Susky white flies?

I think the Susky should remain relatively unaffected. Localized storms hit the headwaters of the Conestoga and other warm water tribs pretty hard yesterday afternoon.

A side note, water was very cold last night for this time of the year. I didn't get a temp but it shocked me when I got in the water. I would guess maybe 69 degrees tops. There has been a lot of improvement to the limestone feeders a couple miles up the road that I'm guessing have a big impact. That, and the fact that the flow has been so strong this year that it doesn't leave much time for the water to heat up.
 
Many tribs and the main river (Susquehanna) have been fine on many days as far as levels and clarity go. I have floated miles of water and it has been lousy. I will add IMHO because I'm sure some expert on here will tell me I know nothing.
 
larkmark wrote:
Many tribs and the main river (Susquehanna) have been fine on many days as far as levels and clarity go. I have floated miles of water and it has been lousy. I will add IMHO because I'm sure some expert on here will tell me I know nothing.
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Agreed, the smallie fishing has been lousy everywhere. The thing that all streams and rivers have in common is the weather. The Susky and all the other smallie rivers and streams have been way up and down like a yo-yo, and the Susky hasn't hit the 4' level mark @ H-burg until the last week or so and the clarity is still terrible.

We had the rainest year+ in PA in the history of when records were kept back from in the late 1800's.

I'm optimistic that the fish are still there and there's still some decent smallie fishing ahead of us when things settle down, they have to sooner or later.

I'm going to make it my business to get out there and make up for lost time.

 

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TCO's fishing report for the Susquehanna for today says "top water action is on fire".
 
Level is good if you ask me and color is murky but not out of ordinary. Went out last evening for an hour just to see. Two small fish on white streamer in fast water below rocks. No White Flies were seen but I left before dark. Two weeks ago I saw some in small numbers in the evening but no fish eating them. I'm not seeing any fish chasing minnows. Just no sign of any. Tribs I fish are producing a few in certain areas (not the usual areas). Very unusual so far. Last year I did well on tribs. Catfish people were out toward dark.
Same areas on river produced a couple big ones right on the shore back in March. On a side note-I usually fish from my boat but sometimes wet wade. Now hesitant to wade because I got a swollen foot last summer. Doctor immediately asked if I had been in water lately. She said I could have gotten blood poisoning if I left it go. Very painful and off work a few days. I did not have open cuts on feet but just cracked skin. Be careful out there.
 
larkmark wrote:
Level is good if you ask me and color is murky but not out of ordinary. Went out last evening for an hour just to see. Two small fish on white streamer in fast water below rocks. No White Flies were seen but I left before dark. Two weeks ago I saw some in small numbers in the evening but no fish eating them. I'm not seeing any fish chasing minnows. Just no sign of any. Tribs I fish are producing a few in certain areas (not the usual areas). Very unusual so far. Last year I did well on tribs. Catfish people were out toward dark.
Same areas on river produced a couple big ones right on the shore back in March. On a side note-I usually fish from my boat but sometimes wet wade. Now hesitant to wade because I got a swollen foot last summer. Doctor immediately asked if I had been in water lately. She said I could have gotten blood poisoning if I left it go. Very painful and off work a few days. I did not have open cuts on feet but just cracked skin. Be careful out there.
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The levels have been high for me and murky to chocolate milk after the storms. I've had the same experience as you have had fishing the tribs and the Susky mainstem. And every time the flow gets down to decent levels another storm rolls in and the river is unfishable again.

I mostly wade. I've had the same problem wet wading with several infections in the past, so I now wear waders there. When you read that raw sewage is being pumped into the Susky at Harrisburg on a regular basis it should come as no surprise. The same for many other PA streams and rivers.
 
As I posted before, saw white flies in good number on Monday. No fly scene on Tuesday, very few seen on Wednesday. Tonight strikes me as the beginning of the hatch. Lots and lots pouring off as the wind kicked up to 25 miles an hour and made it virtually unfishable. Not to mention it was lightning everywhere around us
 
krayfish2 wrote:
As I posted before, saw white flies in good number on Monday. No fly scene on Tuesday, very few seen on Wednesday. Tonight strikes me as the beginning of the hatch. Lots and lots pouring off as the wind kicked up to 25 miles an hour and made it virtually unfishable. Not to mention it was lightning everywhere around us
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Sounds exciting... :-o

Thanks for the update.
 
Did not fish evening but caught 5 yesterday mid day. One 18"+ and another 16". Several on top. Strong and healthy fish. Will try to go look tonight for white flies.
 
Heavy hatch of white flies last night on Susquehanna, North of Bainbridge, just before dark, but no fish activity.
 
Saturday, good hatch on the Susky. Floated bottom half of the Juniata yesterday and saw no white flies.

One cool thing we saw was a damsel fly orgy. Had to be 20+ in a big blob floating down the river. Nice bass came up, blasted the floating mass. He got most of them in one shot.
 
henrydavid: Were fish eating them near Falls?
 
Good hatch last night in Harrisburg. Wade fished with a friend, only one fish between us. Only saw one fish rise. Fishing still mysteriously slow
 
Went out in boat just to check things out. Lot of White Flies and other mayflies last night below Safe Harbor in evening. Very little feeding that I saw. What few fish I saw eating them were Channel Catfish.
 
Floated north of Harrisburg last night. Saw plenty of white flies but not a blizzard by any means. Saw quite a few rising fish but nothing amazing. We caught fish.... not a whole lot though. No bigger fish (15" - 19").

The slow / sub par fishing for trip after trip had me worried that something may have happened to the fishery. With that said, the last 30 minutes of light results in poles of rising fish. Not sure of the percentage of bass to 'other' species. Other observations:. Fish chase streamers to the boat or ram it with the side of their head to chase it away. Getting one to eat is almost luck. Fished streamers from #8 - #2 articulated. Poppers and such...... following it forever but refuse to eat. Also had many fish in the weedbeds that spooked and ran away from a small boogle bug that was twitched. Typically, a fly landing gets an immediate / savage take by a smallie. More time than not, we've had fish fleeing from any fly presentation. Baffled.
 
krayfish2 wrote:
Fished streamers from #8 - #2 articulated. Poppers and such...... following it forever but refuse to eat. Also had many fish in the weedbeds that spooked and ran away from a small boogle bug that was twitched. Typically, a fly landing gets an immediate / savage take by a smallie. More time than not, we've had fish fleeing from any fly presentation. Baffled.
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I've noticed this too: fish will follow but not eat.

While I haven't seen fish frightened by flies, many show little or no interest. In a typical summer when a bass charges a popper or streamer and then stops to eyeball it carefully, they usually pause for a few moments and then suck it in with confidence.

Not this year - if they look at all, they turn away. I've cast at many cruising fish and they often show no interest at all.
Got me scratching my head too.

Good to hear that there were a lot of fish up top on the mayflies however.
 
Fly-Swatter, Yes but it took awhile for the smallies to key in on them.

I'm reading a lot of posts on here saying the insects came out but the bass ignored them, then proceeding to say the action picked up at dark. From my experience with the white fly hatch you pretty much have to stay at least an hour or more after sunset in order to fully evaluate. Most of my white fly fishing success takes place after dark.

Even then after a 30-45 minute feeding frenzy things will appear to slow down. Flies all over the water but hardly any risers. But if you stick around and keep moving / searching you will find rising bass.

I have certain stretches of water that I count on to see fish rising after dark. But if nothing is happening I'm ready to keep moving & searching, your eye sight can acclimate to the darkness. I would never consider fishing this hatch from a boat, it's too difficult to stay focused on the water surface, personal preference I guess.
 
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