavy fish in about 5 minutes of the ramp. Jack and I lost count of how many fish we caught. The amazing thing was the sizes of the fish. They averaged 17 to 19 inches and were all nice healthy and fat fish. With a couple little guys mixed in. If you have not done it I would highly recommend spending a day with Nick on the water. He is a good guide and a lot of fun to fish with. He also surely gives you a good long day of fishing.

GenCon

 

[Dave_W]

GenCon wrote:
If you have not done it I would highly recommend spending a day with Nick on the water. He is a good guide and a lot of fun to fish with.

No doubt.

 

[Dave_W]

Sounds like a great day.

I was hoping to get out on the big river this weekend but a lot of water is rolling down and tomorrow will likely be a mess. :-(

 

[HopBack]

Nice job looks like you had fun!!!

 

[dc410]

Some really nice fish, Mike. Good to hear you and Jack had a great day on the river with Nick smashin' some big bronzebacks!

 

[laurelrun]

Nice job, Mike! What's your go to smaller pattern?

 

[GenCon]

Thanks guys. Laurel. Chartreuse or black poppers.

GenCon

 

[AFISHN]

I couldn't agree more about the positive comments about Nick.
He also knows the Lehigh very well
Rick Nyles the owner of Blue Sky runs a first rate operation IMO.
Tom

 

[Mike]

There are many fish present in the Susquehanna right now that are 15" and up. All are heavy fish. Anglers need not go to HBG or north of HBG to find them, however, as they are common in Lancaster and York Co from Bainbridge, Lancaster Co area down to a line drawn from the mouth of Chiques Creek, Lancaster Co across to the York Co side.

 

[SkyBlue]

Thanks for the nice comments.

 

[laurelrun]

Echoing WCO Mike's comment, My experience is there are big numbers of 15"+ fish in the Lower Susquehanna. I generally fish from the Dauphin Narrows to Bainbridge, and have had good numbers and good size of bass for the past couple years.

In short, my anecdotal opinion is the closed season regs are working and producing a very robust fishery. Bass are big, plentiful, and healthy in appearance. I've managed several bass in the 20" range in my last 12 months of fishing. Fall, pre spawn, post spawn, and midsummer. They are there. And a ton of fun to hook!

gencon Mike, thanks for the tip! Have to tie up more poppers