Central Pennsylvania Fishing

I was passing by the Juniata River today and had a couple of hours to kill so I decided to do some smallmouth bass fishing. My choice of gear was limited but I was still able to catch some nice fish. All I had with me was a couple offset worm hooks, two Yum-Dingers, and a couple of hellgrammite imitations. Armed with this handful of lures I was able to land five smallmouth bass in about an hour and a half of walking the banks. The smallest fish was 13 inches and the largest 16 inches.

Observations

I’ve been hearing that the smallmouth are on the spawning beds in several rivers throughout Pennsylvania. My observations today lead me to believe that the spawn may be over yet in the section of river I visited. I saw a couple of male bass in the shallows guarding an area but I did not see either a distinct spawning bed or even a “faded” spawning bed. I seems some males are just starting to stake out their shallow water territories or they may just be guarding the nest. The rivers have been up slightly and cold for this time of year so the smallmouth may be a little late getting started. I wish I would have had a thermometer to verify the water temperature.

Pattern

I focused mainly on deep pools trying to avoid the spawning bass. The fish I caught were all very healthy and well fed. Only one of the bass appeared to be a female with eggs. None of the fish I caught had physical signs that they where in post spawn. For example, there were no torn fins or fish that had the “spawned out” appearance to them. All the fish came from current breaks in deep water.

Baits

Both Yum Dingers and Case Hellgrammites produced fish today. The only colors I had with me were pumpkin.

Weather Conditions

Mostly cloudy, air temperatures in the low 60’s

Water Conditions

Normal flow. Water was murky with visibility at about 2 feet. The water was definitely colder than usual for this time of year due to the recent and frequent rains. Exact water temperature not know.

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