Susky fishing again?

[larkmark]

Went out in boat and caught some 12" bass. Just a few. Saw several bigger ones in shallow water but they were spooked. I was spin fishing because casting the fly rod for hours wears me out especially when catching nothing. Overall bad year. One of the worst.

 

[1manwolfpack]

If your having luck on the river and don’t want to share, please pm me. It’s professional, an an environmental biologist. Just trying to figure this out and the more info the better. Feel free to share skunked stories too. Thanks in advance.

 

[krayfish2]

1man,
2015-2017 were nothing short of phenomenal. All classes of fish and plenty of larger fish (18+). 2018 was blown out from early spring into early July (I think). It then went crazy high and stayed there into late October. The PFBC did survey showing more fish 18+ surveyed in 2018 than 1997-2017... combined! This spring was blown out again, especially during the spawn. Also coming to light was the sewage releases. Over the last month, it's been low and clear. With the clear water, I'm seeing suckers in normal numbers, catfish in lower numbers, virtually no quillbacks, few carp. In the shallows, lots of small fish. Insect cases in the drift all day long. Turn over rocks and crayfish zoom away. The rocks are filthy with nymphs.

We fish ALL DAY and moving fish is spotty at best. The fish don't seem to be related to structure, weedbeds or islands. Many times, it seems void of fish. The ones caught are in very random spots. You'll occasionally spook a big bass in inches of water but that's about it.

Seems like they are gone until the sun dips and a sporadic hatch starts. A pool that was dead has 50 rising fish! One minute I'd swear something horrible has happened to the river and the next, I feel like they've been here the whole time and refusing to eat. I'm pretty confident that any new PFBC survey will show it's effed up again.

Other baffling things are the abnormal fish behavior. They follow the streamers to the boat several times but won't take the fly. I've also had many fish flee in terror when a small popper lands near structure. That's not like a smallie at all. They normally turn and destroy it without a second thought. I have observed much more normal behavior on the Juniata.

If you can figure it out or explain it, I'm all ears. I have clients going out Sunday. If I see something different, I'll post but I don't have high expectations at this point based on the last 8 weeks of substandard fishing for the Susky.

 

[Dave_W]

krayfish2 wrote:

Other baffling things are the abnormal fish behavior. They follow the streamers to the boat several times but won't take the fly. I've also had many fish flee in terror when a small popper lands near structure. That's not like a smallie at all. They normally turn and destroy it without a second thought.

I've noticed this too (also on the Juniata) - the fish are not as aggressive as they should be. Lots of follows and lookers but few hookers and many of these take the fly very gingerly or just nip at it.

 

[HopBack]

I was out today at the mouth of the codorus in York county. It certainly was beautiful. I took the spinning rod out to convince myself there were still bass in the river. Caught 4 healthy bass in the codorus but nothing in the river. Huge schools of baitfish and crayfish were everywhere but nothing busting that bait. I’m going to get the kayak out on some lakes and try to find some toothies!

 

[krayfish2]

I did talk to another guide who was fishing several miles below the normal stretches that I frequent. It seems that he has found a lot of bass and some good ones in an area that did not hold many fish 2 years ago. I'm wondering if they somehow were displaced by the long periods of high water or something else.

 

[AFISHN]

Can that be true 89Lbs weight for the yak without the seat.???If true,that's a deal breaker for me since,I'm in the market for a kyak that is around 12ft and under 70 lbs , that is stable enough so that I can stand up to fly fish.Any suggestions??

 

[Mwheaps32]

Floated from the mahantango access to the sweigarts access today. First time floating this stretch today. This stretch has alot of good structure everywhere but still only managed 8 fish between 2 of us on streamers.

My fishing buddy with a decent one
https://flic.kr/p/2hc8Csj

 

[Dave_W]

Good to hear of some decent if spotty fishing on the Susky.

Thanks for the updates folks - keep 'em comin.

 

[afishinado]

A "slow pick" best describes my Susky smallie fishing....a few here and there.

Like Kray wrote, no particular pattern of where they are located or how they are caught.

It's really hard to determine if the population is down significantly, or if the fish are just not hitting aggressively.

Keep trying......the fall is a great time for fishing.

 

[krayfish2]

Well....2 guys out today for a trip. By far, the best day I've had out there this year. The 'non fisherman' hooked and lost a dozen within 2 seconds. He lost another 8-10 right beside the boat. Landed 6-7 which included 2 that were over 15" and 1 jthat was over 18". The 'fisherman' in the boat landed 10-12 fish (all were 11" - 14"). All spin gear but we desperately tried to get someone hooked up with a popper. No dice since they had difficulty casting the bulky flies. I wanted one of them to get a fly rod fish and we almost did in the last 1/4 mile. Changed them up to a sparkle minnow, headed for shallow fast water and they hooked up in under 5 casts. Not only hooked up but it was the biggest hooked for the day. Unfortunately, panic set in and the fish was lost on the second jump.

Not great but by far the best I've experienced so far in 2019!!! There is hope.

 

[bam]

Floated saturday... water was a lot lower than I expected... it dropped nearly a foot from friday on the gauge. East side of the river was a lot dirtier than the west. Slow fishing but we started picking up better fish in the afternoon fishing deeper water, but we had to work hard for them. They just didnt seem to be holding in the shallow water and grass beds. The ones that did show themselves didnt want to commit... light takes and lost fish. Overall It's just been off the last 2 years.

 

[krayfish2]

Bam,
What were you floating in?

 

[Mike]

While angler reports here and elsewhere for the middle and lower river have sounded pretty poor, late Sept, all of October, and early Nov will be key times for traditionally better fishing, especially under certain flow conditions. At the same time I would expect that the electrofishing surveys in those two regions of the river would be taking place if they are scheduled as in the past. If the flows are ideal for night electrofishing at most sites, the picture should be clear.

 

[Dave_W]

Mike wrote:
I would expect that the electrofishing surveys in those two regions of the river would be taking place if they are scheduled as in the past. If the flows are ideal for night electrofishing at most sites, the picture should be clear.

Let's hope so. Please keep us informed.

 

[WildTigerTrout]

After nearly a year and a half of higher than normal water I finally got my new fishing kayak on the Susquehanna. Floated and fished with my fly fishing buddy on Tuesday. I spent more time playing with the kayak than I did fishing as this was the first time I have been in a kayak. Great time, just had to be careful about hitting rocks in several of the riffles. I fished some too. Ended up catching three and missing three. The biggest was 18 1/2" and fat. I know it weighed over four pounds. Quite a thrill on a fly rod. Even pulled my kayak around the river. My buddy ended up catching five to include his best to date a 21" monster. We caught them all on top with my buddy's foam frog pattern. My first try floating a kayak and fly fishing but it will not be my last! WTT

 

[bam]

Stealthcraft with an outboard. What's with the daily spikes on the sunbury gauge a few days back? Water was low by the time I got off the river...

 

[krayfish2]

Not sure on the spikes. We did have heavy storms roll through.

I asked because I was behind a Clacka on 81 as I was running to Lowe's the other day.

 

[lprudente]

Floated yesterday Liverpool to Clemson's Island. Also fished Saturday evening into dark. Between the four of us, maybe 8 fish were caught in total. Not good. We are not experienced Susky fishers by any stretch, but have done well in the "good times" of 2016 and 2017.

Saw/spooked some big fish but as previously stated, but it was very random and no real pattern developed. Our best action came when we got out of the canoes and waded in the fast water island sections. Fish were caught on poppers and articulated streamers.

Did see plenty of crayfish and minnows in the shallows, as well as random mayflies in the drift. Hopefully this funk is cyclical and the river will rebound yet again. Fingers crossed.

 

[Mike]

The funk reported here may or may not be reflective of the SMB population. It could be that fishing is just off. We’ll know soon enough.